I am pleased to announce that today, August 31 2022, is the official release date of much anticipated Once Upon A [Hidden] Time.
To get your book, check the following links:
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Now that we are into book IV of [Stolen] Series, you will be introduced to many new characters.
The story starts with the past (yes…more into the past) to 1198, where we get to meet Jasmine and David, from where all the curses and witchcraft started.
“One cannot love with the eyes alone.”I heard a man speaking in French, his voice echoing in my paradise. “What crime, then, have my eyes committed, if their glance but follows my desire?” I whipped my head around, finding a man standing a few paces away, flashing me a mysterious smile that he may have borrowed from the pages of one of the poems he just quoted. He looked fit, his black hose and doublet adhering to his physique like a silk pelt. A silver chain embedded with garnets was draped across his chest. I realised he was quoting Chrétien de Troyes’ words, a French poet who had died a few years ago. From his accent, I was unable to figure out if he was an Englishman or a Frenchman, but his French was very fluent.
I tried to read his mind, but failed to reach his soul. Either there was too much darkness inside him that my powers failed, or there was too much light in him that it turned me blind. But for the first time, my powers were doused.
“What is their fault and what their sin?” His impenetrable aquiline gaze rested on mine. “Ought I to blame them, then?”
We were shielded by the evening light and that despondent silence that brings strangers together, and I felt daring enough to say anything that came to my head, even though it might be for the first and last time. I stood up from the rock I was perched on, chin high, and answered back with Troyes’ words. “Who, then, should be blamed?”
He gave me a kind smile, rounding me, entrapping me in my own paradise.
“Surely myself, who have them in control,” he answered, continuing Troyes’ words. To my surprise, he knelt down on his knees, his gaze never leaving mine. His grey eyes had the same colour as mine, but with more depth that could drown me. “My eye glances at nothing unless it gives my heart delight.” He pulled out his sword from its sheath. I took a step back, preparing myself for danger, but he laid the sword at my feet, holding on to my stare.
“Who are you?” I composed myself.
The Queen of England should not be afraid of a man trying to woo her in the middle of a forest. I usually travelled alone, but for the first time, I realised I should have brought guards with me.
“An ordinary man with a poetic heart,” he answered, his eyes glittering brightly.
I tried studying him for a while again, trying harder to read his mind and dive into his soul, but dammit, my powers utterly failed. Should I be afraid of this…nothingness?
“Rise,” I ordered.
He obeyed me like a slave, but his look was controlling me, gripping me.
“A beautiful woman like you should not be wandering around in the forest alone,” he commented.
I scoffed, folding my arms. He certainly knew not who I was, did he?
“I need not anyone to guard me,” I said, raising my chin high. “I can take care of myself.”
“What about the matters of the heart?” He dared to take a step closer, close enough to reach out for my hand, holding it firmly in his. “Is there anyone to guard your heart?”
If you know me as a person, besides being a writer, I am an art lover and history buff. So it is impossible for me not to include famous people from the past. In this instalment of [Stolen] Series, you will meet Cosimo de’ Medici — Prior of the Republic of Florence. What Florence is now — an art hub of Europe — is mainly because of Medici’s love of art. I have also introduced the Renaissance artist: Donatello, who happens to be in 1415. Both the characters shown in the novel are young gentlemen of the noble class who pay a visit to King Stefan.
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( c. 1386 – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello … bas-relief, and is one of the first examples of one-point perspective in sculpture. Donatello also restored antique sculptures for the Palazzo Medici. (Source: Wikipedia)
“So you have never met him?”
“Of course not, Edward,” God! Why is he so gullible?
“But you will recognise Cosimo if you see him anywhere?” he asked. Still jealous!
“Ha!” I clapped in amusement. “If I recall, he must be twenty-five or twenty-six by now.” Pouting my lips, I continued, “Young enough to…”
“To what?” he snapped.
“To travel…” I mumbled. God! Such a jealous man! I wanted to say he was young enough to court me, or I was suitable enough for him, but my obsessed lover was sitting next to me. He had digested the thought of Steve in my life because Steve lived in another time, but I was about to meet Cosimo de’ Medici in a few weeks. I couldn’t even share this excitement with anyone. No one would be able to understand. I wish I could write a letter to my mother, as we both were obsessed with the Medici and their commissions.
“What does he look like?”
“Hmm,” I thought for a second, recalling his portrait. “He has curly brown hair up to his shoulder, light brown eyes—almost golden, I can say—and—”
“God’s blood!” he interjected. “You want to say he is handsome.”
I laughed hard at his comment, but I instantly shut my mouth when he darted a look at me that twisted my insides.
“Of course not, Edward.” Giving him a sloppy kiss again, I decided to ward off his insecurity. “If you think that there is another man I fancy, I will kill you for doubting me.” I poked his chest. “And I will not care if you are the bloody Crown Prince.” His gaze softened again. “And if you are wondering why I admire him, it is because he is a lover of art and literature just like me.”
If you haven’t read the first three books of the [Stolen] Series, you can always grab the bundle pack of ebooks from Amazon.
