Matilda woke up with a pounding headache. She looked around and found herself in a place that looked like a stone bridge.
Where am I? she wondered. Where is this place? It looks strange.The dress Matilda was putting on looked strange to her. She looked down at it. It was green, with a cinched waistline and it billowed out till it reached her ankles. It had lace trimmings on the sleeves and the hem. Even the footwear looked our of place. It was a flat sandal with ropes that were almost up to her knees.Is this a costume? Who is playing pranks on me? She thought.She tried to stand up but she could not. Her whole body ached."Who is here? I need help!" she cried out but there was no answer.Matilda tried to remember how she got here and the memories came flooding back. **********Matilda was a young woman of twenty four years of age living in Oxford city. She worked in a bookstore from the hours of nine in the morning to six in the evening. Matilda was a very beautiful lady with long blonde hair. She was of average height and had rosy cheeks.Matilda had no parents, siblings or friends. She didn't even have a lover. She lived a very lonely life and after she closed from her workplace, she returned to her small flat until she had to go to work again.Oxford in the year 2015 was a bustling city and Matilda found herself busy in the bookstore from morning to evening making sales, keeping records and bringing the logs and inventory up to date. The store sold antique books and was often swamped with customers.However, one day before the close of work, Matilda found some free time. It seemed as if the flow of customers had stopped. A new stock of books had just come in and she found her attention drawn to a very heavy looking old brown book. She slid it from the shelf, took it to a reading table and began to flip through it. It wasn't that the book was old but rather, it had been printed in the old times, centuries ago. It was hand written.She went on, flipping the book and stopping to read through some parts of it. It was a book about spells and she found herself laughing at the silliness of the thought that magic was still in existence. Some of the spells in the book made Matilda to shake her head and conclude that the book had been written during the time that witches existed. Some of the recipes in the book had ingredients like a two day old crow's blood, the crushed bark of a cider tree, four leaved clovers, mint leaves that had bloomed in the summer and many other bizarre ingredients.Matilda also found a spell that returned lost fortune, a spell that cured epilepsy, a spell that cured blindness, a spell that could renew physical features, a spell that prolonged life and even one that cast evil eyes away from someone. She was about to flip the page over to the next one when she found a spell that made her to stop short.The spell spoke about bringing one's true love to the person. True love was a novel concept to Matilda and she chuckled at the overall silliness of it.The spell read:"For the love of all that is magic, I shall find that who was made specially for me.Thou shall love me and cherish me for all thy days to come,Thou shall make me feel on top of the world and bring me a type of happiness that rivals few.And we shall forever be in love with each other till the end of days.Instructions: Say the poem three times, stamp your left foot two times and stamp the right one four times. Clap your hands five times and close your eyes."Suddenly, Matilda found herself saying the words of the poem out loud. She said it three times, stamped her left foot two times, stamped her right foot four times and closed her eyes. After a while, she opened them and thought. What a silly thing! Nothing could surely happen.Before Matilda could close the book, she felt a strange breeze chilling her body from head to toe. She was suprised at this effect. The breeze began to swirl around her, chilling her body to the bones. All these events seemed eerie to Matilda."What is happening to me?" she questioned.She collapsed heavily on the reading chair and the darkness descended on her. **********Matilda was puzzled as to how the poem seemed to have gotten her to this place. What have I done? she asked herself.Hearing a sound, she raised her head up and coming from the opposite side of the bridge was a man. She could barely make out his features from her blurry vision but she could see that he was atop a horse. Who rides a horse in this day and age? Matilda thought.The man rode up to her, jumped down from the horse and took her into his arms."Thank heavens I found you, Beatrice," he muttered.Matilda was confused. Beatrice? What is this man talking about?She was too weary to talk so she allowed him to pick her up. He put her on his horse and strapped her in. Then he climbed onto the horse himself. Before her mind could process another thought, she was already drifting off to sleep.The man carried Matilda inside. Her body was heavy with sleep. Matilda on her own part, did not know what was going on. She was sleeping peacefully, like a baby. He deposited her in a bedroom, left and closed the door behind him. He also locked the door because he didn't want anyone to disturb her. **********When Matilda finally woke up for the second time, the pounding in her head had lessened. She took in her surroundings and was puzzled. The room was beautiful. There was no doubt about that. The walls were made of stone and inlaid with hand carved symbols. It looked like the inside of a renaissance museum. The items of furniture placed around the room were like something out of an antique auction. She recalled one such auction that she had attended before. Matilda tried to remember how she had gotten into this room but her mind was blank and could come up with nothing. I need to talk to someone. I need to know my whereabouts, she thought.She stood up and climbed down from the bed. Matilda stretched her tired limbs and padded barefoot to the door. It was a heavy ornate door and it had been made with great attention to detail. Matilda tried the handle but it refused to budge. She then concluded that the door must have been locked from the outside. She banged on the door and shouted for help but got no response.Matilda gave up on getting the door to open and turned away from it. She continued to survey her surroundings. The stone floor was carved with an emblem of a diamond and a scythe, intertwined together. In fact, the whole room looked like something from another world.Finding a small window in the far corner, Matilda hurried over to it and peered down. She noticed that the building was a castle made entirely of stone. She was two stories up and therefore she could see most of the stone structure. The castle was breathtaking and the view from up here was amazing. What is this place? she questioned herself.Matilda directed her gaze northward and her jaw dropped down in amazement. Here was the most beautiful stone bridge. Matilda estimated it to be about thirty miles long and it was connected to the castle. This is a wonder, thought Matilda.With the sound of the turning of a lock, Matilda's eyes turned toward the door. The person on the other side of the door swung it open on its well oiled hinges. Her gaze travelled upward and she marveled at the sight before her.The man that stepped into the room was the one who had ridden a horse to meet her on the bridge. He was handsome with striking aristocratic features. He wore a strange set of clothes. His coat was loose, it was without sleeves and it covered his body down to the knees. His trousers too looked strange as it was fastened just below the knee. The whole outfit looked ancient. What is with these people and ancient things? Matilda wondered.The man stepped into the room fully and spoke in a soothing voice."How are you, milady?""Who are you?" she asked." I am Alexander, your husband," he replied calmly.Matilda was shocked beyond words. What husband did she have and where was this place? After a while, she opened her mouth to speak."What a preposterous statement! You are certainly lying! My name is Matilda and I work in a bookstore in Oxford. May I borrow your phone so that I can call a taxi to take me back to my flat? I really need to go home and change into comfortable clothes."" I don't know what the hell a phone or a taxi is but I expected your ramblings therefore I am not bothered. The healer told me that you lost your memory and that you are bound to utter some unmeaningful things. So, I will try to prod your memory by reminding you of some things."Alexander paused to look at her and guage her reaction to the information he was about to share with her."We are in the year 1431. Your name is Beatrice and you are my wife. We have been wedded just a year and two weeks ago, you fell down the stairs and hit your head against a stone table. You wandered off to the Bridge of Acera earlier in the day and I brought you back to this chamber."Matilda was bewildered but continued to listen."This is our keep, Acera Keep and this town is called Ludlow. I am the Marquess and you are the Marchioness. Your parents live not too far away from here with your sisters, Suzanne and Sarah and your brother, Joshua. Your personal maid is Lucia."Matilda was stunned by the barrage of information but she was able to lay her head on one thing. The spell she had read back in the bookstore in Oxford had transported her back in time and her body had remodeled itself to fit that of another woman who was supposed to be dead.Matilda's head was reeling. She wished she could go back to that evening in the bookstore and reverse the order of events. She would not have performed the spell. She would not have thought that magic was silly and was not in existence. She could do anything to take it back. Anything at all. Now she was stuck here, back in time and she did not know any way of going back to the familiarity of her life in Oxford city.Matilda looked at the man who called himself Alexander. He was a fine specimen of a man but she sensed that he was a proud man. He seemed to think she was his wife, Beatrice who had hit her head on a stone table and lost her memory. How wrong he was! Well, she would set him straight on that."Look, I know what you think but I can assure you that I am not Beatrice and I do not know her. It was a spell that I unknowingly casted that transported me here. My name is Matilda as I told you earlier and I work in a bookstore in Oxford. You said that this is the year 1431 which mea
Matilda was skeptical about eating the food that was in the plate. Earlier on, she had stepped down from the bed and taken a look at the food on the table.The food had a strange look as was with everything in this place. It looked like some sort of porridge but it was thicker than a normal porridge. On further thought, she decided that it was meant to be like that. After all, nothing in this place looked normal.Matilda's greatest fear was that the food might have been poisoned. She also thought about the red coloured liquid that Alexander had sprinkled on the food. What if it was some type of medicine that turned her head upside down? As for the idea of poisoning, she thought about it more. Alexander had called her his wife, so he would not poison her right? Still she was determined not to eat it. Beside the wooden plate of food on the wooden tray stood a wooden cup of water.She looked longingly at the water. She was very thirsty and not even a drop of water had passed through her
Alexander slammed the door shut behind him. His thoughts were jumbled together as he headed for his chamber. On his way there, he came across his mother.Victoria Thomas was a middle aged woman of fourty and eight years of age. She was short and had a mop of brown curly hair. Neither of her sons looked anything like her. She was a sweet old lady who saw only the good side of people and nothing of their faults. On seeing his mother, Alexander came to a halt."Mother!" he called out."Allie, how is Beatrice doing?" his mother asked.Alexander grimaced. He had always hated the nickname his mother had bestowed upon him since his childhood days. Thankfully, now she only called him Allie in the presence of family only. He pondered on the response to her question. He considered telling her of Beatrice's mental state but thought it wise not to do so. There was no knowing who his mother would tell it to. Victoria had always Ahad a bit of a loose mouth."She is alright, Mother. Beatrice is ju
Alexander gazed on at Beatrice as she slept on the bed. She clenched the red and white coloured coverlet in one of her fists as she slept. Alexander remembered the promise he had made to himself earlier on before he had gone to fetch Beatrice for her wash and he vowed to keep it at all costs.He was done being harsh with her. That was all in the past. Her sleeping form twitched a little and he took in her angelic face. She truly was beautiful. That was what had attracted him to her in the first place. Her firm breasts nestled under her night dress as they moved up and down due to her breathing. Her hips were not were not too generous but they were the right shape and he loved them that way. Her also loved her slender waist, her elegant legs and her milk and butter complexion.Alexander's gaze moved to her lips again and he took in how rosy they were. They were full and enticing. At this moment, there was nothing he wished more than to capture her lips with his and kiss her with the d
Beatrice managed to fend Annalise off by replying to her questions with one worded answers. Lady Victoria got the hint that Beatrice did not want to talk so she ushered Annalise outside the chamber saying something about a newly blooming flower that she wanted to show her. Lucia also left the chamber to give her mistress privacy.After they had all left, Beatrice felt lonely and didn't know what to do. She decided to wander around the castle. Matilda made her way down the stairs and pushed out of the great bronze front doors of the castle. Outside, she came across a guard post. A heavily built guard tried to come close to her but she waved him away.She made a turn to the right, past the beautiful fountain and kept on going until she came across a clear beautiful lake. She sat down on th edge, kicked off her shoes and dipped her toes into the water.A sudden movement in the water startled her and she looked at the ripples on the surface of the lake. Then the water surface broke in a
Beatrice made her way to Alexander's office. She needed to tell him the list of things she would need for the ball. When she got there, she did not bother to knock this time. She just pushed the door open. She walked to his side and beamed at him."My dear husband, I came to inform you about the items I shall need for the ball," Beatrice said. " I did not write them down so you have to take them down on a piece of paper."Alexander nodded and pulled a sheet of paper to put Beatrice's list down. "I am ready," he said. "Call the items out."As Beatrice called them out, Alexander wrote them down. When he was done, he spoke."I shall ask the housekeeper to get them for you. Some of them should be in storage while others will have to be bought. Anything to make you happy, my wife."" There is one more thing, two actually," she said. " I will need you to send for the dressmaker. I need a new dress for the ball. I also need someone to fill out the invitations."" I shall send for the dressma
Beatrice was totally confused by Alexander's expression. His face was contorted with anger. She had never seen him this angry. Not even when he had threatened to have the healer give her a large dose of sleeping medicine. Alexander's anger now was something else. Beatrice wondered what was ticking him off in her dress. It was a very beautiful dress, as beautiful as any one could get and it was decent too. It did not expose any part of her body that was not supposed to be exposed. "I said pull the dress off now! Didn't you hear me or have you lost your hearing function?" Alexander thundered again." What is wrong with the dress? What should I have to pull it off?" Beatrice questioned." Do not ask further questions. Pull the dress off now or you shall face the consequences!"Beatrice decided to do as he said. She still did not know why the dress seemed to piss him off but she decided to obey his order. Lucia was not in the room anymore so she had to get the heavy and layered dress of
Alexander wanted to talk but he did not even know where to start from. His mind was reeling and an ache was already starting to bloom in his head. This information was truly too much to process.Beatrice on the other hand, simply stared at Alexander, gauging his reaction and wondering how he was taking the information. From the look on his face, he seemed to be taking it badly. She knew he was at a loss for words.Alexander dragged air into his lungs through his nose to calm him down before he spoke."I have pondered on all what you said and I know that it is true. It is baffling me how you could come here but as you said, it was through magic. However, I do not believe that magic still exists in these parts." He cleared his throat and continued. " As for your presence here, you shall continue to stay in the keep and act as Beatrice, my wife and the Marchioness of Ludlow. I will not ask any sexual favours from you and I will be good to you. What do you say to this proposition?" Alexan