[YOU MEAN THE MASKED MAN]

Azura spent more time in her study, thinking about the conversation she had with Marcus and the forbidden thing in the world she finds herself in. She couldn't understand why the previous Queen Mahalia allowed her daughter to be married to a men she had no feelings for.

From what she had heard so far, not the real Azura nor her parents knew Marcus that well, but yet they let them get married, meaning there was a reason behind it, but what was the reason.

She stood from the sofa and walked to the long book shelves to search for a book, just in case she can find out something about the forbidden red eyed people, apart from what Lora told her.

She passed in front of the huge books shelves, moving her fingers crossed the book as she read the title on it, book by book untill a scroll fell from the top of the shelves, dropping right in front of her and she picked it up.

Unexpectedly, Azura open the scroll and it was a portrait of the real Azura and her parents. She kept looking at the portrait not knowing what kind of emotions was going through her. She opened her mouth to say something but only air escaped her lips and something drop on the scroll after.

Water, no tears. She was crying, but why, was she getting the real Azura's emotions or what? She looked at the picture again and it felt like she could remember exactly when and where the portrait was taken. She could remember she was just fourteen years when the portrait was drawn in the throne room.

"Why am I remembering things I didn't do, am I getting Azura's memory or am just imagining things?" Azura asked herself, not understanding why she was in that state. Putting the scroll back at it place, she walked lazily to the only desk in the room and sat behind it. She found the book she saw when she was in the study the first time.

I AM HIS ONLY LOVE, was written boldly on the cover of the book. She opened the book and read it starting from the page she placed a piece of paper. Everything in the chapter she read was something that actually happened to her in her real life, and she couldn't believe everything was exactly as it happened.

Flipping the book to the first chapter, she decided on reading from the start, and everything about her life in the world she knew was in the book. But how was that possible, even her dead husband's life was stated in the book, from how they met, their life together before and after marriage, everything seem to be in the book and she was sure of that.

"How did this book get to this kingdom? Even if we are in the same world, I doubt it the same time phrase, because the culture and traditions are way different." Azura said as she opened the book to the second page, where the copyright of the book was written.

According to the date in the book, it was written six years after she met her first husband, Enoch for the first time, four years after their marriage ceremony, and a year after Lia her daughter came into their lives.

She compered the date to the current date she was living and to her surprise, the dates were two centuries apart from each other. Most shockingly, she met her first husbands Enoch, two centuries to come, meaning she was living in two centuries late from her real life.

"How is that possible, did I travel back in time? I didn't have any powers or ideas to do that in my life, so how come? Or perhaps someone brought me here on purpose?" Azura asked herself as realization hit her hard in the mind.

She took other books and compared the date in it, and they were all in centuries late from the only book that had her life story written in it. She went out of the study and went straight to Lora's room. "Lora, what date is today? In which century are we?" She asked immediately she sighted Lora.

Lora couldn't understand why her queen was asking for the date but still answered her, giving her a date two centuries late from the one she knows. Azura stepped back, and back again, which almost caused her to fall, not believing what she just heard.

How was she to get back to her life if she was time traveled. She would have been glad if she was traveled to the future but to the past, she can't accept. She passed her fingers in her hanny gold hair out of frustration as her skin turned paler. "I need to find him" She whispered.

Storming out of Lora's room, she entered her room and started pacing to and fro in front of her bed. Lora followed her, worried of what might have happened to her to behave in that way. "Your Majesty, are you okay?" Lora asked calmly, looking at Azura with worried eyes.

"Don't majesty me! I am not Azura, I am not your queen." Azura shouted at Lora in frustration, almost breaking down. Lora kept looking at her, not knowing how to help her.

"Lora please help me, help me find the man who gave me that book, he's the only one who can get me back to my real life." Azura said with pleading eyes.

" You mean the masked man? But how, I don't even know where he stays." Lora said and Azura sat on her bed as she placed her face in her palms on her knees to stop herself from weeping.

After crying for a while, she stood and went to her bathroom, she took her bath with the help of her maids and was ready to go to bed earlier than usual. She wanted to sleep early, not just that, she wanted to see those red eyes again, maybe she can ask for it owners help, to get her back to her real life, instead of the unknown life she was leaving.

She lay in bed covered in the huge green duvet, sterling at the sky-like colored ceiling, waiting for sleep to carry her into the immense darkness. Even though she was scared of being there, she was ready to go if that's how she'll get help. She closed her eyes to force herself to sleep, as her maids and ladies in waiting left her room for her to rest.

__________

At the mansion in the dense and scary forest far in the northeast side of the Celestial Kingdom, the red eyed owner of the house lay still in his abnormal size bed, thinking of ways to get his heart close to him. He closed his glittering red eyes, reminiscing on the times they spent together in both world she knows.

Just when sleep was about carrying him away, a majestic eagle with golden glittering eyes entered the room through the window and landed on a stand that was meant for it and placed close to the bed. "How is she doing?" the red eyed man asked, sitting up importantly.

"As usual, still trying to find ways to get back to the life you made her lived." the eagle replied in it masters head, accusingly.

" What was I to do, stay here and watch her married to a man she doesn't love? And then what?" The man retaliated.

" You could have let her know the truth at least." The eagle replied angrily this time.

" The truth you say, why haven't you tell her till now? You speak as if you weren't part of the plan from the beginning." The man said as he lay back in the bed.

" She wants to see you." Gideon, the eagle said simply.

" Which ME are you talking about." the red eyed man, Abesselom asked, sitting up on the bed.

" The YOU she knows, she wants to see the man in a mask. Gideon said.

"Why? I thought her ladies in waiting told her she can't find me?" Abesselom asked, not understanding why Azura wants to see him.

"She wants to see you because she thinks you are the only one who can send her back to her real life." Gideon replied in Abesselom's head again.

"But this is her real life, how can I make her understand? She'll hate me if she finds out I time travel with her in the worse way possible." Abesselom said, fisting his fingers and placing it under his jow.

"Why don't you show yourself to her first, then we can think of how to tell her the truth." Gideon said telepathically.

"She knows me as three different people, one as her friend and a man in a mask, one as her childhood love, and the other as her late husband from the life she remembers. Which one will I appear as? Abesselom asked as he kept thinking, but Gideon didn't reply.

"I think I'll let her see me in the form she's comfortable with, and that's her late husband." Abesselom concluded.

"And then what, scare her again, or lie to her again, what game are you playing this time?" Gideon said worriedly.

"Send a message to her, let her know I want to meet her up north early tomorrow morning." Abesselom instructed, ignoring Gideon's question.

"Why me, can't you send her pet as you did the last time? She'll know I belong to you if I deliver your message." Gideon said telepathically.

"You are right." Abesselom said and before Gideon could say anything more, he disappeared from the room.

"Where is he going at this time? hope he doesn't do anything recklessly." Gideon said.

Abesselom appeared in Azura's room in disguise as her late husband from the life she remembers. He walked to her bed side and saw her sleeping peacefully. Climbing the bed, he lay beside her and traced his fingers along her face, removing the stands of hair on her face and pushed it behind her ears.

He brought his mouth close to her ear and whispered something to her, in a way it would've been had for Azura to hear if she was a normal person. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said after getting out of her bed and disappeared leaving only gust of wind behind.