Chapter 2 - THE PRINCESS WHO NEVER AGEDPrincess Eleanor had disappeared on the morning of her twentieth birthday.
For seven years, King Edward had searched for her.
He sent riders across the kingdom.
Questioned merchants.
Offered fortunes to anyone who could provide information.
He even promised to pardon certain criminals if they could lead him to his daughter.
Nothing worked.
Eleanor vanished without a trace.
No ransom demand.
No witnesses.
No body.
Only one object remained behind.
A broken golden chain discovered beside the old chapel.
The chain had once held the royal sun pendant.
Edward had given Eleanor the necklace when she was sixteen.
It had belonged to her mother, Queen Isabella.
The queen died when Eleanor was twelve.
Since then, the necklace had been the princess's most treasured possession.
And now, impossibly, it appeared in a photograph taken five hundred years in the future.
Edward lowered his sword.
"Roland."
The knight stepped forward.
"Your Majesty."
"Close the doors."
Roland obeyed.
The soldiers secured the entrance.
Edward turned toward Ethan.
"You will tell me everything."
Ethan nodded.
"My name is Ethan Parker. I'm nineteen. I come from the year 2026."
The king frowned.
"Two thousand and twenty-six?"
"Yes."
Edward stared at him.
"What year do you believe this is?"
Ethan hesitated.
"1526."
The king nodded slowly.
"Then you claim to have traveled five centuries."
Ethan looked toward the place where the blue portal had appeared.
"I didn't choose to come here."
Roland crossed his arms.
"Convenient."
Ethan ignored him.
"I was researching an old royal disappearance. I found a photograph of a woman wearing that pendant."
Edward looked toward the phone.
"Where?"
"At my university."
The king frowned.
"What is a university?"
"A place where people study."
Roland looked suspicious.
"And the woman?"
Ethan swallowed.
"She calls herself Eleanor Vale."
Edward's face changed.
"Vale?"
Ethan nodded.
"She's a history researcher."
The king stepped closer.
"Does she remember me?"
Ethan hesitated.
"She says she doesn't know who her parents were."
Edward looked devastated.
Ethan continued.
"She was found unconscious near an old stone ruin several years ago."
Roland frowned.
"Several years ago?"
"Yes."
"Yet she has not aged?"
Ethan shook his head.
"Not visibly."
Edward stared at the photograph.
Eleanor looked twenty.
Exactly as she had seven years earlier.
But if Ethan's story was true, five hundred years had passed.
The king sat heavily on the throne.
"My daughter..."
Ethan stepped forward.
"She told me she sometimes dreams about a castle."
Edward looked up.
"What castle?"
Ethan glanced around the hall.
"This one."
Roland's expression changed.
Ethan continued.
"She dreams about the golden throne. The stone pillars. The burning torches."
Edward gripped the arms of his chair.
"And?"
Ethan swallowed.
"She hears someone calling her name."
The king leaned forward.
"Who?"
Ethan looked into his eyes.
"A man with a gray beard and a crimson cloak."
Edward closed his eyes.
For the first time in seven years, he allowed himself to believe his daughter might be alive.
But Roland was not convinced.
He stepped toward Ethan.
"Your Majesty, this boy could be a spy."
Edward opened his eyes.
"Explain."
Roland pointed toward the phone.
"Anyone could create an image."
Ethan shook his head.
"Not in this century."
Roland ignored him.
"The boy knows the princess's appearance. He knows the necklace. He knows this hall."
Edward stared at Ethan.
Roland continued.
"What if someone sent him to manipulate you?"
The king's expression hardened.
Ethan felt panic rise.
"No! I can prove it!"
Roland stepped closer.
"Then answer one question."
Ethan swallowed.
"What?"
The knight looked directly into his eyes.
"Where did you find the portal?"
Ethan hesitated.
"Inside the ruins of an old chapel."
Roland froze.
The king noticed.
"Roland?"
The knight stared at Ethan.
"Which chapel?"
Ethan answered:
"Saint Aurelia's Chapel."
Roland went pale.
Edward rose.
"Roland, what is it?"
The knight slowly turned toward the king.
May you like
Then whispered:
"Your Majesty... that is where the princess disappeared."
Related Stories
