Githa sat by her side all night while Miranda lay and pretended to sleep. She was sure that at some point one of the people that came in and out of the room, bringing fresh water and clothing would mess up and the whole thing would be revealed as an elaborate plan. But they didn’t. And the more time that passed, the more Miranda began to believe it. She had somehow gone back in time when she stepped through the door at the motel. However unbelievable it sounded, she just knew that she was in another time.
The man in the armor… She knew she had seen him before, but she just couldn’t place him. He was so handsome, he could have been a movie star, and the whole night, as she lay there, he was the only thing on her mind.
When dawn arrived, so did her sense of confidence. She rose from the bed, stretched and decided to play her new acquaintances at their own game.
“Good morning, Githa,” she smiled as she got to her feet. “I’m feeling so much better today,” she reached for a cup of water and took a sip. It had a strange taste to it; it didn’t seem clean. She reluctantly gulped and set the cup back down.
“You must dress and meet with Sir Caine,” Githa said as she hurried up to her and began to unlace the back of the nightgown. “I have your robes for you.”
Miranda lifted out her arms and let her do what she had to do. She was still confused, but she was looking forward to getting the hell out of that dark, smoky room and seeing Caine again.
***
As she walked through the corridors of the castle, her heart raced. She really was in some medieval world, and the people in it seemed to think she was someone important. Luxurious tapestries hung from the walls and the guards escorted her along the stone walkways as if she were some kind of queen. Githa had dressed her in ornate royal blue dress robes and her hair seemed to have grown by ten inches overnight. It hung in soft waves right down her back and skimmed her waist, and the weight under it was intense. With each minute she seemed to spend in her new surroundings, the more normal they became. She still had the overwhelming sense of familiarity, even while wandering the castle. Common sense told her that she never could have seen this place before, but there was something about it that was stuck at the back of her mind, as if she had lived there once before.
The guards came to a stop outside a high wooden door, much like the one she had seen in the corner of the motel room, and her skin prickled. They parted and another set of guards flanking the door stepped aside to let her move forward.
“Sir Caine waits inside for you m’lady,” one of the guards said before they all moved back as not to crowd her.
Miranda lifted her arm, and her wrist and hand were exposed from the long, swooping sleeves of her dress. She curled her fist and wrapped lightly on the door, once, twice.
“Enter,” the voice came from inside. It was him, she could tell, even after only seeing him once.
One of the guards opened the door for her, and Miranda stepped inside. The room was fabulous, like something out of a fantasy. Ahead of her were open doors leading out onto a balcony and long, flowing curtains were being blown in by a gentle breeze. The sunlight that shone in made the stone floor look gold and it matched the luxurious fabrics and paintings that adorned the room. Big velvet chairs flanked either side of the fireplace and gilded mirrors hung above it. She stepped further inside and jumped as she realized Sir Caine was out on the balcony and looking back in at her.
“Good morning,” he said quietly, “You look ravishing.”
Miranda felt herself blushing and she moved forward and took a seat. She hoped he would come and join her but he stayed still, silently watching her with a little amused smile.
“Sir Caine…” she began, “What year is this?”
He bit his bottom lip and studied her.
“I know,” he said, “I can’t believe it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other either. What, it must be, ten years?” He moved closer.
“Must be…” she played, “What year was the last time?”
“I believe it was 1066, I remember because it was before the great battle,” he said as he shook his head, “I don’t know how I’ve lived without you for so long.”
Her skin began to tingle… that made the year 1076…
“Tell me what happened,” she said, “When you found me in the woods?”
He shook his head and came inside, crossing the room and sitting down opposite her.
“You were just lying there… strange clothes… unconscious… as if you had just dropped from the sky,” he looked off into space. “It was… fate… for me to be there, I mean.”
“Where are those clothes?” she asked.
“My men burned them,” he said. “They feared witchcraft. Strange happenings go on in those woods, and I was scared for you.”
Miranda looked down at her feet, remembering studying something in college about how fucked up medieval times were when it came to witches. The last thing she wanted was them to accuse her of that.
“Did you think about me often?” he asked her as he stared up and looked longingly into her eyes.
“Always,” she said. And to her disbelief she realized that was true. Each second she was spending with him was making her feel like she had known him forever and he was a part of her that had been missing. She didn’t know how, but she knew that their souls had been connected before.
“I still remember the last time,” he smiled, “You were on the back of that big black horse, and your father ordered you to follow them as they left,” he looked down. “I knew you didn’t want to go and it broke my heart.” He reached out and touched her hand. “I always vowed that I would find you… And now here you are.”
Miranda smiled at him. Somewhere, there was a loose memory of what he had told her. She asked him to recall more details and with each little story he told her, a picture built up in her mind…
She had been Lady Miranda once and Sir Caine was the man she was supposed to marry. The more he spoke, the more she knew it to be true. They were madly in love and had been together since childhood, meeting secretly, planning their wedding, growing up together and being inseparable… until their families’ quarreled and Miranda’s was forced to leave York. She had been broken hearted, as had Sir Caine, torn apart by a feud over money and their fathers’ stubbornness. Caine always said he would wait… And he did…
The memories flooded back to her: In her mind’s eye, she could see herself as a child, running along the wild desolate fields with her horses and clinging onto a young Caine. She saw the townspeople in the square putting criminals into the stocks, she saw people being stoned and burned alive and the terror it had instilled in her. She saw her father putting her on that horse and telling her that they were leaving before they suffered the same fate at the hand of the king’s men. Caine’s father was an ally of the king and Miranda’s knew they wouldn’t have a future in York unless he made amends, which he wasn’t prepared to do… She saw her parents slain in front of her while they were in the forest, making their way south. And she remembered the brute with the biggest sword she had ever seen coming at her and swiping. She had been killed in the forest back then, and that was where she had returned. She had stepped through the door and fallen back into a past life, one she had lived hundreds of years ago. And she was now reunited with the love of her life… Caine.
As the feelings filled her, she found herself jumping up to embrace him. She had never felt feelings in all of her lives since than the ones she had for Caine back in the Middle Ages. She knew it all seemed too crazy to believe, but she could feel it in her bones. Something had aligned and made it possible for her to return. She was being given a second chance at the happiest life she had ever had. She was fulfilling a destiny that had been cut short. She had escaped from Ryan and her shitty life in 2015 and she was back where she could be who she was meant to be… Lady Miranda of York.
Caine looked into her eyes and pulled her to him. Her heart raced in her ribcage and as he held her tight and kissed her, it was if nothing had ever changed.