1. Ghosts of My Past

A Chapter by danceswithhorses

Not even in sleep could he find the peace he longed for - the nightmares haunted him constantly.

One

one year earlier

If I thought time would stop the nightmares, I was wrong.

I still see it when I close my eyes, and I wonder,

will I still see it when my eyes shut and never open?

- Edward Brisban, king of Bountra

Edward Brisban lay in the darkness, body rigid, slowly recovering from the horrific scenes his memories had called up from the past. The dreams had not plagued him in over two years.

But tonight, they haunted him with shattering intensity.

His wife, Claire, propped herself up on one elbow, sensing something was wrong.

“Edward?” she asked sleepily, her voice husky with drowsiness.

“Go back to sleep, darling,” he told her, in an effort to steady his voice. “I’m all right.”

But his wife knew him better than that. “The dreams again?” she questioned, as she done so many times before, after the nightmares had left him spent and ragged. A short nod that she felt rather than saw told her all she needed to know.

“Would you like me to rub your back?” she offered gently, knowing it could sometimes soothe him back to sleep.

“You need your sleep,” he protested halfheartedly.

She pushed on his shoulder until he turned over on his stomach. “You know better than that.”

As her hand moved in soothing circles on his back, he allowed himself to relax again.

He woke with a start. He hadn’t realized he’d dozed off in the first place. Claire’s hand still rested on his back, her light breathing indicating that she slept on.

It would be dawn soon, so he eased out of bed, careful not to wake her. After dressing he stepped through the glass doors to the balcony, his early-morning place.

The air was just crisp enough to prompt him to pull his cloak closer, a subtle reminder of the fading summer.

Chill or no chill, Edward watched as the first streaks of red filled the sky. Gold and pink followed, until the eastern sky was lit in all her glory.

“And it begins again,” he said softly. The still-sleeping city of Bellevue stretched out in front of him in a rare moment of silence. Called the Jewel of Bountra, Bellevue usually teemed with activity at all hours of the day.

But for now it lay still.

It’s so peaceful now…surely my dark nightmares have no place here.

Edward rested his hands on the low stone wall surrounding the balcony, letting the chilly stone ground him as for the first time in two years he drifted back into the past. Part of him hoped the memories would bring him closure and stop the nightmares.

Eighteen years had gone by since the deaths of his mother and father. The deaths of Evan and Eleanor Brisban had eventually saved many lives, buying enough time for Edward to make a comeback.

Edward, though devastated, had had no time to indulge in his grief. He’d been forced to take on a lifetime of responsibilities along with the throne. After six long, devastating years of war, Bountra defeated the power-hungry king of Anthrope, and signed a peace treaty with his son Edgar.

It had taken them almost ten years to even begin to rebuild their kingdom.

Evan’s strange last words about a hidden prophecy still troubled Edward. They had refused his request to see it for himself. Perhaps it was better he hadn’t known.

Even so, peace eluded him. The war might be over, but his own personal ghosts still haunted him.

Edward opened his eyes with the feeble warmth of the sun, the light bringing him back home to the present.

He had a lot to do today; he wouldn’t linger, as he sometimes did.

“Did they come again?” Claire asked quietly. He turned, sorry to have

awakened her, but glad to have her beside him.

“No. No, but my memories would not let me rest.”

She laid a small hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

He laid his own hand on top of hers. “So am I.”

Claire put her other hand on his cheek, her blue eyes intense as they stared into his green ones.

“No guilt, Edward. You promised them that.”

“No guilt,” he said heavily. “How can I feel no guilt? My parents were brutally murdered by a man whose only aim was power. Power! What worth is that, when compared to the lives of the

people I held most dear?”

“You defeated King Ostcellis. You are the one who saved what your father worked his whole life to build. We live in peace with Anthrope now, because of what you did.”

“You’re good for me, Claire,” he said, smiling a little. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Of course,” she replied, taking his arm. “Now come in before you catch a chill. And don’t forget about Captain Malone’s report.”

Edward nodded, stealing a quick kiss. Her long blond hair spilled down her back in a shining mass of gold, and he couldn’t resist pulling her to him and running his fingers through it.

“I love you,” she murmured, serious now.

“And I love you,” he whispered.

If only that were enough.

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