Once upon a time, I was Morgann, a 9th century Irish calligrapher-monk.
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EXCERPT
Centuries ago I was Morgann. Albeit I am neither immortal nor
a supernatural creature of any kind, I am now an urban legend. For I am
something else.
I am a soul that gained awareness of its existence; a
wandering soul inhabiting various bodies throughout their mortal life.
A soul longing to be reunited with its soulmate.
Like the fairytale, you know, “Once upon a time…” And the rest
of the story unfolds, sometimes with torments, but always with a happy ending.
Only that is not how it turned out for us.
So maybe we should try another story line that would end
better this time. Let’s say, “Twice upon a time,” maybe?
Anyway. This is what I am.
Centuries later, this soul eventually ended up in my body. Now
I feel I can speak on Morgann’s behalf, for I’m him and he’s me. We’re one.
Fearless and hopeful, when Morgann’s body died, his soul began
its journey. His body was no longer of use but his soul had lived on, intact,
searching for her frantically. Her? Well, that would be Deirdre, a powerful
medicine woman accused of being a witch.
Some witnessed my encounter with Deirdre and what followed,
back when I was still Morgann. I, Morgann, a monk working on the now infamous Book
of Kells. Witch or medicine woman, I couldn’t care less because right from
the start I had that gut feeling she was the one for me, even as I had simply
stared at the river of shiny black hair falling down to her back. It was meant
to be.
Kismet.
Yes, we were undeniably soulmates. Twist of fate? I have no
idea but that was how connected our souls were and still are, somehow. What was Deirdre doing there that day in the
monastery? I didn’t dare ask. After that, I was already too involved to search
for more explanation. My fate was sealed and so was hers. When we were
introduced, we grasped at once that we were made for one another as long as we
lived. Too bad we hadn’t foreseen our time together would be shortened by
greedy people. Hopefully she was resourceful and found a way to escape our
fate.
Let me tell you about us.
What did we do wrong?
Well, when you’re a monk, there is no such thing as falling in
love and breaking the vows of celibacy but I did. When you’re a medicine woman,
there is no such thing as engaging in a passionate relationship with a man, and
not just any man but a monk.
So the medicine woman was accused of being a witch for her
medicine involved plants, charms and casting spells as well. Truth be told, she
was a witch. There was no doubt about it.
Morgann was born in Ireland in the 8th century.
When exactly? Not sure. Nobody was good at keeping track around that time. For
some reason, though, centuries later I had a dream about the encounter that
changed everything; it happened in the year 813.
Shameless, Deirdre and I broke all the rules. Deirdre had been
paid to write what she knew about strong medicine and spells. I was one of the
chosen script monks who wrote the book in calligraphy with her, for years.
That meaningful book didn’t belong to us. It was theirs. So
meaningful they ended up referring to it as poisonous when I’d rather call it
visionary. Who were they? The sleeping partners; narrow-minded judgmental
people who started to get scared of her. Of us. They needed to destroy us.
Deirdre didn’t realize their attempt until it was almost too late.
But we had to stop them once we had apprehended their genuine
intentions. Their goal was plain and simple, yet we were too blinded by our
love to see it right from the start. They were seeking eternal life. But it
didn’t work that way. None of them ever figured out how to cast the right spell
at the right time on the chosen person.
When it got out of hand, people’s imagination was already at
work. At once, word-of-mouth spread the tale that soon became legendary. Why?
Well…who could believe in our true fate? A soul that lived on until reunited
with its soulmate, come on!
Soon enough, our legend started. Our peculiar story and the
supposedly poisonous book were referred to as the Black Angel Book.
Once Upon a Time, a monk fell in love with a healer woman, a witch to be exact. Their love was forbidden, he was a Monk and had taken vows of celibacy. They were working on a book of magic together, and evil forces wanted the book for themselves. To protect their love, and their book, Deirdre cast a spell that Morgann and she would come back until they found each other.
The end of the book would be written on Morgann’s body to protect it.
For centuries Morgann’s soul has come back and inhabited other bodies, searching for Deirdre. She can’t remember who she was, or what they were, so he has to find her and remind her. All the while killing and destroying the descendants of the evil ones.
Twice upon a time, Virgil meets Rose, and she’s the one. He can’t get enough of her, the spell on his body begins to take over and grow, showing him that she’s the one. But Rose has no memory of what they were or who she was. Virgil must remind her, help her find her memory. Virgil struggles with the fear that maybe Rose isn’t really the one either, she isn’t “his type” and he isn’t hers. But the attraction is there. Neither one wants to admit they are in love with the other one.
While Virgil is afraid to make a move, and then find out Rose isn’t really Deirdre after all, in comes the knight in shining armor. Bruce. Bruce isn’t who he says he is, but he becomes plan B for Rose. She isn’t really interested in Bruce, but they are compatible. The man she wants, the man she’s crazy about, the man she loves everything about… well, that’s Virgil. But Virgil keeps pushing her away.
Will they be able to find their happily ever after the second time around? Or is their love fated to never be?
This is a good read, a little slow at first. I was hoping for more of the story to come out, but there is book two for me to read now.
About Hope Irving
Hope Irving is the proud mother of a lovely and witty young lady, and the lucky wife of a loving and supportive husband. She's a debut indie author who lived in Paris, France, most of her life and also in the US, where she graduated with a master degree.
