Chapter Twenty-Nine: Once Upon Another Time

He had been born in a small stone cottage deep in the woods just a few miles away from the castle where the royal family lived.
His mother had named him Erik, yet when he had been just three years of age, she had been dragged from their house after managing to hide him in the cellar and accused of practicing witchcraft.
And when her accusers were asked whether they had any proof of their claims, all it took was the mention of the fact that she had birthed a deformed child, and upon the rising of the sun the next morning, she was burned at the stake.

After his mother's death, Erik sought shelter with a traveling band of gypsies, yet his trust was betrayed and he was forced to display his face to large crowds for money.
After ten years of such treatment, he managed to escape and found work as a pickpocket.
Just two years later, however, he was caught trying to pick the pocket of a high-ranking member of the court.
However, instead of being arrested, he was instead offered a job as the Queen's Assassin.

He accepted, and immediately began training in various forms of execution, also inventing a few of his own.
And he didn't mind, not truly.
It was a way to release all of the torment he felt inside, that crushing myriad of emotions.
And so he continued as the years passed... until he saw the Angel.

She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
With silvery-blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and lips that looked as soft as rose-petals, Erik suddenly felt a strange aching sensation in his chest.
And when the Queen gave the order for the Angel to be killed, Erik knew that he couldn't allow that to happen.
He had to protect her!
So he took her to his cottage in the woods, but even that didn't work, because the Queen had somehow managed to find the Angel, and now she was dead.
The Angel was dead, and it was Erik's fault.
He just prayed that he could get her back.

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