Alice's Heart : The Story Behind the Book

"Thousands of years ago, there lived a king from the land of Jelita. He was a descendant of the strongest creature of that era. His body was large, valiant, so that in one hit he could split the ground where his enemy's feet stand. Those who had come face-to-face with him said that his dark blue eyes were piercingly murderous and showed no mercy. Even so, no one could argue against the fact that he was deeply loved by his people. He always put the interests of his people first, even if he had to sacrifice his life. The land under his leadership lived a prosperous and peaceful life, but little did the people know that their well-known king was keeping a dark secret. He was under a curse,"

A little seven-year-old girl stared tensely up at the ceiling of the room, hiding her body under a thick-warm fleece blanket. It was the first time Mrs. Greyson had read her a different bedtime story than usual. Her tiny hands gripped the edge of the blanket, pulling it over her nose, leaving only her eyes exposed to the flickering light of her bedroom lamp.

"It was a curse that could turn him into the ugliest and most terrible creature of the land," continued Mrs. Greyson, playing the tone of her voice as the narrator. Her tone became very subtle, low, but mysterious to the ear. "Becoming a descendant of the strongest apparently had a price he had to pay. He became the only descendant who got the curse from the family's precepts,"

There was a feeling of sympathy from the little girl towards the king. She thought it was unfair, especially for a man who had done so much for his land.

"To escape long before the curse occured, every hundred years the king must plunge a dagger into the heart of his soul mate. For years he must live with regret and loneliness because of it. His soulmate died in his hands even when she was just born and was still full of chastity. It sounded selfish of him to do that just so his form as a perfect man didn't change, but behind that, he was doing it solely to keep his oath as long as he served as king. He must take care of his people even though the light of his happiness was slowly fading from within him,"

"Poor him. His story sounds exciting, but it's not the fairy tale you promised me." the little girl protested while looking at Mrs. Greyson, her adoptive mother, with sleepy eyes. She wanted to hear stories of happily ever after, not about sadistic curses that separate two soul mates.

Mrs. Greyson looked down at the thin dusty book in her hands and then closed it. The dull book was placed by her on the nightstand. She didn't notice the little girl next to her staring at the book in confusion. Aside from the cover which had pictures of creatures with strange shapes, the book didn't look like a fairy tale book at all. It was far from fitting to be called that because it was so thin, unlike any other she had seen. Each sheet was almost wilted with weathering and the color was no longer white, but brown-colored and covered every handwriting that existed.

"Alice's Heart?" asked the little girl. Mrs. Greyson didn't mention their names at all throughout the story so she curiously asked. "Is it the name of that poor king's soulmate?"

"You're right, my dear." whispered Mrs. Greyson as she stroked every strand of the little girl's long hair. "She had the same name as yours,"

"My name is Alice Adalia, do we have the same last name too?" asked Alice innocently. The sparkle in her eyes hoped Mrs. Greyson would say what she wanted to hear.

Mrs. Greyson smiled at Alice's concern and pinched the bridge of her nose gently and briefly. "It's just Alice,"

Hearing that, Alice breathed a sigh of relief and a smile bloomed on her chubby pink cheeks. Only then she could sleep soundly.

The next night, Alice thought the story of the poor king had come to an end. In fact, no. Mrs. Greyson became increasingly enthusiastic about telling every detail of the story. Finally, until the third night as the last night of the story. Alice was no longer hiding under her blanket. She chose to sit and focus her attention on every incident that occurred and the actions taken by the king.

The story began to enter into how the curse simply didn't let the mighty king feel any breath of freedom at all. His situation was getting worse and even drowned in grief. Every day was like torture for him. Eternal life was of no use to him anymore. He had wished to die like all the other creatures on his land, but he was forever young and a well-formed human.

It was another hundred years, he again plunged the dagger into the heart of the baby who was destined to be his lover. He had considered himself a murderer until news of it was heard by one of his most loyal subjects. But loyalty can turn into betrayal, success is not always on the side of the strong, and the fall is on those who lose themselves in the process.

The king was forcibly dethroned. He was exiled far from his own land. Despite his dependents, he promised to let his soulmate live. He allowed himself to completely transform from his original form to become completely unrecognizable. His appearance had turned ghastly. So he chose to seclude himself on earth in a black castle on a hill far from human reach. No one knew which hill he was referring to. He did it on purpose so that no one else could find him.

"But when his soulmate turns nineteen, he will come back and claim what is destined to be his." added Mrs. Greyson at the end of the story. The seriousness in her words sent goosebumps to Alice. She felt something heavy from her heart before it turned into an erratic thumping.

"Ummm, what does Alice look like? Is she pretty like a sleeping beauty?"

"I'm sure she's that pretty, but you know she didn't even have a chance to grow up to be a kid." There was pity in Mrs. Greyson's voice. She inhaled sharply, looking at Alice with a certain gaze.

"But at the end of the story the king let her live, so her appearance should be described in the book." whispered Alice with her eyes fixed on the old book.

"The author has not continued the continuation of what happened after, maybe after the two have actually met each other, then the story will be completed. Who knows," Mrs. Greyson gave the most reasonable answer ever.

"So the king and her haven't seen each other until now?"

Staring at Alice intensely, Mrs. Greyson answered. "Maybe it's because she hasn't turned nineteen this year," Her instant reply caused a brief silence between them.

In between keeping her eyes awake from the drowsiness, Alice smiled sweetly. "Then I hope they meet soon. They deserve to be together after so many goodbyes,"

"Trust me, they will. Soon,"

Who knew it would be Alice's last night hearing Mrs. Greyson read her a bedtime story. Because the next day after playing all day in the back garden, all she knew was that the mansion was empty. Her adoptive mother was nowhere to be seen. All that time they had only lived there alone and now she was left alone without any of explanation she should've received.

At first Alice thought Mrs. Greyson would return a day or two days later, but time flew by so quickly that a week passed without any good signs. She managed to hold on for seven days, but she could no longer afford to step into the eighth day. She was starving, food supplies had run out. She didn't stop to wonder if she had done something wrong to be left alone. There was pain at the thought that she had been forgotten by Mrs. Greyson.

Barely able to stand on her feet anymore, Alice saw her hope rise when a boy around her age opened the mansion's door wide. His eyes were a fiery dark red, piercing her hazel orbs. They stared at each other, not saying a word. It was just silence until the boy decided to speak. "My name is Sebastian, Sarah Greyson's son. Are you Alice?"

Alice couldn't help but freeze in place while staring at Sebastian intently. He was the very first boy she had ever met. Besides being an inch taller than her, he smelled like lavender.

"Are you mute or deaf?"

Alice snapped out of her reverie as the flat expression of the boy in front of her turned irritated. She then realized that she hadn't answered anything, so she immediately started by shaking her head and whispering no.

"Listen Alice, or whatever your name is, my mother is never coming back. You don't have to wait anymore,"

"She can't possibly leave me. I don't believe you," said Alice in her soft voice. Her lips trembled as tears fell from her eyes. Her mind kept yelling at her that it was a lie, anyway how could Sebastian say that? All that time he didn't even live with them.

"Just stop crying, will you!" snapped Sebastian in frustration at having to face the crying girl. "Believe it or not, I don't care. The point is she will never come back, so now you're my responsibility. You have to listen to me and come with me right now. For the record, I don't accept any rejection from you."

Little Alice was frightened by the burning anger in Sebastian's red eyes. She could only sob and nod at the same time. The boy in front of her acted completely unlike the boys around his age.

"Come," urged Sebastian, guiding Alice out of the mansion with him.

From then on Alice's real life only began when she moved into the Greyson's main mansion. The place was more majestic and extraordinarily beautiful. As her new residence, it had no neighbors and was far from the hustle and bustle of the city. There were only a wonderful natural scenery. From a distance, one could even see a perfectly shaped hill that was dimly shrouded in mist.

Living there also gave Alice a therapeutic surprise, as there were many servants ready to serve her. Unlike how she used to live alone with Mrs. Greyson. They gave her a warm welcome by bowing respectfully. It was very nice of them, but she wasn't used to it let alone having to live with so many people under the same roof. It was all new to her, so it took her some time to adapt to feel safe and comfortable, but not until she found a little girl her age to be one of the servants there. Her name was Zoe; a brave and friendly girl with short black hair with bangs.

To Alice's surprise, Zoe also knew the story about Alice's Heart. In fact, she was so intrigued by the story that she kept talking about it on the first day they became friends. Rumors circulated among the servants that the curse king had something to do with the Greysons.

No matter how young Alice was, she knew that a fairy tale would still be a fairy tale. It wasn't real and just made up. But she just knew that someday she would also have her own prince. It made a smile spread across her tomato-pink cheeks. Her eyes were looking straight at the hill beyond, it was a dark, misty blue.

"Hey Alice, have you ever wondered what kind of creatures live there?" asked Zoe, pointing to the hill. Curiosity was all over her face.

"I don't know, maybe just a wild animal. Why do you ask?"

Zoe shrugged innocently. "Nothing, just curious. Every year the servants are ordered to send various kinds of food there throughout the day as a tradition in this family,"

"You never went there with them for that?" asked Alice gently.

"I'm still too young for that, so I'll have to wait a few more years." Zoe returned her gaze from the hill to Alice. She smiled and continued. "I'm glad you came here, because that means, when it's my turn to bring the food there, we can go together."