Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) (16 page)

the prophecy spoke of but now, seeing it with his own eyes, he could no longer deny it.

“Oh papa,” I sighed as I hugged his midsection.

“You just called me papa,” he finally cried. His hand went to smooth my hair.

“Oh,” I whispered against his chest. I quickly pulled away from him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I did that. I don’t even know where that came from.”

“That is alright. I never will mind that.” He wiped a tear away from his cheek. He was ecstatic that I acknowledged that he was my father. That was all he ever wanted to hear. “I think that is enough for right now. Let’s get some breakfast in you and reconvene here in an hour.”

I nodded and stood up from my chair. Yelson followed me up the steps, his loud footsteps echoing throughout the room. Simon’s door was open when we reached the top. I could see him sitting on his bed with a book in his hand. A smile spread across my face as I remember him in that exact pose just a few months prior. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

              “I’ll make you some breakfast,” Yelson whispered behind me knowing I wanted to talk to my brother.

I whispered my thanks before lightly knocking on Simon’s open door. His head promptly looked up. “Can we talk?”

He nodded before putting his book down onto the night stand by his bed. I moved to sit by him. As much as I wanted to be mad at him I couldn’t. I didn’t even remember why. “I’m sorry Simon. I know I couldn’t have done anything to save dad but I just wanted to believe that I could. That vision came to me for a reason right? What better reason than that.”

“Annie, I know how you feel. I was there, I could have saved him but Daruka put some sort of spell on us. We couldn’t move. We couldn’t even blink to stop looking. If anyone should be sorry it should be me.”

“No it was neither of our faults. Dad wouldn’t want us beating ourselves or each other up about this.”

“Yeah you’re right,” he whispered. “How did it go with Kenelm?”

I smiled when he changed the subject. He was finally returning to my brother that I knew and loved that cared for my learning.

“Better than any of us expected. I lit candles, boiled water, and grew flowers with just thinking about it. I never thought I’d be able to do that.”

“We always knew you were special. It just proves our theories.” His eyes sparkled when he looked at me. He was proud of me, of the woman I had become in such a short amount of time.

“Simon, you knew about me being the oracle our whole lives. Of course you would think I was special.”

“Nope. I knew you as my baby sister that always needed me to protect her. Now look at you. You can beat the crap out of any of these guys with just the thought.”

“I’m not that advanced yet,” I laughed. The thought of me being able to beat up the guards or Yelson made me laugh. Maybe one day I would.

“It’s in you. And I smell pancakes. Shall we?” he asked as he held his arm out for me.

“We shall,” I said when I took him arm and walked out of the room.

I had my brother back. He was right when he said I used to always need him but what he didn’t know is that I needed him now more than ever. He was the only thing left to remind me of my old life. The life I had with my little, somewhat, normal family in our perfect cabin in the woods. He reminded me of the small, weak girl I used to be.

I didn’t want to completely let her go. I was still Annie. I still wasn’t a killer. My plan for Daruka kept replaying in my mind.

Today was going to be a long day.

Yelson stood frozen in front of me. He tried to fight the spell casted on him but it was too strong for him to do anything. He was helpless and I loved it because I had caused it.

“Good, now focus on moving him.”

I listen to Kenelm’s voice enter my mind. I almost didn’t see him standing beside me as I had all my attention focused on keeping Yelson still. He was under the same spell I had casted on the men who were hurting Weldon in the forest but this time I had used no words. I didn’t need them anymore.

I thought of Yelson’s body moving towards the books to his left. His left hand twitched as I concentrate. I pushed all my energy into moving him. He flew into the bookshelf and onto the floor.

“Oh gosh, Yelson I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to throw you just to give you a little push.”

“It’s okay Annie. I’m fine.” He stood up and brushed away the dust from some of the fallen books. A small cut bled on his left elbow where a piece of glass had cut him.

“You’re bleeding.”

“What?” He looked at his elbow and shrugged. “Nothing that won’t heal. Now let’s get back to it.”

I ignored him and took his arm in my hand. Not sure as to what I was doing I placed my hand over his elbow and tried to heal it. Purple mist covered my hand and moved to his body to heal him. When I was satisfied that it was fine I removed my hand. “Now you don’t have to wait.”

Yelson couldn’t take his shocked eyes off me. He wasn’t expecting that for sure. Kenelm had the same face of surprise Yelson did. No one had taught me how to heal someone yet. It was the first time I had done it.

“Annie that was amazing.”

“What? Haven’t you guys seen someone heal someone before?”

“Yes, but only a Strega’s magic is purple, yours should be blue.” Kenelm looked interested in this new piece to the Annie puzzle.

“Does it matter? It still worked.” I pointed to Yelson’s elbow again as if no one had seen it yet. They just kept looking at me in awe. “Okay imma call it a day. I’ll see you both when we leave tomorrow morning.”

I didn’t wait for a reply as I ran up the stairs and made my way to my room.

I hated it when they looked at me like that. They had given me those looks since we started practice yesterday. It felt like they didn’t see me as Annie but as Anastasia and that wasn’t who I was. I needed to show everyone that. I just wasn’t sure how.

A small knock echoed off the door to my room.

“Come in.”

Emilie and Arabella entered my room. They were both matching with green dresses and their hair braided back.

“Annie, do you want to come with us to the market place?” Arabella chirped as she jumped onto my bed.

“I need to get a few more things before you all leave tomorrow morning. Yelson thought it would be a good idea to bring you with. He said you could use a break from the palace and I think he is right. You have been cooped up in this place for far too long.”

“Yes, please,” I replied quickly getting up from the bed. Arabella giggled before following me out of the room.

Yelson was waiting for us at the doorway. “This may be a break for you Annie but I still have a job to protect you outside of this palace.”

“I don’t mind,” I said to him as I passed him out the open door.

Emilie led the way to the center of town. It was buzzing with energy as people moved from here to there. Everyone glanced to us as we passed them but most let their gazes wonder away after a few seconds. A couple others would stare at me longer than I would have liked but I didn’t let it phase me anymore. I simply smiled back at them and followed my friends throughout the market place.

Arabella spotted a few of her friends and she ran to them excitedly. We all smiled when we saw her laughing with the small group of kids from different species. There were two fays, one elf, and two that looked to be witches but I couldn’t be sure.

They were what we were trying to protect. The young, innocent people of this world who didn’t have any sort of a chance against Daruka. They needed us to make sure they had a future ahead of them. Not just any future but one in which they would be glad to live in.

“Annie?”

“Huh? Yeah?” I brought my attention back to Yelson and Emilie who were looking at me.

“Is there anything you want for tomorrow?” Yelson repeated as I didn’t hear him the first time.

“Oh, no I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Yelson turned back to the merchant he was talking too before.

I looked back to Arabella and her friends. They were playing some sort of game of tag. I found myself smiling again. I had to do this for them.

*~*

“Annie, come on wake up. They are going to leave without us,” Emilie pushed the covers away from me. She wore jeans and a yellow shirt with white swirls throughout it. It was weird to see because she always wore dresses and the like.

“They can’t leave without me. I’m the oracle. I’m sort of the most important thing they need to remember to take with them.”

“It was supposed to make you get up faster. Come on, we need to leave within the hour.”

“Wait, we?” Now it made sense what she was wearing. She was planning on going with us. Her thoughts confirmed my suspicions.

“Yes. Cabel and Kenelm have allowed me to go. They said it would be good to have another Strega on the trip. Don’t worry. They said I won’t go anywhere near the ‘battlefield.’” She lifted her fingers to do air quotes around the word battlefield. “And I refuse to just stay here and do nothing. Not after Weldon.”

Tears threatened her eyes but she choked them back. She was trying to be strong. “I’d prefer if you stayed.”

“I would prefer that you would stay too but that is not going to happen. So get up and get dressed. Yelson is getting Mary ready for you. They want us gone before the sun gets up.”

She stayed to make sure I didn’t try to lag on my getting dressed. In a way I was glad. She was like a sister I never had. As much as I loved Simon there was just some things that I couldn’t confide in him. And I needed to get something off my chest before we left on our journey.

“Yelson wanted to kiss me,” I said as I grabbed my bag from the dresser. I couldn’t see Emilie’s face but I’m sure her expression was along the lines of shocked.

“Well it’s about dang time. Did he?” She looked at me excitedly as she waited for me to tell her the story. But there wasn’t much for me to tell her.

“No. I sort of ran out the room when I saw that in his mind.”

“What? Why? I know how much you like each other. Everyone can see it when you are in the same room together. Even your father has mentioned it to me.”

“Kenelm? He told you too?”

“Yes. He doesn’t want you to make the same mistake that he did. Every day he regrets not getting to be with your mother those extra years. Annie, you never know when your time is up. It could be today, in two days or years from now. But one thing is for sure. You should always live in the present and do what you want to. Don’t think about the consequences. Just live a little.” Emilie moved to stand by me. Her hands took mine in hers. “You deserve a little happiness after the crap you have been through and the crap you are getting yourself in now.”

“I’m scared Em. I don’t know what to do. With any of this.”

“Yes you do. You just have to look here.” She pointed to my heart. “And you will always know what needs to be done.”

What was my heart telling me to do? Of course it was saying to be with Yelson but was it the rational thing to do? I know Emilie told me not to think about that but I couldn’t help it. There was a very good chance that I wasn’t coming back from this trip alive. If my plan went smoothly I wouldn’t be. I couldn’t do that to Yelson, I loved him too much to break his heart like that.

“Thanks Emilie. We should go. I’m sure everyone is waiting for us.”

When we got the front of the palace everyone was there. Cabel, Kenelm, and Calhoun were talking by their horses about the best route to take. Yelson, Gomel, Simon, Dario, and one other guard I didn’t know were scattered around the horses. Simon was the first to see us come out of the palace.

“Ready to go?” he asked as he took my bag from me. He carried a torch with him as the sun was far from rising yet. It was a funny sight. Bolton never seemed to amaze me with its mixture of old and modern.

“Yep. Come one.” Emilie ran to her white horse and quickly got on. She was way too eager about this trip. Then again, she always was.

Everyone then got on their horses. Two of the guards towed a wagon with their horses. It was packed high with supplies we would need for the trip. The box that held my sword was amongst them. I could feel it beckon to me through my blood but I needed to ignore it.

The village was quite as we rode through it but the villagers looked at us through their windows. They all had the same sense of hope on their faces. They could feel the end to this war coming and they were happy.

Seeing them gave me strength. They all believed in me to do this. I had to do this for them. They were the ones most affected by Daruka’s wrath. The innocent people of Bolton were constantly being attacked, killed, and hurt by him and his men. They needed peace of mind and I was the only one who could give it to them.

I already knew I had to stop Daruka but now I knew I could do it. After all the destruction and heartache he has caused these past nineteen years it had to end. He had to be stopped once and for all.

*~*

“I can feel my heartbeat throughout my whole body,” Emilie said. She lay on the grass where we felt was best to make camp for the night. Her body was sore from the mostly nonstop riding we did today. I was as well. My legs felt like jelly and my lower back was killing me. “Please tell me we won’t have to do that again tomorrow? I think I just might die if we do.”

“We did good time today. If we ride the same tomorrow we should reach where Daruka is that next morning.” Kenelm’s voice boomed over the area to make sure everyone was able to hear him.

“Great,” I mumbled as I lay down next to Emilie on the grass. We left the boys to set up for the night. “Isn’t there some sort of spell to take away soreness?”

“You tell me,” Emilie laughed. “I bet you can just think it and it will happen.”

We laughed when I tried but failed. It seemed like we would have to suffer with the ache for now.

I helped Emilie up so we could unsaddle the horses. The guys had put up three big white tents. One was for the guards and