Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) (5 page)

“Oh,” a young girl gasped and jumped out of her seat. Her light blue hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and glistened in the fading sunlight. She absently moved her hands to flatten her white dress.

A girl about my age was already standing next to her. Long purple hair flowed down her back in perfect curls. I couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped my mouth when she turned toward me. Her purple eyes caused my heart to soar. She was a Strega, just like my family.

There was also someone grabbing something from the fridge all I could see was his or her hand. The black painted fingernails lead me to believe it was a woman.

“Guy’s, I want you to meet Anastasia Miller.” To my surprise, a man poked his head out of the fridge at the sound of Yelson’s voice to look at me. His brown eyes and boyish face smiled at me before biting into an apple.

“Please call me Annie. I really don’t like it when people call me Anastasia,” I smiled at everyone.

“My name is Arabella,” the young girl exclaimed as she sat back into her chair. Her eyes stayed focused on me causing me to fidget with the hem of my shirt. I wasn’t use to people staring at me.

“Emilie and he,” Emilie said pointing to the man who was still staring at me with the apple in his hand. “Is Weldon.”

Weldon nodded in acknowledgment as his eyes traveled over my body. I wanted to hide behind a wall at his stare. I was not used to such looks. It was surreal. No guy had ever looked at me like that. I was always the quiet, plain girl. There was never anything special about me other than my eyes. Their extra blue tint always got compliments.

“Are you hungry?” Yelson asked as he walked around me. I could feel the heat that radiated off him like a furnace.

“No, thank you. I am just a bit tired. We didn’t really get a restful night’s sleep.” My mind went back to the night before, to sleeping in a thin, cold, sleeping bag on top of hard weeds and dirt.

“I can show you to your room.” Weldon replied from across the kitchen. His eye’s still held that glint in them and his face still wore that hungry smile.

“That’s alright Weldon, I can do it.” The edge in Yelson’s voice got Weldon to back down from his offer. I could see Emilie smirk at the exchange before she smiled at me. Arabella still stared at me in awe.

I said my goodbyes and followed Yelson back to the living area and into the hallway off the left side of the room by one of the staircases.

There were four doors lining the right side and three on the left. Yelson walked to the second to last door on the right and opened it. A four-poster bed with light blue bedding was in the middle of the room, an antique dresser was on the right, and a matching vanity was on the left. It was plain and I oddly liked it, it wasn’t as if I would be staying there long.

“The bathroom is across the hall. My room is next door at the end of the hall so if you need anything just let me know.”

“Thank you Yelson.” I grabbed my pack from him and closed the door when he walked away.

I stared at the room. This is where I would be living until I find my family, and I would find them. Tomorrow I will talk to Cabel about it. Ask him about Daruka and why he wants me dead. Tomorrow I would get my answers.

I grabbed the book Simon had packed for me. It was about zombies, of course. Simon could not get enough of those books. I spent the rest of the day reading until my body called for sleep. However, that sleep did not come easily. 

“Dad?” My father looked up at my voice. I gasped in horror when I saw his eyes. They were all white, lifeless, yet dark. His once smiling face crumbled in ashes before my eyes. The invisible fire ate away at his body, leaving nothing in its wake.

“Annie, run.” Simon’s voice bounded within my head. I searched for my brother around the endless black room but he was nowhere in sight. “Just run!”

My body started moving without my consent. Almost as if someone else was commanding it.

I ran farther away from the smoldering ashes of my father. I ran into the nothingness before me, not knowing where I would be running too. I trusted my brother enough to know he would not send me to my death. He was saving me, even if I could not see who or what he was saving me from.

A small light appeared to my right. I followed it until it grew into a giant orb floating in front of me. The mist that glided inside looked to be searching for a way out. Slowly it found its way through the top. It moved over to envelope me in its embrace. My body froze as it tightened around me as a boa constrictor would with its prey. It tightened itself until I was gasping for breath. My lungs burned for air but I still could not move.

“Just let it happen, Annie.” Simon? Was he doing this? Was he trying to end my life? “You can be with us if you just let it happen.”

I shook my head back and forth. No, this is not real. Simon would never tell me to end my own life.

Someone shook me awake from my nightmare. I shot up and looked around at the unfamiliar room until my eyes landed on Yelson. A look of worry was plaster all over his face.

“What are you doing here?” I croaked barely getting a sound out as my throat was dry and sore.

“You were screaming. I wasn’t sure what was happening so I woke you.” He looked me over. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it was just a nightmare.” I replied quickly falling back into the bed. I took a few deep breaths to help calm my racing heart.

What had I just seen? I had never had a dream like that before. It scared the living right out of me.

“A pretty bad one I’m guessing,” he whispered. I looked over at him. His eyes concentrated on a space just above my head.

“I’m just not used to having them,” I replied. I never really had a bad dream before. At least nothing as bad as that. My arm wiped away the sweat from my forehead
.
Gross
.

“Neither was I when they first started coming.” I looked at him in shock. Yelson did not seem like the one to have nightmares. He seemed as if nothing could scare him.

“How did you get over it?” I whispered still under the covers of the bed.

“I haven’t,” he whispered. His eyes closed as he took a deep, shaky, breath. “I probably never will.”

I stared at him in silence. A strong man that I barely knew seemed to be sharing something with me that he never shared with anyone else. The thought scared me. I have never been good with making people feel better. All I really do is listen to them. Simon told me that sometimes that was what people needed, just someone to listen to them.

“I’ll leave you alone now that I know you’re okay.” He started to move towards the door but I stopped him. I grabbed his wrist and tried to pull him back but my weak arms could barely move him.

“Could you stay with me? Just for a little longer,” I pleaded with him when I let go of his wrist. “I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Of course.” He sat down at the chair that went with my mirror. His eyes wondered the room never settling on one thing for more than a few seconds.

I wondered what species he was. He could be a warlock but I had never heard of one with gray eyes like his. He could be Conriocht, werewolf, but they were nomads and only like to be with their own kind. If he was a wolf he would go crazy living here. Yelson finally looked at me and did not at all seem weird out that I was staring at him.

“I thought you were going to go to sleep.” His smooth voice traveled over my body helping me to forget my nightmare.

“I can’t,” I admitted and bunched up the covers closer to my body. It seemed like I had just realized I was in my pajamas and Yelson could see. There wasn’t much to see as my zebra print pants and tank covered most of my body. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” His eyes search my face. I found myself blushing again. I did not get why I was, he was just looking at me but there was something different about him. He seemed to affect me more than any other man had before. I didn’t know why but I just knew it couldn’t lead to anything. I had to focus on getting my family back not on some guy.

“Not unless you can control my dreams,” I sighed closing my eyes. The dream began to replay behind my closed lids so I quickly opened them back up. There was no way I was going to go back to sleep anytime soon.

“Not my area of expertise.” I figured. “But I could help distract you.”

“How?” I asked sitting up from the bed.

“I’m not sure,” he lightly laughed. The sound brought happiness to me and I found myself smiling. It caused his smile to grow even more.

“How old are you?” I decided to ask. A few questions should help my mind forget about the dream. Also I would be able to learn more about this man who was my guard.

“Twenty four.”

“Favorite food?”

“Anything fried.”

“Ah my brother too. His favorite was fried green tomatoes.” I smiled of a memory of Simon making the tomatoes. He would always let me help him fry them but I always burnt them. I could feel the tears return but quickly choked them down.

“What are you?” I decided to ask Yelson to keep me distracted. His laughing eyes suddenly grew dark as they looked away from me.

“You should really try to get some sleep.” He said dismissing my question.

“Yelson, I want to know what you are. You’re my guard, how can I walk around everywhere with you and not know who is protecting me.”

“You don’t need to know that. All you need to know is that I would do anything for you no matter what I am.” Yelson stood up from the chair and started to walk to the door.

“You don’t even know me. Why would you want to protect me?” He looked at me as if I was missing some huge picture.

“I do know you, Anastasia.” He whispered, so low I almost missed it, before he turned around and left my room.

He could not possible know me I had just met him a few hours ago. He seemed so sure of it though. The way his jaw tensed up before he said those five words. Even though he was looking at the floor I was able to see that his gray eyes grew hard. It was easy to tell he meant what he was saying. Even if I did not believe it myself.

I decided to grab my pack off the floor where I left it and took out my spell book. I turned to the page after the binding spell I had memorized just days before. The next spell was a defensive one.

The description that was hand written underneath it said that this spell would cast a force field around whomever I direct it towards, even myself. It was a simple incantation, not nearly as long as the spell before it. I knew I would have it memorized in a short time period.

I put my book into the top drawer closest to the bed. I placed my small amount of clothing on top of it to hide it from view. I did not want anyone to know I had it even if I could trust these people.

I grabbed the hairbrush and toothbrush out of the bag, as well as a change of clothing when I finally noticed I was still in my pajamas from the night before and made my way to the bathroom across the hall. From the hall window, I was able to see the sun was starting to rise.

The claw-footed tub was the first thing I noticed when I entered the bathroom. It reminded me of the one my family had when we lived in Las Vegas when I was seven. Mom would fill it with water always at the right temperature and would add bubbles just for me. I smiled as the memory passed.

I missed my mom. I missed my family. The tears forced their way down my cheeks, warping my vision until everything was just a blurry mess. I grabbed onto the sink as I cried to keep me from falling.

Why couldn’t they just let those men take me? I was all they wanted, they wouldn’t have hurt them. I wasn’t worth all three of their lives, heck I wasn’t even worth one. I just needed my family to be safe. Even if that meant I would be gone.

“Are you okay in there?” A woman asked through the door at the sound of my crying. It was Emilie.

I cleared my throat before I replied. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t sound like you are.” I was half-tempted to open the door and tell her I was lying. I needed someone’s shoulder to cry on, for someone to comfort me. However, I could not let her see me like this.

My reflection showed the bags underneath my eyes that had deepened the past couple of days. My eyes were puffy and red from my crying, my blond hair was in a matted mess and my cheeks were stained with my tears. No, I could not let her see me like this.

“My room is the first one in the hallway if you want to talk about it, or even if you just don’t want to be alone. All you gotta do is knock.”

“Thank you, Emilie.” I said through the door.

“No problem. I just want you to feel at home.” But this was not my home. It never could be. This place was just a reminder that my family was gone. Her footsteps echoed down the hall until a door opened and closed.

I closed my eyes and took three deep breaths before starting my bath.

*~*

I was not sure what the time was. It must be close to midnight judging by the darkness outside the only window in my room. I sat down on the bed staring out at the night sky. Thousands of stars looked back at me. Bolton’s two moons were nowhere in sight. My heart wanted to be with them, to be free in the sky without a care in this world, never having to come back down and face reality.

A few people moved around the street in front of the palace. They couldn’t see me from the tinted windows but I could see them. A Fay with lime green wings was talking to an elf. They seemed happy with their conversation. On more than one occasion they would look to the palace and their smiles would grow. I wondered what it was about this place that brought happiness to them.

No one bothered me the whole day. I checked to see if Cabel was in his office in the morning but he was not. Since then I spent the rest of the day in my room. Emilie brought me food but I did not eat it. I was not hungry anymore.

I was glad for my day of solitude but could not help but wish someone were with me. Someone I knew would not be coming anytime soon. Simon.

He’s my big brother, my best and only friend, the one person who I could truly feel safe with. If he were here with me, I would not feel as helpless as I did now.

I am not strong, mentally or physically, I am not brave, or fearless. I am the complete opposites of those things. I am weak and a coward and scared to try anything life throws at me. I always look for the easy way out. However, there did not seem to be one for this situation.

If I wanted to get my family back, I had to work for it. I needed to be prepared to defend myself from Daruka, whoever he was. There is only one thing I knew about him and that was that he was dangerous. If I had to go up against something like that, I had to get strong.

I watched at the Fay walked away from the elf. Her angelic face lit up the dark street. She said hello to the few people who were still out at that late hour. When she was just a few feet away from my window she stop. Her green eyes went to the palace once again. Her lips moved as she said something I couldn’t quite here and was only able to make out her last sentence.

“We will not have to suffer much longer.”

She quickly moved past my window and out of my sight.  I didn’t know what to think of her words. She had to be talking about suffering from Daruka. I couldn’t have possibly been the only one who had been hurt by that man.

I pulled out my spell book to distract me and started to memorize the defensive spell until my eyelids could not stay open any longer.

I woke up to the smell of food. I instantly searched for the source. My stomach protested for me to find it as I had not eaten anything since our ride here. Finally, I spotted the plate on the dresser. Scrambled eggs and toast beckoned for me. I pushed back the covers and grabbed the plate gobbling down the food as if it would disappear at any moment.

A small knock echoed in the quiet room as I took my last bite of the toast.

“Come in,” I said with my mouth half full.

Emilie poked her head through the open door. Her long purple hair fell to the side as she smiled at me.

“Glad to see you liked the food. I was not sure about the scrambled eggs. I know some people do not like it. Yelson hates it, he always tells me to fry them but Arabella just loves them.” She said without attempting to enter the room.

“They are, well were delicious,” I said looking down at my now empty plate. “You can come in.”

“Oh, thanks.” She entered the room and closed the door behind her but did not move farther in. “I came by to see how you are feeling today.”

That’s right, she heard me crying in the bathroom the other night. I smile slightly at her but it did not reach my eyes.

“I’m feeling better,” I whispered. I knew she could tell it was a lie. Her short legs made their way to the bed where I still lay. She took the empty plate from my hands and placed it on the vanity before sitting down on the bed.

“You can tell me, you know. I may have a tendency of talking a lot but I am a great listener. And I can keep a secret.” She smiled at me and hers reached her eyes.

I felt something pull at my heart from her smile. Her Strega eyes looked at me with such kindness. I knew I could trust her. She was, after all, a part of my family’s coven. I should trust her and confide in her but I just could not voice the words.

“Thanks, Emilie, I needed to hear that.” I said instead.

“You’re welcome.” She bounced off the bed, took my breakfast plate and skipped to the door. “Oh, by the way Yelson told me to tell you to meet him in the living room.”

She disappeared out the door. I got up and brushed my hair. I braided it as I walked out of the room and into the living area. Yelson was sitting down on the farthest of the three armchairs from the hallway. A book that he was engrossed in covered his face.

“You wanted to see me,” I said before my mind could go to memories of Simon in that same position.

“Yes.” He lowered his arms closing the book. His eyes looked me over before he stood up. His look did not make me feel uncomfortable the way Weldon’s did the other day. He was not looking at me in a predator way but in a curious one. It was as if he were trying to figure something out about me. “I thought you would like to visit your horse. Cabel told me that she was put in the barn out back.”

My eyes lit up at the thought of seeing Mary. I was glad that the centaurs took her to a safe place and did not just leave her outside. I followed Yelson out the back of the house.

A barn, double the size my family had, poked out of the tree line to the left of the house. We crossed the large backyard that was nothing but grass boarded by the forest. Yelson opened up the giant wooden doors and walked in with me. The room had twenty stalls in total, ten on each side, most of which were occupied. Yelson led me to the third to last stall to our right. Mary stood on the far side of the large stall. Her dark hair glistened in the light.

I smiled and called out for my horse. She quickly made her way to the door and poked her head out the opening. I scratch behind her ear and murmured about how much I missed her. She was the only living thing I had left. She was the only one who escaped with me.

“Thank you, I really needed this,” I said to Yelson as I press my cheek to her head. His soft eyes examined my interaction with Mary. A lazy smile plays at his lips.

“I figured you would want to see her, after everything.”

We stayed at the barn for an hour playing with Mary. It was only when someone walked in that Yelson said it was time to leave but he promised me I could see her again tomorrow. I said my goodbye to her and walked out the barn with Yelson at my side.

“Is there a chance I can talk to Cabel today?” I asked my bodyguard on our way back inside. I still needed answers and I knew Cabel would have them. He needed to have them.

“He is not in today.” Yelson’s smooth voice traveled over my body as he held the glass door open for me. “I will let him know you want to talk to him when he gets back.”

“When will that be?” I asked. Weldon was sitting at the breakfast table with a girl slightly older than me. Her dark blue eyes grazed over my body as I walked into the room. Her dark hair was also the same color as Yelson’s.

“Tomorrow morning.” Yelson closed the door behind him.

“Hello, Annie. It’s nice to see you this afternoon.” Weldon’s smile was back but it was kinder than when I first met him. His lips slightly parted showing his white teeth below.

“This is my sister, Mari.” Yelson pointed to the girl who now stood up and left the room. “Sorry about that,” Yelson whispered in my ear. “She’s not a people person.”

I nodded my head. My mind was going crazy over his breath on my neck. The heat his body released warmed my left side. I do not know why my body was reacting this way. It never had before. Then again, I had never met someone like Yelson. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I didn’t even know him.

“You just gonna stand there or what?” Weldon waved his hand to the now empty seat next to him. I sat down across from him, glad to see that Yelson did not leave me alone but took the seat closest to Weldon. “We heard about your family, Annie. I’m very sorry. No one should have to go through that.”

The look on Weldon’s face was a genuine one. The smirk that was usually there was gone.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I did not want to be reminded of my family. Not when I knew it would bring tears to my eyes again.

“I was thinking you could use a distraction so I grabbed this.” He pulled out a leather book that sat on the windowsill behind him. “It’s just some paintings but they helped me forget so I thought they would help you.”

I wondered what it was that he had to forget. Was his family taken from him the way mine was? My hand traced over the leather cover. There was no writing on it only a flower that was carved into the middle. I opened to the first page.

A woman was sitting by a river. Her long dark hair covered her face as she washed away the dirt from her hands. Bolton’s two moons covered the sky giving her protection during the night. The painting itself was breath taking even in just black and white.

“This is beautiful,” I said aloud. I moved to the next page. A small boy hid behind a tree. His face looked up into the night sky as blood trickled down his arm into a puddle on the ground. I wondered what happened to this boy. Who would hurt such an innocent looking child?

“Master Kai gave it to me when I first came here. It helped to keep my mind off things.”

“Who’s Master Kai?” I asked looking between both men. I remembered Cabel talking about him when I first got here.

“He is our trainer,” Yelson replied looking at the book in my hand. “He helps to prepare us for anything.”

“Like what?” I closed the book and placed it on the table next to me.

“War,” Weldon said it as it was something to be expected.

“War against whom? Daruka? My parents said this was a safe planet when we moved here. That everyone gets along.”