Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) (6 page)

“You honestly believed that?” Yelson tore his eyes away from the book to look up at me. “Your parents lied to you Annie. Bolton has not been that way since before you were born.”

No, he was lying. My parents would not have told me that if it was not true. I knew they kept a lot from me, most things from me, but they would not lie about that. The reason why we left earth was the war, which everyone was fighting with each other. They would not have brought their children to this planet if it were just the same. Then again, they were kidnapped.

“Daruka started trying to control the species over twenty years ago. Many sided with him because they wanted earth for themselves. That was what Daruka promised them. If they fought for him, he will allow them to roam freely over earth once again.” Yelson took the book from the table. He held it with such carefulness as if he was afraid of break it. “The royal family tried to stop him, still are. If the species are allowed that freedom, it will destroy earth. The humans will cease to either exist or be enslaved.”

“We have a secret weapon though.” Yelson shot Weldon a sharp look at his statement. I even cringed a little. The color drained from Weldon’s face as he looked to me and back to Yelson. “Don’t you think she should know?”

“No,” Yelson replied through closed teeth.

“What are you talking about?” My eyes bounced between both men waiting for an answer. They stared at each other in a silent debate. A minute later Yelson spoke up.

“It is something you should discuss about with Cabel. We have no authority to give you that information.” His hands gripped the book until his knuckles were white.

“That’s bullshit Yelson. I have been kept in the dark for my whole life. No one has ever told me anything because ‘I’m too young’ or ‘I won’t understand’. I am nineteen years old and my family was just kidnapped by some psycho who I have never even heard about but wants me dead. I think I deserve some answers!” Weldon wide eyes looked at me in shock. Obviously, no one has ever said something like that to Yelson before. Judging from the look he was giving me and his grip on the book, he wasn’t expecting it either.

Without saying a word, he stood up, dropped the book on the table in front of me and walked out of the kitchen.

“I should not have brought that up,” Weldon whispered looking down at his hands talking more to himself than to me.

“What was it that you were talking about Weldon?” I asked him as I leaned against the table towards him. I wanted to know more. 

His brown eyes glanced up at me. He looked small, and helpless. The boy in front of me was nothing like the cocky man I had met the other day. “I’m sorry, Annie, I really am. If I could tell you, I would but as Yelson said, you should discuss this with Cabel.”

“I’m never going to get answers,” I sighed as my head lay on the table. The book of paintings sat inches from my face. I wondered why Yelson cared for it. From the way he was holding it I knew it meant something to him.

“Don’t say that.” Weldon reached across the small table and patted my hands. I was shocked at how cold his skin was. “You just have to be patient.”

“I’m tired of being patient,” I mumbled, raising my head up to look at the book again. “What is the book called? It doesn’t have a title.”

“That’s the beauty of it. It is whatever you want it to be called. I call it Flor, for the flower on the front.” It is whatever you want it to be called. His words echoed in my head. I am not sure what I would name it but Flor seemed as good as anything did.

“Hungry? I make a mean veggie soup.” Weldon’s smile was back. He did not wait for my reply before he got up and walked to the fridge. He took out some ingredients and immediately went to cooking.

It looked funny to see him in an apron and I couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed confused as he looked at me before I pointed to his choice of clothing.

“Hey, don’t judge me,” he said as he waved the ladle towards me before pouring his soup into two bowls.

“Thank you,” I said as he placed a bowl of soup in front of me. I blew on it to let it cool down some. Yelson still had not come back. I guess I hurt his feeling more than I thought. I could not help but feel sorry about what I did to him. If I had known it would have had this effect on him, I would have said everything in a nicer way.

“Can I ask you something?” I looked to Weldon who had a spoonful of soup in his mouth.

“Yea,” he replied as soon as he finished his bite.

“What species are you? It’s okay if you don’t want to answer me, Yelson didn’t,” I whispered the last part, moving my spoon around the bowl.

“No one knows what he is other than Mari and Cabel. He is a very secretive person.”

“Wouldn’t he be the same thing as Mari? They’re siblings.” 

“They are half brother and sister. They have the same mom,” he said simply as he continued to eat his soup. “So he is only part witch.”

“Really? What coven?” Even knowing half of what he was is a plus.

“Siren.”

“Oh.” The beautiful creatures who loved fire and killing. The humans almost had it right with them. The only difference was that they didn’t live by the sea. In fact, they didn’t like the water that much.

He took another spoonful of soup before he answered my question. “I happen to be a very rare creature. Not many of my kind left.”

“He’s a mermaid,” Emilie snickered from behind me. She sat down on the seat Yelson had occupied.

“Hey, how many do you know?” Weldon asked her.

“Five.” She replied with a smile.

“And how many are male?”

“One.” She sighed.

“That is what I thought.” Weldon’s smile was back as he finished his soup.

“Anyways, I came to ask you if you wanted to hang out with Arabella and me.” Her purple eyes lit up as she looked at me.

“Yea, sure,” I said before my spoon hit my lips. It would be nice to be able to hang out with a girl. It was never something I had to chance to do. I did not have any friends back on earth. Simon was the only person who I spent any time with.

I quickly finished my soup and followed Emilie up to the second floor. There were two staircases in the living room, one on each side of the giant room next to two halls. The stairs connected with each other at the top before opening up to the second floor. Other smaller steps started at the other end of the room. I looked up at the door that blocked anyone from reaching the third level. It looked like all the other doors in the building but had a menacing feel to it reminding me of Cabel’s words not to go up there.

The second floor consisted of an open area by the stairs that branched out into three hallways. Arabella was on the floor playing with a small doll. It looked to be many years old. Its left button eye was hanging on by a thin string and its black hair had patches missing.

“Hello Arabella.” I greeted her. She gasped and quickly got her small body off the floor to stand up. Her hands absently went to straighten out her worn out dress and curled hair.

“Hello Anastasia.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“I told you, you can call me Annie.” I smiled at her bright blue eyes. She looked at me in such awe. I could not help but feel a tad bit uncomfortable. What had I done to make her look at me in that way?

“I’m sorry. I forgot,” she smiled back before returning to her doll.

“Please sit.” Emilie pointed to the black loveseat the stood in front of a huge window. It looked over the large village. I could see the people moving around below. I was too far to see their faces clearly. I hoped they were happy like the Fay I had seen the night before.

“What’s earth like?” Emilie asked when she sat down next to me. Her question caught me off guard. No one had asked me about that yet.

“Oh, it’s very different from here,” I replied trying to come up with the right words. “The colors there are duller than the ones on Bolton. Partly from the fact the humans are killing it.”

“What?” She gasped clutching at her chest right above her heart. “Don’t they know that if they kill their planet they will die as well?”

“Yes, many people have tried to stop it. However, there are much more people who only think of themselves and won’t care until it’s too late.”

“Is it true that it only has one moon?” Arabella asked from her seat on the ground. She stared up at me excitedly wanting to know as much as she could about the planet earth.

“Yes,” I laughed. “But that one moon is enough for them, their sky is also blue.”

Her head bounced up and down as she took in what I said. Bolton had two moons and to her it seemed odd to have only one. As for the blue sky, I do not think she would be able to accurately picture it.

“Have you lived in the palace your whole life?” I asked them. I didn’t like when attention was on me. 

“Me? Oh goodness no,” Emilie laughed as she tucked her feet under her. “My town was attacked two years ago and the king allowed for me to stay here. I was the only survivor so I had nowhere to go.”

Her face fell a little as she thought about that time. I mentally kicked myself for asking the question. I always seemed to ask the wrong questions.

“But it’s alright,” she said when she sensed my regret. “I was an orphan before so I didn’t have much of a place there

anyways. This has been my home. I couldn’t dream of a better place.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes. Arabella your turn,” she said before I could ask something else.

“I lived here for as long as I can remember. Cabel brought me here when I was just a baby.” Arabella continued to play with her doll. I smiled at how happy she seemed. She was an orphan like everyone else but she didn’t let it affect her. The light always shone through her.

A door slammed shut in one of the hallways followed by heavy footfalls. We all looked to the source of the sound. Yelson walked out of the hall closest to us. His face seemed tight as he tried not to look our way. I knew it was my fault. He didn’t want to talk to me yet.

“Hey Yel,” Arabella chirped from the ground in front of me. He looked over to Arabella and forced a smile onto his face.

“Hey there Bel, what are you doing?” His voice seemed strained. Was he still mad? I glanced over at Emilie. She looked at him trying to figure out what was wrong as well. I guess it was odd to see him act that way.

“Annie is telling us about earth. Do you wanna listen?” She eagerly patted the ground next to her. Even before he said anything, I knew he would not.

“Next time, kay?” His voice softened at the little girl. I looked up to see him staring at me. His gray eyes look right into my blue ones. The butterflies crept into my stomach again.

“I have to go.” He broke his eyes away from me and walked up the stairs to the third floor. It should not have surprised me he was allowed to go up there. He seemed like an important person here.

“Don’t you have a play date with Chi?” Emilie directed towards Arabella.

“I don’t have to go today. She would understand,” Arabella pouted as she looked up at me.

“Go play with your friend. We will still be here when you come back,” Emilie said. Arabella sighed as she stood up with her doll.

“I’ll see you later Arabella,” I said to her as she sullenly made her way down the steps.

Emilie turned towards me as soon as Arabella what out of earshot. I could see in her eyes that she knew something was wrong and she wanted answers.

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

“I have known Yelson for two years. He has never acted like that until now.” She looked at me accusingly.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe he just doesn’t like me.”

“Uh huh,” she whispered but she let it drop which I was thankful for.

We spent the next hour talking about earth and how much she wanted to visit it. I tried to keep all the bad stuff about earth out of the conversation. She wouldn’t understand how bad it was there. Bolton was beautiful. Its creatures took care of it because they knew if they didn’t they would ultimately die with it. That was something the humans didn’t understand. Even if the proof was right in front of them with the oceans turning dark, the air growing thicker, and the plants dying. 

When Arabella came back, we talked about the things the kids did for fun there before the war. By the time we were done, I was tired. There were still hours before the sun set but I was already drained. As soon as my head touched the pillow on my bed I fell asleep.

~*~

Purple light shone brightly on my closed eyelids bring me from my dream. I pulled the covers over my head trying to block the light that was trying to wake me up.

“Get up Annie,” A gruff voice said before he pulled the covers away from my face. I shot up at the sudden movement. Yelson’s face was inches from mine.

“What?” I breathed. I moved to the other side of the bed and got out. I was glad I had fallen asleep in my regular clothes but it was not as if he hadn’t seen my pj’s before.

“It’s morning. I thought you would like to meet with Cabel before he leaves.” I slept through the whole night. I did not give myself much time to process that before I agreed and followed Yelson to the study. I did not care if I was still wearing the same clothes that I was yesterday I needed my answers and today I was going to get them.

Yelson lightly knocked on the wooden doors that lead to Cabel’s study. A voice came from inside telling us to come in. Cabel was sitting behind his desk. His fingers were interlocked with one another. Stacks of paper were neatly placed on his desk. His green eyes followed me as I sat down on the same seat as the last time I was in his office. Yelson stayed by the door.

“Yelson has told me you want to know what is happening. Where do you wish for me to start?” His calm voice did nothing to sooth me. My right leg twitched up and down, a clear sign of my nervousness. I was finally going to be told about everything. All the questions that had built up in my mind were finally going to have answers.

“Who is Daruka? Why does he want me dead? Do you know where he has my family? What is this place? What secret weapon do you all have against Daruka?” I meant to ask only one but I could not help myself. Cabel did not seem to mind as he only smiled at me.

“This is the village of Hovolia. This palace was built as a second home for the royal family but they had not used it for many years as I told you already. We now use it to house and train whomever the King sees will be able to help us in the future.

“Daruka is a warlock. He comes from the Bandraoi coven. As I am sure your brother has taught you that they happen to be one of the most powerful and oldest creatures on Bolton. He used to be a very important person in the royal family. He was a spokesperson for the king, traveling all around the kingdom. That position made it easy for other creature to believe what he stands for. That is for the control of not only bolton but of earth as well.

“He wants you dead because he thinks you are the only one who can kill him. Once you are gone and the prophecy is dead, he will have nothing standing in his way. More and more species will side with him and soon after, no one will be able to stop him. I’m sorry, but we do not know where he is holding your family.”

“What do you mean I am the only one who can kill him?” I looked at him in shock. I have never killed anything especially a person. Never would I be able to. A killer wasn’t something I had in me.

“You, Anastasia, are our secret weapon. A prophecy says that when the truest of all evil rises, only his blood can be the death of him.” Was he trying to say that I was somehow related to this person? That was impossible. Both my parents are only children and I only have one brother.

“I’m not Bandraoi. My family is Strega. You all have this wrong.” I stood up from my chair shaking my head back and forth. Nothing was making sense.

“We are not wrong your majesty.” A voice said from behind me. I turned to see Kenelm in the doorway. His blue eyes held mine. Relief washed over me at the sight of him. I thought I would never see him again. He was the only person other than my captured family that I knew I could trust.

“Kenelm,” I sighed rushing to hug him. He seemed startled by my contact but quickly wrapped his arms around me. “You must be. There is no way I am related to that man.”

“We may be interpreting the prophecy wrong but we know it is you.” He pulled away from me and placed his hands on my arms. His warm touch helped ease my incoming headache. Maybe I didn’t want to know everything after all.

“If there were any other way to do this we would. I am still trying to come up with something.”

“Sir, you know there is no other-,” Cabel’s sentence was cut short by Kenelm’s stare. Whoever Kenelm really was must be someone powerful if he got Cabel scared to talk.

“Yelson, take her to Master Kai. She needs to prepare.” Kenelm let go of my arms. His eyes still held mine. 

“Wait,” I stammered at Yelson who grabbed my arm. “Will I be able to see you again?”

A smile spread across his face. “Of course, your majesty.”

I nodded, holding him to his word, and allowed Yelson to pull me away.

We walked through the kitchen and into the living room. I internally groaned when Yelson held the front door open for me. I did not want to go out there again. I did not want to have to face the people who hated me for some reason. The orange morning light spilled into the room, shortly blinding me from what waited outside. I followed him out letting out a breath I did not know I was holding. Oddly, no one was around.

Yelson lead the way with me in tow across the dirt road to a small building with only a door on the front side. He held that out for me too, allowing me to go first.

The inside was just as plain as it seemed on the outside. No windows were on the first floor, neither was a floor. Dirt crunched under my feet with every step I took. One large mat covered two thirds of the floor. A staircase was in the back left corner of the room. We walked up it to the second floor.

A cot and small kitchenette were placed in the far corner of the room. An old man sat in the middle of the floor with his back to us. His gray hair was in a low ponytail that covered his dark back. It was longer than mine, reaching down to his pant belt.

“Master, this is Anastasia Miller.” Yelson introduced me as he sat down cross-legged in front of the man. He motioned for me to sit next to him.

“Ah, Anastasia. Welcome home.” Master Kai eyes were a cloudy gray, the kind people with blindness get but he was looking right at me. His smile caused even more wrinkles to appear on his dark, aged face. A deep scar ran across his left cheek onto the bridge of his nose. “Yelson has brought to my attention that you need training and quickly.”

I looked over to my guard. He was looking straight at Master Kai avoiding my eyes. I did not understand why I would need training. Was it to help me kill Daruka? The thought of it made me want to vomit. I could not kill someone, I just could not. It wasn’t who I was.

“From the looks of you, he was right.” So he could see. Master Kai rose from his sitting position. Yelson followed just as gracefully. I, on the other hand, stumbled after them as they made their way down the steps.

“She needs to learn how to defend herself, Master. I may not always be there to protect her.”

“I understand.” Master Kai walked to the middle of the mat. Yelson and I stood on the outskirts of it. “Anastasia, please stand in front of me.”

I quickly took off my shoes and stood a foot in front of Master Kai. Yelson sat down on the dirt floor keeping his eyes on me. He looked amused. I stared at him wondering what could be funny about this situation.

A sudden sharp pain broke out on my left arm. I grabbed the area just above my elbow and held it close to my body as the pain erupted.

“Ow.” I cried as the pain spread throughout my upper arm.

Master Kai lashed out his arm again hitting me in my stomach. I kneeled over grabbing my midsection. “If you don’t wish for pain you must stop me first. Then the pain will never come.”

His leg shot out at me meeting my right thigh. A small cry of pain escaped my mouth and the new sensation of pain. I could see Yelson in the corner of my eyes. The smile faded from his face being replaced with a look of worry.

Master Kai moved away from me giving me time to stand back up. It took a minute until the pain in my thigh was bearable. I slowly got up putting as little pressure as possible onto my right leg.

I saw his hand lift away from his body and before I could process what I was doing, I grabbed it, stopping it from coming into contact with any part of me.

“Good. You have some instinct. Think with your body not your mind.” He took his hand back and walked around to where Yelson now stood.  He looked at me wide eyed.

“Bring her back tonight. We have only just begun.”

Yelson nodded and grabbed my arm. He escorted me out of the building. A few people were walking around the road and stopped to stare at us. Yelson didn’t seem to notice them as he towed me back to my room at the palace. I recognized the Fay I had seen the day before. Her green eyes looked at me with worry as we passed her.

Once inside he closed my bedroom door. His gentle hands caressed my arm where Master Kai had hit me. A large ugly bruise had already started to form.

“This may hurt. My kind isn’t as gentle as Stegas with healing.” He put his hand over my forearm. A red mist surrounded his hand and wrapped around my arm. It felt like someone was pushing on my bruise. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. After a minute he let me go. The bruise was gone along with the pain.

“Thanks.”

“I remember how it felt the first time Master Kai did that to me. Was not pleasant at all. He seemed to go tougher on you. I did not start to bruise until two hours later.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” I laughed. I stopped abruptly when my side began to hurt. I just knew there was a bruise there as well.

“I’ll go get Emilie. She is way gentler with this than I am.”

“It’s okay. I think I’ll live with it.”

“At least let me do it then.”

I nodded and lifted the edge of my shirt. I really didn’t want to walk around with the pain but I didn’t want Emilie to see me like this. For some reason I felt like I needed to act strong around her.

Master Kai had hit me just above my belly button. Yelson placed his hand over my skin. The red mist appeared again but it didn’t hurt as much as the last time. I was prepared for it. He let his hand linger a little after he healed me. After a few seconds he moved to my thigh.