by A. D. Duling
“I just did,” He answered her, his warm breath made its way down and Anna could smell the fragrance of the apple pie he had eaten earlier.
“Ok…” she answered, openly disappointed.
Hayden laughed, but quietly. “Is something wrong?” he played her along, but Anna wasn’t stupid and knew what he was attempting.
“Even in Tatania, the boys are players,” She commented and walked back over to the bed and plopped down. Another laugh came from him.
“Perhaps I am playing you, but I think no more than what you, just now are trying to do,” Hayden pointed out to her.
Anna smiled, but kept her head turned down to keep the satisfaction from him. “Well, my good sir, you have given your kiss and now I give you my farewell,” she replied to his comment and stood up. An exaggerated courtesy followed and he chuckled.
“I do not recall giving my kiss,” He voiced his disagreement.
Anna furrowed her brows and gave him a confused look, “What was the one on my forehead then?” she asked him.
He smiled, “For your forehead ...” He told her.
Anna grinned, wondering where Hayden was going with this, “My forehead..?” She asked him, playing coy, “I wasn’t aware it had wanted a kiss?”
“Well of course it did. Wasn’t that why it offered itself?” he came back without a skip.
Anna’s grin widened. “The offer was more from the face.” She kept playing.
His face perked up. “Oh well then!” his whisper raised a bit and he crossed the room quickly over to her and planted a kiss flat on the most awkward part of her cheek; between the slope were her nose and eye met. The kiss was also very wet and Anna quickly wiped at it afterwards.
“You’re a jerk!” she whispered, but giggled still.
Hayden smiled and gave her a curtsey, making her laugh even more and louder. He quickly raised his finger to his lips again to shush her. Anna mimicked his gesture in playful return; grinning, but quieted. “I guess with you I should have been more specific, it was my mouth that actually asked,” she said. Hayden stood two more inches taller than she now without her boots.
Hayden’s grin eased away and he leaned over again. His kiss came this time on her mouth and was not any less messy than the previous one. Anna playfully pushed him away from her and stood up. “Oh never mind!” she complained and gave up, “It’s time for bed little boy, I will play with you tomorrow.” Anna teased him as she went for the door, but was stopped. Hayden’s hand had grabbed hers and now was pulling her back to him.
“I’ll obey my lady, but only after I have given my kiss,” Hayden said.
“I don’t want any more of your kisses,” Anna grumbled up at him, no longer a willing participant to his teasing anymore.
Hayden shook his head and gently stroked her hair. “No more teasing,” He promised her. Anna looked up at him and swallowed. Slowly Hayden’s head came down to hers and he kissed her. The kiss was short, but romantic none of the less. When he turned and left her, the blush had already risen to Anna cheeks by then and the dreams that followed after his visit were the happiest Anna had ever had in her life.
Chapter Seventeen
Anna was not so bold the following morning and shyly avoided eye contact with Hayden all through breakfast. When Corrine stood up to start collecting up the dishes, Anna quickly jumped up right after to help her, but the woman shooed her away. “No dear, you should get started right away with your training,” She insisted.
Hayden finished down the last of his milk and stood up. “She’s right… let me grab some things and we can leave.” He told her. He handed his mother his dishes and kissed her cheek, “It was delicious as always mother!” He praised her and ran for the stairs. Anna sat back down and watched Corrine, while she waited for him to return.
Corrine noticed Anna watching and stopped, “Are you alright Anna, you’ve been very quiet this morning,” she asked her.
Anna smiled and nodded, “Yes, I’m fine…” she assured her and looked back over towards the stairs. Behind her the woman smiled to her behavior and disappeared back into the kitchen with her stack.
Hayden’s heavy steps came to the top of the stairs and Anna quickly turned back around in her seat. She listened as he came down and watched him from the corner of her eye as he walked in. A large leather bag was dropped onto the table in front of him and Anna stood up. “What’s in the bag?” she asked him.
“I’m going to teach you how to use a bow and arrow and then the sword.” he told her as he tied the bag closed. Corrine walked back into the room just as her son swung the bag over his shoulder, “I’m going to take her up to the hills just outside the gates mother, if you need to find us,” He said to his mother.
Corrine nodded and started wiping the table, “I’ll bring you both some lunch this afternoon,” She said in reply, busy at her task.
He looked to Anna, “Are you ready?” he asked her and she nodded.
“I’ll see you later Corrine…” Anna told the woman who gave a wave in response as she busily scrubbed the jelly glob off from the place where her husband had sat. Anna followed Hayden over to the front door, which was then opened for her. Anna politely thanked Hayden as she stepped through and took in a deep breath of the fresh air as she stepped down the porch steps. It was another beautiful sunny day in Tatania and the warmth of its sun wrap her face in a blanket of warmth. Anna leaned against the porch rail and basked in its glory while Hayden went to the barn for Thunder.
The ride up to the hills outside of the city was a short and pleasant one. Not so many onlookers awaited the main cobblestone street they traveled on; many were busy in their morning tasks in Tatanian life. The little boutiques were open to their public, offering freshly baked bread, meats and cheeses to their patrons. There was even a Candy Shoppe, where a few young Tatanian children were quickly purchasing their treats as the school bell rang up the side street behind it, where Anna could see the teacher waiting at the door for them.
Their place of practice was on a hill just beyond the city in a group of trees at its top. Hayden stopped Thunder near the first tree and climbed down. He then tied the horse to its branch, before helping her down. He pulled a few apples out of his saddlebag and threw them onto the ground in front of the horse to happily eat on as they walked away from him to another group of trees a few yards down. Hayden stopped and dropped his bag. Anna stopped next to it and watched him as Hayden walked down a length from her and drew a target on the trunk of a dead tree across from her, with a piece of chalk retrieved from his pocket.
“This is your target!” Hayden yelled over to her as he walked back. When he reached her, he untied is bag and pulled out a bow and a stack of arrows. He then proceeded to load an arrow and then took aim. Anna watched him aligned himself before he released and the arrow hit the target just under the bull’s-eye drawn on the tree a second later, “Now you give it a try,” Hayden said and handed it over.
“That doesn’t look too hard!” Anna remarked as she took the bow and grabbed an arrow from the stack. Loading it was a little difficult; pulling back on the bowstring was even more difficult. It took a little more strength than Anna had, but she pulled it back. She then closed one eye as she had seen Hayden do and lined her arrow up with the target in the distance. When she released the string, the arrow shot out and hit straight into her aimed target, “Bull’s eye!” Anna announced proudly.
Hayden’s only reaction to her demonstration was a raised eyebrow and another arrow was handed to her, “Very good, let’s see if you can do that again,” he calmly said.
Anna grinned, “I think I can manage that!” She replied confidently and reloaded. Anna took her shot, but this time it missed the tree entirely and flew off into the field behind it.
Hayden walked over and grabbed the bow from her, “A little too cocky to soon, don’t you think?” he stated more than he asked her and loaded another arrow for her. He then handed it back to her and Anna roughly took it from his hands.
“I wasn’t being cocky!” she argued with him, but his look declared him unconvinced. Anna glared back at him for a moment and then looked to the target. She took aim again.
“Keep your elbow slightly bent and relax yourself,” Hayden instructed beside her and Anna complied, “Now using only two fingers, pull back until you feel the side of your hand graze your nose,” He instructed and Anna did so, “Now release,” he said and Anna let go. This time the arrow hit just to the side of the bull’s-eye.
“Good, now try it again!” he ordered her, crossing his arms.
Anna glared over at him, “You don’t have to be so rude, Hayden!” She exclaimed and picked up another arrow.
“Anna, you need to take this very seriously,” He told her sternly.
She frowned, “I am taking this seriously, but it doesn’t mean I have to act somber all of the time!” Anna shot back at him.
“No you don’t, but it doesn’t mean you can act like a conceited little girl either!” Hayden threw right back.
A slight snarl slipped past her lips as Anna looked at him offended. “I am not conceited… I can’t believe you even called me that!” She hissed, “And it seems to me, I was not such a little girl to kiss last night if you remember!” Anna shot at him and shoved the bow hard against his chest. Hayden caught it as she let it go and Anna walked away from him, “I don’t have to fight wars from where I came from, just go to school. Now you’re shoving a bow and arrow and a sword at me and telling me to defend myself!” She complained back at him as she walked away.
“Where are you going?” Hayden called after her.
“I’m going home!” Anna yelled back to him.
Chapter Eighteen
Hayden dropped the bow and ran after her. He had to run around in front of her to get Anna to stop. “So you’re going to quit, just like that! All because you thought I was mean to you?”
Anna glared at him and then stepped around him. “It was not because I thought you were mean to me Hayden!” She snapped, as she walked on, “It’s because I can’t do this! And maybe you’re right… maybe I am a little girl! I’m no Joan of Arc and have never heard of another seventeen year old girl defeating anyone, especially a powerful, magical Chancellor!” she yelled at him stomping on.
Hayden grabbed her by the shoulders and stopped her. He turned Anna around and brought his face close to hers. His eyes stared hard, straight into hers, looking deep into her soul. “You’re wrong Anna…” he said, “You can do this! What I saw yesterday with that Falcon, a seventeen year old did that! I believe you can Anna, your book believes you can and so do a lot of people!”
Anna shook her head, tears threatening at the corners of her eyes. “Well, I don’t want too! Why does it have to be me! What’s so special about me?”
“Well for one, you have a lot of fight in you,” Hayden answered her, smiling. Anna calmed. “Second, sometimes things happen to us for reasons we have no idea why. I believe that is called fate. You can call it chance if you like, but I still believe everything is meant to be.”
The conviction in his voice was almost contagious. Anna wanted to believe that, she wanted to believe she was another Joan of Arc. Hayden let go of her shoulders and walked back towards the practice area. Anna watched his retreating back for a moment and then looked up at the sky. She watched as the clouds slowly floated by and thought about what he had said and what Harmon had said the other night. People believed she was strong and believed she would accomplish something more than Anna thought possible. Was this a realistic burden of faith they had put on her shoulders?
Anna wanted so much to run back home and hide; because she was afraid and because deep down inside she knew there was truth in those words. She had never thought much about fate, but for the length of time Anna had been here, her belief in it was growing quickly. So maybe she was destined to come here and maybe she would have never been able to fight it, but one thing Anna knew what she could believe was true, was you could control your fate. If she had to fight this powerful man, if she had to be the brave hero many believed her to be, she would do so, but it didn’t mean she would have to die while doing it.
Anna turned around and marched back to the practice area. She found Hayden over by the target tree collecting their arrows. Anna walked over to the bow and picked it up. Hayden noticed this and paused. When Anna’s eyes met his, she held his stare and kept her eyes locked on his as he walked back over to her. Without a word, Hayden handed her an arrow and Anna loaded her bow. She took aim and Hayden patiently walked her through the steps again. Anna did everything he instructed and when she released the arrow, it hit the target once again, very close to the bull’s eye.
“Very good..!” He praised her, “Let’s practice a few more times and then we will work on the sword.” Hayden handed her another arrow.
Hayden’s “A few more times” turned into spending the whole morning taking one shot right after another. Anna’s only breaks were when he had to retrieve the arrows and he even did that too quickly. When Corrine came walking up the hill at lunch time, Anna could not have been more relived to see her. Her fingers hurt from pulling on the bowstring and the muscles of her arms hurt even more from pulling back on the taunt string. She had used muscles she had neglected her whole life, the negative from being a teenager in a too industrial world.
“Hello!” Corrine called out to them. “I’ve brought you two a picnic!” she announced.
Anna went to join her, but Hayden stopped her. “Just a couple more times Anna and then we can break for lunch,” He tried persuading her.
“But my fingers hurt, Hayden!” she whined.
His face tensed a little and Anna could see his restrain. “Fine…” he said, “Then how about we practice a little with the swords?” he compromised and walked over to his bag to get them.
“Oh come on Hayden! I’m hungry!” Anna whined after him, “Let’s have lunch first and then we can practice the swords!” she begged.
Hayden pulled out the swords and carried them back over to her.
“Did you hear me? “Anna asked him.
He nodded. “I did.”
Hayden handed her one and Anna reluctantly took it. “Now grip the handle tightly in your hands like this,” He showed her.
Anna glanced over to where Corrine was setting up their lunch and sighed. Hayden grabbed her by the chin and turned her face towards him. “Lunch can wait a little while longer Anna. Now spread your legs like this, to better balance yourself,” He showed her again and Anna positioned herself exactly as he did, moaning her protest.
“Quit acting like a baby!” he snapped at her.
Anna’s head shot up and she glared at him. Hayden ignored her and backed a few feet away and raised his sword. “Now I want you to try to hit me!” he instructed.
“Oh, I’m gonna hit you!” Anna mumbled venomously under her breath and raised her sword up; it was heavy in her hands.
“Keep your wrists straight and hold it steady, you’re shaking it all over the place!” He yelled to her.
Anna gripped the handle tighter and did as Hayden instructed. “I’m trying!” she whined, “But its heavy!”
Hayden moved towards her and smacked his sword hard against hers; sending it flying out of her hands and landing a few feet away from her on the ground. Anna gave him a nasty look and fetched it.
“Is there a lighter one?” she asked him when she returned to her spot.
“There is no lighter one Anna; you have to build up your strength and get used to using it,” Hayden answered her.
“Ok then… can you at least take it easy on me until I do?”
“Taking it easy will not build up your strength Anna!” Hayden stressed, “Now let’s try it again!”
Anna raised her sword up and swung at him. Hayden quickly responded and stopped hers with his own. When she swung it around and came at him again, Hayden knocked it out of her hands. Anna stormed over to where it fell and picked it up. She raised
the sword up above her and charged at him. Once again Hayden knocked it from her hands and returned it to the ground, at her feet.
“Keep trying, Anna!” he encouraged her as she picked it up.
“I am!” She hissed back at him, “You’re just being unfair!” she spat.
“Nothing is fair in battle, Anna…” he educated her.
Anna eyed him and raised her sword again. She swung it hard at his and the clashing of the steel against steel rang in the air above them. Anna quickly swung her sword around again and hit it against his. Hayden responded by hitting hers back even harder, almost knocking it out of her grasp. Anna managed somehow to keep a hold on it and tightened her grip on the handle.
She raised it again and brought it back down upon his, grinding the metal blades together as he held his ground. With one hard push, Hayden sent her stumbling back and before Anna could recover, his sword smacked hers again and repeated with stronger hits, until finally Anna could not hold on anymore and the sword went flying out of her hands.