~*~
I woke to the sound of a door closing. My head felt like I had been hit by a bus, not that I would know what that felt like. I slowly opened my eyes thankful that whoever came in didn’t turn on the lights or open the blinds. I blinked several times before my vision was clear enough to make out the shape leaning over the bed.
Yelson stood beside me. He stared at me with a look of relief to see me awake. He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand to my forehead. I was confused at first but then realized he was checking for a temperature.
“What happened?” I meant to say it but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out but a squeak.
“Ulma gave you something she shouldn’t have. What she told you it does were true but it also boost’s your power.” He must have seen the confused look on my face because he continued. “Annie, you are a Bandraoi. You are one of the most powerful creatures to roam this planet. By giving you that she has unlocked all the powers within you.”
I cleared my throat before I spoke but it was just a whisper. “Why didn’t she tell me that?”
“She wants you to unlock your powers. Once you do you are just one step closer to killing Daruka.”
“Is that all anyone wants me to do?” I croaked as I looked away from him.
“No, that isn’t true. Kenelm, Emilie, Simon and I don’t.” He gave me a sad smile as he grabbed my hand. His warm skin helped to calm me a little but I was still on edge.
“Where is my brother?” I refused to call him anything else. No matter what Ulma and Kenelm told me he was my family, the only family I had at the moment.
“Sleeping. I don’t think he has slept in days,” he said as he moved his thumb over my knuckles. I couldn’t help but smile at the small gesture. He had no idea what he was doing to me.
“What about Mari?”
His whole body tensed at the mention of his sister. “She stayed at Ulma’s.”
“Why?” I asked.
“She knew I would be mad at her for taking you there and she was right. She never should have done it.”
“Weldon told me to go, not Mari.” Now it was his turn to look confused. I sighed and explained to him what happened after he left me in the cabin. “When you left me in the cabin the day Weldon died. He came back, as a ghost or something. I’m still a little fuzzy on how that happened but he told me to ask Mari to take me to Ulma. He said she could explain everything and I wanted the answers but now I’m not so sure.”
He sighed as his hand pulled me towards him into a hug. I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his midsection. He still smelled like woods and I knew he had been outside recently. “I’m so sorry Annie. None of us wanted you to find out like that.”
I simply nodded against his chest. I knew he had known about my family. I’m sure everyone did but me. I pulled away from him and smiled. “It’s okay Yelson. It doesn’t change anything for me. They are still my family. I may have my brother back but I still need to find my parents. Daruka still has them.”
“I know,” he nodded. He pushed back some hair that had fallen onto my face. “We will find them.”
I smiled at him. He meant what he said just like he always did. That was something I could always count on with him.
“Do you want to see if he is awake? Maybe he knows where they are.”
“Yea.” I got up from the bed and look down at the zebra print pajamas I was wearing. “Who changed me?”
“Emilie. She didn’t want you uncomfortable. I’ll meet you in the hallway so you can change.”
“Thanks,” I said as he walked out the door.
I quickly grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from one of my drawers and put them on. I sighed as I passed my reflection in the vanity. My blonde hair was in a mess around my head. Grabbing a brush I ran it threw my hair before I put it into a high ponytail.
Yelson was right were he said he would be. He leaned against the wall directly across from my door. A small smile spread across his lips as he looked at me.
“What?”
“I think I like you better in pj’s,” he laughed.
And I think I like you better without a shirt, I thought. His smile grew wider making me wonder if I said it out loud. “Come on lets go.”
He held his hand out allowing me to move in front of him. I walked down the hallway before I realized I had no idea where we were going. Yelson moved in front of me when he saw me stop in the living room to the hall across from ours. It was a smaller one with only three doors on each side. He went to the closest one on the right and knocked.
“Come in,” a muffled voice said from inside. My smile grew as I bust through the door and ran into my brothers open arms. “Oh, Annie.” He whispered against the top of my head.
“Simon. I still can’t believe you are really here,” I sighed as I let him go. He cupped my cheek.
“I never thought I would see you again,” he whispered. His eyes moved behind me to look at Yelson. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“You never have to thank me for that.” He smiled at me before he left the room to give me and my brother some much needed sibling time.
Simon’s room looked much like mine but his had a small circle table with two chairs and a bookshelf behind it. It screamed Simon to me and I smiled. He motioned for me to sit at the table with him.
I was happy to see him looking like the Simon I remembered. He was cleanly shaven with new clothing. The color had come back to his face and he didn’t look as fragile as he did the day we rescued him.
“So,” he started. “I’m sorry we never told you the truth. We thought we were protecting you.”
“Simon its okay,” I said as I patted his hand. “I know why you never told me. Amelia told our parents to promise not to tell me anything.”
“Annie,” he sighed. “You do not have to talk like that anymore. Amelia and Kenelm are your parents.”
“You three will always be my family. That is not going to change,” I whispered. He let out a sigh of relief at what I said. He was worried that as soon as I found out the truth I would never want anything to do with them. “You’re my brother. No matter what.”
He nodded causing a small tear to fall from his eye. He laughed as he looked up at me. “I’m so proud of you.”
“For what?”
“For handling all this very well. The Annie I knew would have been having a panic attack all night long.”
“You can thank Master Kai for that,” I smiled as I relaxed into the chair. “He toughened me up fast.”
Wow. I can’t believe she has changed so much.
“What?”
“I didn’t say anything Annie.” He tilted his head at me as he searched my face.
“Sorry, I must still be woozy from yesterday.” I put my head into my hands as if to justify what I said. I felt fine, better than normal. But I heard a voice. It felt like when Weldon was talking to me in the cabin.
I searched the room for my friend. My heart jumped at the thought that he was back however no one but Simon was in the room with me. I sighed in frustration as I tried to hear the voice again.
“Annie?”What is she doing?
“I’m not doing anything,” I sighed frustrated as I looked up to see his face. His eyes grew wide as he stared at me.
“What?”
“You have your powers?” He asked quietly.
“I don’t know. What’s happening? What are you talking about?” I asked him quickly.
“Annie,” he said gently when my breaths quicken. He grabbed my hand and rubbed my knuckles with his thumb just as Yelson had earlier. “I haven’t told you everything about the Bandraoi.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Bandraoi were the first coven of witches. That is why they have all the power from each coven because they stemmed off them. However, the Bandraoi also have their own power. It has to do with the mind. They can see what others are thinking, have visions and can see the dead. They don’t gain those p
owers, however, until they turn twenty. You still have three months to go.”
“Ulma gave me some sort of drink yesterday. Yelson said it would help to unlock my powers but I didn’t know what he meant.”
“He was right,” he said as he let my hand go.
“But I saw Weldon that day in the cabin. He was the one who told me to go to Ulma.”
“After you saved me?”
I nodded my head. I could feel the lump in the throat grow as I remembered that day.
“Don’t cry Annie.” He moved across the table and brushed a tear off my cheek. “It’s going to be okay, we’ll get through this like we always do.”
“You’re right,” I sighed. “I just need to breathe through everything. I’m glad you’re here Simon.”
“Me too, sis. Me to,” he whispered as he pressed his hand to my cheek.
I had missed my brother so much this past month. He was my best friend, the only person I could tell anything too. I needed him in my life more than I ever thought I would need someone. Even more than my parents.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” he said as he took back his hand.
“What happened to mom and dad?” I needed to know if anything bad happened to my parents. They weren’t with Simon so Daruka must have taken them somewhere else before we got there.
Simon’s face fell as he looked at his hands. “Last time I saw mom she was fine, not a scratch on her.”
I placed my hand on top of his and gave him an encouraging squeeze. I knew what he was going to say next but I wasn’t ready for it.
“On the sixth day they burned dad to death. They made us watch as he turned to ash.”
I covered my mouth to hide my gasp. My thoughts went back to the first night I spent here. I had a dream where my father turned to ash in front of my eyes. It felt so real at the time. I choked back a sob as I realized it was a vision of what was to come. He hadn’t died yet but I had seen it happen.
“I could have stopped it,” I whispered as I stared blankly at Simon.
“What do you mean? Of course, you couldn’t have. You had no idea where we were held or what they were planning on doing.”
“Simon, I saw it happen in a dream days before it did. If I had just told Yelson when he woke me that night we could have found you all and stopped it from happening.” I mentally kicked myself for not telling my guard. He would have known what it was and told Cabel. I know Cabel would have tried his hardest to find my family after that.
“Annie,” he yelled at me. “It was not your fault. There was nothing, you hear me, nothing you could have done to stop it. And what the hell was Yelson doing in your room that night?”
I shook my head ignoring his last question. I refused to believe him. Deep down, I knew that I could have done something instead of moping around the palace for days just waiting for something to happen.
Yelson busted through the door searching around for some unknown enemy. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Simon said as he stood up from the chair. “I think Annie still needs to rest. I need to talk with Cabel and Kenelm in the meanwhile.”
Yelson simply nodded his head and helped me up. My legs didn’t want to move on my command so Yelson simply lifted me into his arms and carried me to my room. I started to protest. I felt like a child and wanted to walk but Yelson quickly shushed me.
Once in the room Yelson gently laid me on the bed. He looked worried as he went to close the door.
“Please stay with me.” I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I needed someone with me. He nodded and took a seat on the only chair in the room next to my vanity.
I lay down and covered my head with my pillow before screaming into it. I screamed until my throat hurt. Finally, I pulled the pillow of my face and looked to Yelson.
“My dad is dead. He burned to death and I had a vision of it that first night here.”
He gave me a sympathetic look before moving to lie on the bed next to me. His face was inches from mine. His hand moved up and down my arm in a soothing gesture. I sighed as his touch calmed me.
He moved his hand to cup my face. “You shouldn’t blame yourself for it. I can see it in your eyes.”
“I can’t help it. I feel like if I had said something when I had the vision then he would be alive right now.”
He sighed as he moved his hand back to my arm. “You didn’t know it was a vision.”
I shook my head. I knew it had meant something. I never had a nightmare like that before I should have felt that it was something different, a warning of some kind.
“Annie, don’t blame yourself. It is just going to make things worse for you.” He pulled me into a hug. I laid my head on his chest and listened to his breathing.
“I wish none of this happened. All I want is my family back. I wish we were still at our cabin with our horses without a worry in the world.”
“I’m sorry Annie. This is too much to put on you. I wish I could help take the load off you somehow.”
“There isn’t,” I whispered against him. His warm arms tightened around me trying their hardest to protect me from the outside world. I could feel the protectiveness roll off him in waves.
“I will find a way somehow.”
We stayed like that, me wrapped him his arms on my bed, till a light knock came from my door, before we could move Emilie walked in.
“Oh my,” she said shocked as she cover her eyes.
“Em its okay. We were just talking,” Yelson said to her as he moved to stand up. I felt sad as I felt his heat leave me.
Emilie peaked through her fingers to see if we were decent before she completely removed her hand. “Oh well I was just wondering if Annie was hungry. I saw that no one cooked anything yet. So I am making eggs and yes I fried yours already Yelson but the hash browns are still cooking.”
I smiled at her. She always knew how to make me feel better by just being herself and without even know it. “That sounds great thanks.”
“Okay,” she quickly chirped before she left the room and closed the door behind her.
She has the worst timing.
I looked over at Yelson as his voice echoed in my head. He was rubbing his chin with his hand as he thought.
I’m never going to be able to tell her anything.
“Tell me what?” I asked as I sat up.
“What?” he asked shocked. “Crap, I forgot you could do that now.”
“Sorry, I don’t know how to control it. I just kind of get what comes to me.”
“It’s nothing that can’t wait, I promise. Those fried eggs are screaming my name right now.” He swiftly made his way to the door to wait for me.
When we entered the living room, one of the guards from out trip to the cabin sat on the couch.
“Dario what are you doing here?” Yelson asked him. He seemed shocked to see him.
“I was sent to tell you Master Kai is back. He is expecting you both at noon.” Before another word could be said, Dario walked out the front door.
That was weird. But Master Kai was back from his trip so we could finally start practice again.
Yelson guided me to the kitchen were Emilie stood over the stove. She served us some amazing fried eggs and hash browns. I couldn’t help but think of how much Weldon would have been eating. He loved her food.
“Do you think it is a good think Master Kai wants to see us today?” I looked over to Yelson as I ate a spoon full of eggs.
“Probably wants to start training again since he has been gone so long.”
“Yeah, what was that about?”
Yelson shrugged his shoulders in response. I could see that he thought it was weird that Master Kai had lefts for a week. As long as he had been here Master Kai never left the village.
Simon walked into the dining area. He didn’t look at me before he walked into Cabel’s office without knocking. What was wrong with him? He decided to start ignoring me once I get him back. I knew that being held
prisoner would change him in some way, it was expected, but I felt like he wasn’t happy that I found him since our talk. Maybe he was still a little mad at what I said to him about dad. I didn’t let him calm me down and I knew he wanted me too.
When we finished eating, we decided to make our way to Master Kai’s.
He was sitting in the middle of the mat. With his eyes closed I could see the scar on his face more clearly. It was a thin jagged line that must have sliced his eyelid in half at one point. I wondered what happened to him. It had to be a really bad injury.
Yelson and I automatically sat down, cross-legged, next to him. He smiled as he felt our weight touch the mat.
“I see you are both well.” His eyes were closed but his hand moved to pick up a paper that lay next to him. He held it out for me to take. It was a map of Bolton. A small circle was at the top left corner.
“What is this?” I asked as I handed the paper over to Yelson.
“That,” he said pointing to the circle. “Is where Daruka is.”
Chapter Eleven
“How do you know this?” Yelson asked him as he finally took the paper from my hands. His eyes traced the entire thing.
“I have ways.”
“Why haven’t you given this to the king?” I asked him. I couldn’t understand why he would tell us this. This was a matter for Cabel and Kenelm.
“Because they are not who can kill him.”
There it was the last straw. “Why does everyone keep saying that? It’s as if you all think I don’t know. That has been all anyone has told me since I got to this palace. It’s as if I don’t have a choice.”
Yelson looked away from me. I could hear how conflicted he was. He didn’t want me to kill Daruka, or anyone for that matter. That was why he volunteered to do it himself. He wanted to protect me but he knew he couldn’t.
Master Kai’s mind was blank. He looked directly at me with a small smile on his lips. It was as if he was amused at my little outburst. He gracefully stood up and moved up the stairs. We didn’t follow.
Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) Page 13