I had to get to know Kenelm. I knew I did. I needed to take this opportunity to get to know my real father. But the thought scared me. I already had a dad even if he was gone. It felt like a betrayal in some way.
“Have you looked through the rest of this?” he asked me as he turned the page.
“No, I haven’t had the chance too with practice.” I looked over Yelson’s shoulder as he skimmed through the pages. “He wrote all these?”
Book was really a journal. After the painting was Kenelm’s handwritten letters. He addressed every entry to me. Yelson let me take it out of his hands. I had to read them. The first entry was dated two weeks after my birthday.
November 16, 1994.
My dearest Anastasia,
I know you are too young to understand what is occurring. However, I want you to know that I never wished for this to happen. I thought I was helping to bring you into a planet of peace, a place you were happy to call home but now it is nothing more than war and death.
I respect your mother’s wishes of sending you to earth with Alder and Celesta. Your mother wanted nothing more than to have a girl. When you were born she smiled the brightest she ever had. So, I know she will only do what is best for you.
But that does not stop me from wanting to go there and take you away from them. You are my daughter and I love you more than life itself.
I hope you are able to understand that I had no other choice. I will find a way to end Daruka before you get of age. That is the very least of what I owe you.
With all my love,
Your Papa.
I felt Yelson pull me towards the bed. He sat me down knowing I probably would have fallen if he didn’t.
Hearing that my father actually wanted me made my heart flutter. I wanted to believe that he didn’t care for me. That was why he didn’t try to get me back. But it wasn’t true. My father loved me even if he didn’t get to know me all these years.
“Annie,” Yelson sighed my name as he brushed a tear away from my cheek.
I looked at Yelson and smiled. His gray eyes held nothing but concern for me like they always did. “Thank you Yelson,” I said as I hugged him. His warmth instantly surrounded me as I let out a sigh of relief.
“I’ll always be here for you. You’ll never be alone again,” he said into my hair causing a shiver to go throughout my body. I could hear in his mind how much he cared for me. I also saw something that made my heart skip a beat.
He wanted to kiss me.
I immediately backed away from our hug. He looked a little sad at me. He didn’t want it to end so soon. I swear my heart was beating so fast in my chest that I thought he could hear it.
I wanted him to kiss me. I’ve wanted it since I arrived at the palace. However, I was scared. I have never been kissed other than the pecks on my cheeks from my family. With our constant moving I never found time to have a boyfriend or even friends until I moved here.
“I should go see him,” I whispered as I tried to ignore his thoughts.
“Yeah,” he said as I stood up from the bed.
“I’ll see you at practice?”
“Of course.”
I walked out of my room and walked straight to Cabel’s study. Cabel was gone for the day so we weren’t going to be interrupted.
Kenelm stood next to the desk with his back towards me. I didn’t know what I was doing as I ran to hug him from behind. He seemed just as surprised as I was because he jumped at my contact.
He turned around and hugged my back. My body convulsed as I cried onto his shirt. He didn’t say a word as his hands soothingly patted my hair.
“I’m so sorry,” I cried into his chest. “I thought you didn’t want me. But I read your journal and I’m so sorry.”
“You had every right to think that,” he said as he pulled apart our embrace too look me in the eyes. “I never wanted you to be taken away from me. You are my whole world. When I finally convinced Alder and Celesta to bring you back you were already grown up. They didn’t want to tell you just yet. That is why they took you to that cabin to live at. They didn’t want you to hate them for not telling you the truth.”
“They were right. I probably would have hated everyone but that would have been because I didn’t understand. If you all just told me everything from the beginning instead of beating around the bush for months then none if this would have happened. Alder and Weldon would still be alive, Celesta would be here and I would be farther along in my training.”
“I will not allow you to do this Anastasia. I promised you I would find another way.”
“Unless I have some long lost cousin we don’t know about this is happening. I have accepted the fact that I am the only one who can kill him, now everyone else has to.” I could hear his internal debate. He knew only I could do it but by being my father he wanted to protect me from that. “Please, it will just make this all easier for us.”
He turned around to sit on Cabel’s chair. He didn’t want to send his only daughter to what could possibly be her death. I was all he had left and he wasn’t sure what he would do if he lost me again.
I pulled the extra chair next to him and sat down. “Listen, I know this is hard. You have already lost one loved one at the hands of Daruka but I have no plans of dying. I will be coming back.”
His sad eyes looked up at me. “Well, it seems I cannot change your mind. Just promise me one thing before you leave.”
“Anything.”
“I know what it is like to hide from love. I tried to keep away from your mother for years because I was afraid. Now I wish that I had not. I wished I had spent that time with her” He grabbed my hands. His made mine look like those of a child. “I see the way Yelson looks at you and the way you look at him. I know how you feel about each other. Do not hide from it like I did.”
“But how could you know?”
“I am a Bandraoi as well your majesty,” he smiled. “You are not the only one who knows how to use their powers.”
“Oh,” was all I could say as I remembered he could read minds as well. He also knew how to do it better than me so he could probably see more than what we were thinking at the moment. He probably saw that Yelson wanted to kiss me a few minutes ago.
“Yes I did and I stopped listening right after,” he promised me.
“I just don’t know if I could do something like that right now.” Especially if I didn’t come back from my fight with Daruka. It wouldn’t feel right if I started a relationship with Yelson just for me to die.
Kenelm smiled at me. “As they say ‘it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all’. I know that better than most. You also promised me that you would come back.”
“That is true. Thank you,” I said as I stood up from my chair. “I guess I should be getting back to my practice.”
“Yes, of course. You can always talk to me, you know that?”
“Yes. I do now.” He gave me one last hug before I left the study.
I quickly made my way to change and go to practice. Yelson leaned against the stairs with our plastic swords in his hands. I searched the room for Master Kai but he wasn’t there.
“Where’s the Master?”
“He had to leave but he didn’t want to cancel practice. So it’s just me and you.”
Great. I thought remembering what Kenelm told me back at the study. I quickly stopped and grabbed my plastic sword from him and walked to the dusty mat.
Yelson didn’t look as amused as he normally did but I didn’t let that get to me. I had to focus on training. I couldn’t think about what happen earlier with Yelson and Kenelm.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. My mind went blank and focused on nothing but my training. Yelson followed me and immediately got into trainer mode which I was thankful for.
I managed to hit him more times than I missed, barely. He got his fair amount of jabs in giving me yet another bruise on my waist. I didn’t complain. I needed to be toughened up for w
hen I would go against Daruka. He was bound to do much worse than a bruise here and there.
My plastic sword moved fluidly through the air as I tried to make contact with Yelson. He blocked every one of my blows. Our swords connected above our heads. He pushed me back causing me to trip over my feet. My head bounced against the mat, my vision became blurry and black spots appeared.
I groaned as I pushed myself up. The world was spinning around me but I didn’t let it phase me. I picked up the sword from the ground and pointed it back towards Yelson. He had a look in his eyes that told me he wanted to stop.
“No,” I practically yelled at him. “We need to keep practicing.”
“Annie, you are hurting.”
“So! Daruka won’t give me a break and neither should you.” My body ached more than I thought possible. I could barely move my legs side to side or lift my arms past my waist anymore but I couldn’t stop. This was something I had to keep doing.
“I think that is enough for today,” Yelson said pulling the sword from my hands. There wasn’t much fight left in me.
“Yelson please. I need to train.”
“You have. Annie, you have improved so much. I’m impressed.”
I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. “Thanks, I have a great teacher.”
I fell onto the mat with a plop. My body ached in every way possible and I silently groaned as I tried to cross my legs but failed.
“I think you should take tomorrow off.” Yelson’s forehead creased with worry when he looked at me.
“What? No, I can’t. I told you I need as much practice as I can get.”
“Annie, you can barely move your body. It is just going to be worse tomorrow morning. You need a day to let your body rest. It can only go through so much.”
“Ugh,” I groaned as I let my back fall to the ground. The mat wasn’t exactly comfortable but it felt like heaven at the moment. “Can I fall asleep here?”
Yelson laughed as he helped me back up from the ground. His warm hand held mine a few seconds longer before he let me go. “Come on, I’ll help you walk to your room.”
He moved my hand around his shoulders and wrapped his arm around my torso to help keep me steady. His fingertips touched my exposed skin between my shirt and my pants. They left a slight tingling where they touched that calmed me.
My legs felt like jelly as I took small steps out the room. The cool night air sent chills through my body. I didn’t realize we had practiced over time. I could see a few people on the street. They were moving quickly to get to their homes. No one liked to be out for a long time at night.
We had just made it up the steps and to the doors of the palace when Kenelm opened it. He seemed startled to see us at first but a smile soon spread across his face. “Working late are we?”
“Yes sire. I was just helping Annie get to her room.” I held in a laugh as Yelson calling my father ‘sire’. I had yet to hear anyone call him that.
Kenelm raised an eyebrow at me. “I can barely keep myself up Kenelm. It’s not exactly easy practice.”
“Oh of course. I know full well how hard Master Kai can push. Well, I must get going. Goodnight,” Kenelm said as he passed us. He gently placed a hand on my arm and I heard his voice echo in my head.Do not forget what I told you earlier.
I simply smiled at him as Yelson and I walked through the door. I was trying my hardest not to remember what he told me. It felt weird that my father was telling me to kiss Yelson. Aren’t dads supposed to keep their daughters away from that?
Yelson opened my door and helped me to my bed. I fell immediately onto my comfy covers. Never had I been so happy to see them. I quickly moved under them not caring that I was still in my sweaty workout clothes. “Thank you Yelson. I probably would have had to crawl here.”
“Anytime. Goodnight Annie.”
“Night Yelson,” I whispered. I was asleep before the door closed.
~*~
A small groan escaped my lips as I tried to get out of bed. Yelson was right when he said I would be worse in the morning. My body seemed to pulse with ache. I couldn’t lift my arms more than a few inches away from my body. I wasn’t even sure if my legs could hold my weight up.
I gently pushed my feet over the edge of my bed. Forcing myself not to think about the pain in my legs I grabbed a change of
clothes and my towel and made my way to the shower. The warm water helped ease my muscles.
Cabel’s voice entered my mind. I sighed when I heard it. Why couldn’t I control my own damn power? This was really getting to be annoying.
He was talking to someone about Daruka. Yelson had given him the map we received from Master Kai, he held it in his arms.We need to send her out! Can you not see that this may be our only chance? She has already surpassed what we thought she was capable of. She is the oracle. That makes her the most powerful creature on this planet. All she has to do is allow her powers to come in full. They are already there. She just needs to embrace it.
She is not ready.I could hear Kenelm talk through Cabel’s mind. He sounded stressed. He knew it was only a matter of time before I had to leave.For goodness sake Cabel she is only a child. If it were your daughter you would not send her out.
If Silvia had been the oracle I would have. It is for the greater good Kenelm, she can end this. Cabel thought about his daughter. His mind filled of her small smiling face. Small dark ringlets fell on her shoulders and her brown eyes held nothing but happiness. She would have been my age if she wasn’t killed ten years ago.
Cabel’s family was living in a small village not far from here. It was attacked by Daruka’s men. His wife, daughter, and son were killed along with the rest of the village. Not a day went by that he didn’t think about it. About what would have happened if he had been there to stop it.
We need to think about everyone else that Daruka has hurt. He will not stop. We need to end him and she is the only one who can.
I felt the water from the shower hit my back as Cabel’s mind left me. He was right. It was time to end this once and for all.
I shut off the water and got dressed. My body didn’t even register the pain as I made my way up the steps to the third floor. Cabel, Kenelm, Yelson, Simon, and a man I didn’t know sat around the big table in the middle of the room. They looked at me when I walked through the door. Each held a look of shock. No one ever came up to the third floor without their permission first.
“Annie, you are not supposed to be up here,” Simon said as he stood up from his chair. He gave me a stare that told me to go back downstairs but I had enough of it. I couldn’t sit down there while they talked about me, about my fate.
“I want to know when I will be leaving. My training is going great and I have better control of my powers. I’m ready for this.”
“Anastasia we both know that is not the truth.” Kenelm was obviously reading my mind and could see that I had about as much control on my powers and the day I got them.
“I think if she is confident enough to tell us that she is ready than we should let her go,” Cabel spoke up.
Kenelm stared daggers into him. He wanted him to stop talking about sending me to fight Daruka. He didn’t feel I was ready enough for that. He was right, of course, but I needed to prove to him that I was. I wanted this all to end and for me to have my mom back. These people needed their peace of mind and I was the only one who would be able to give it to them.
“Okay listen,” I said to them all. They were not going to sit here and decide what I would do. “We know where he is but we don’t know how long he is going to be there for. I mean he has to be smart enough to know not to stay in the same place for more than a couple of weeks, if that. So, that means we have to make our move sooner rather than later. I feel like I’m ready enough. Kenelm can teach me today how to control my powers more since I can’t practice that with Yelson. Simon and Emilie have already taught me plenty of spells. I can do this. I can end Daruka’s terror on our kingdom. I need
to do this.”
Chapter Thirteen
They all stared at me without a word as the minutes passed by. The air was filled with mixed emotions on how to go about the situation. Cabel and the other man, Calhoun, wanted me to go while the others thought I was being reckless and jumping to fast into this. They only saw me as the young, defenseless girl they saved over a month ago. They didn’t want to believe that I was even close to fulfilling the prophecy. But I was.
I knelt next to Kenelm. He was the one I needed to convince. He was the king, what he said was final. “I need to do this. He still has her. God only knows what he is doing to my mom right now. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I lose her.”
“Anastasia I do not want to loseyou,” he whispered as he took my face in his hands. “I do not think I would survive if I lost you again.”
“You won’t. I promised you that and I don’t like to break my promises,” I smiled. I pulled his hands away from my face and covered them with mine. “Plus it’s not like I am going to be alone. Yelson said he would come with me.”
Kenelm looked over to him two seats away. Yelson looked down as if he was ashamed. He didn’t know what Kenelm would say about him agreeing to accompany me. I could see that he thought he was going to be mad because it seemed like he wanted me to go when in fact Yelson wanted nothing more than for me to stay.
“I will too,” Simon spoke from across the table.
“No,” I said straitening up. He had already been tortured by Daruka enough I couldn’t bear to see him go through more.
“You are my sister, Annie. You don’t have a choice in the matter. I am going.”
Kenelm gripped my hands tighter in his. A faint smile was on his lips.We all love you very much your majesty. That is why we cannot let you go alone. It would be my honor to join you as well.
What? No, you can’t.I said to him in our minds.You’re the king. Everyone needs you here. What would happen to the kingdom if you died?
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