The Key ( #1 Anna Kippling Series) YA Paranormal Romance / Epic Fantasy

by A. D. Duling

  Hayden pointed the tip of the blade at her face. “You’re dead.”

  Anna slapped it away and he lowered his sword. The second he did, Anna rushed at him and knocked Hayden hard against the chest and sent him landing back flat onto his bottom. He looked up at her surprised as she glared down at him.

  “What was that for?” he asked her.

  “Like you don’t know, you arrogant jerk!” Anna kicked at him, but Hayden caught her foot and he pushed her back. Anna stumbled but recovered as he stood up.

  “Oh…so now I’m an arrogant jerk!” Hayden walked up to her and got in her face, “Well then you are a whiney little brat!” He spat out at her. Anna screamed and jumped at him again, attacking him. She tackled him to the ground and they rolled around like little children, slapping and kicking at each other until finally Anna kneed him in the groin and brought the battle to an end.

  Hayden moaned and grabbed himself. He curled up into the fetal position and groaned again; she had kicked him hard. Anna stood up and brushed the loose strands of her hair out of her face and stared down at him. From the corner of his eye, Hayden could tell she was debating over feeling guilty or angry, for a moment, but then Anna turned around and stormed away from him. Anger had apparently won the match.

  A moment later, Hayden heard his mother walk up and kneel down beside him. “Do you need any help, dear?” Corinne asked him, concerned.

  Hayden shook his head and lay in place a little longer. His mother patiently waited, sitting by his side until he finally sat up and looked around for Anna.

  “She’s over by the trees,” She told him.

  Hayden looked over to group of trees ahead of them and found Anna sitting underneath one. “Do you want to talk about what just happened?” Corrine asked him. Hayden thought her heard her trying to stifle a laugh.

  “It’s not funny, mother,” He replied to it.

  Corinne reached up and rubbed his back, “Oh…it was...” She gently admitted and he couldn’t help but to chuckle along with her.

  “Not too loud…or you will hurt her feelings dear,” Corrine told him and Hayden laughed, but quickly covered his mouth.

  He shook his head. “You’re hopeless!” he told her.

  “Do you love this girl?” Corrine asked him.

  Hayden didn’t say anything.

  “You don’t have to answer that.”

  “Yes, I do love her mother,” he confessed a moment later.

  “Have you told her this?”

  Hayden shook his head. “She’s not ready to know.” He looked over to her, “You know when I rescued her; we had to hide from the Chancellor’s men three times. The first time we hid out, I kissed her and not just once Mother. I have not a clue why I even did it, it just felt … right.”

  Corrine smiled. “Love always catches us in unexpected ways,” she declared.

  “I suppose, but why her?” Hayden asked her.

  She laughed. “I have seen girl after girl try to catch your attention my son and one after the other; could not. The reason why was because none of them was the one.” Corrine looked over at where Anna sat, “She is the one.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Anna wiped at the fresh tears that stung her eyes, trying hard not to cry anymore. She wanted to hate him, but at the same time she couldn’t. She wanted to be glad she hurt him, but felt bad about that too. She at least deserved to feel angry at Hayden right now and went with that. Anna rested her elbows on her knees and stared out into the distance. Why did this have to happen to her? She thought and the question made her think of her book. Anna pulled it out and asked the question.

  It’s your destiny. Its page answered her.

  “What am I destined to do then?” she asked it.

  Save the Empress and defeat the Chancellor. It told her.

  “How do I do that?”

  By using your strength, your wit and your sacrifice…

  “Wow that really explained a lot!” Anna complained, “What is my sacrifice?” she asked it.

  Your life for his… it wrote. This startled Anna.

  “I came here to die?” she asked it.

  Yes…

  “Why and for whom?” she asked it.

  …To save Hayden…. It wrote.

  “Save him from what?”

  …Save him from death. It answered her.

  “Let me get this right, I have to die so he doesn’t!” she summed it up.

  Yes. It answered.

  “Anna, are you alright?” Corrine’s voice interrupted, startling her.

  Anna quickly slammed her book shut and nodded. She stuffed it into her pocket and stood up.

  “Yes, I’m alright,” she assured her and wiped her eyes.

  Corrine stared at her quietly for a moment and then nodded, “Good, now how about some lunch?” she invited her and held her hand out for Anna to take. Anna laughed and took her hand. Corrine gave it a squeeze of comfort a pulled her along back towards the blanket and the still recovering Hayden.

  Chapter Twenty

  Anna was quiet all through lunch, lost in her thoughts. What she was thinking about, was the question Hayden wanted to ask her. When she had come back with Corrine, Anna had chosen to sit on farthest section of the blanket opposite of him. She then spent her lunch looking at everything but him or thinking away looking at the ground. After lunch they returned to practicing the swords, but the silence continued for the first half. She was distant and obviously angry. Anna’s aggressiveness in their sword practice had made that very clear. Hayden took it at the same time gave it…a little. Anger helped in battle and he wanted her to know that, but also Hayden didn’t like Anna mad at him, so he let her beat him a few times as well; to boost her pride and confidence.

  It had worked and soon the shield came down and Anna starting to smile again. She knew what he was doing and it showed in her behavior. Anna didn’t like her victories handed to her and combat with her actually became challenging for him. Hayden was impressed with how quickly she learned, but knew later Anna would also be hurting, badly. After another defeat, which was starting to become less frequent, Anna dramatically crumbled to the ground and played dead.

  Anna looked up at him, “Can we call it quits?” She asked him, breathing heavily from the conflict. Sweaty strands of hair crowned her face which was almost apple red from the exertion. Hayden nodded and stared down at her and she laughed at him, after a few minutes of him doing it.

  “What are you laughing at?” he asked her calmly.

  Anna smiled, “It’s just that you look like a little lost boy standing there,” She said to him.

  “I am lost… I’m not sure what to do around you Anna,” he replied.

  Her smile faded and Hayden walked over to her. He held his hand out to her and she took it to pull herself up with. Hayden stared at her as her eyes took his face in. He could see she wanted to say something, her mouth had even opened an inch to do so, but then clamped shut and she only stared at him.

  “Anna I’m in love with you!” Hayden declared and Anna blinked in surprise, “I don’t expect anything in return; I’m just letting you know. Whichever way you choose to respond to this; I’ll respect it,” he finished.

  Anna shook her head, “How do you know that you’re in love with me Hayden?” she asked him, “How do you know it’s just not an infatuation, brought on by hormones?”

  Hayden gave her a confused look, “What are hormones?” He asked her and then watched her eyes shoot down to his groin area and then back up again.

  “Oh…” he said, nodding his understanding, “Anna, I do have hormones for you… any normal man would, but what I also feel for you is love,” He urged.

  “I admit I get butterflies in my stomach every time you kiss me Hayden, but that doesn’t mean its love!” Anna argued with him.

  “Anna, that’s exactly what love is! It starts with little things like that and grows into more!” he emphasized.

  “How do you know these things? Have you e
ver been in love before?” she asked him.

  Hayden shook his head, “No, I haven’t,” he confessed.

  “Well then, I’ve made my point!” Anna declared and picked up her sword.

  “Now wait just a minute Anna, what I feel for you is real! And I believe a little part of you feels the same, admit it!” He said, grabbing her arm to stop Anna from walking away.

  “I’m not talking about this anymore Hayden!” said Anna. She tried to free her arm, but Hayden wouldn’t let go.

  “I want you to look me square in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love me,” He dared her.

  Anna sighed, looked up at him and spoke, “I don’t love you…” to him. Her words cut into him and Hayden let go of her arm. He stepped back defeated and Anna immediately felt ashamed. Hayden spoke not a single word to Anna as they collected their things and was silent all the way back to his home. His father had left the barn door open for them and Hayden guided the Thunder inside. When he climbed off, he left Anna to get down on her own; pretending to be busy cleaning out one of the horse’s shoes.

  Anna’s heart ached over the hurt she had brought him and her stomach flipped in agreement with her heart, but Anna wouldn’t let herself admit it. She climbed down off of the horse and immediately after, Hayden grabbed the reins and guided the horse over to his stall.

  “So you’re just going to ignore me now?” she spoke to his back.

  Hayden grabbed the nearby pail of oats and filled the horse’s feed sack. He looped it over Thunder’s head and then proceeded to unsaddle him. Anna knew his ignoring her was punishment for what she had said. She knew she could have said it in a better way and couldn’t argue with his punishment for her. She did deserve to be ignored. Anna leaned against the stall and watched him quietly for a few minutes.

  “You did say you would respect my response, no matter what it was?” she reminded him.

  Hayden finished his task before he looked up at her, “Well, I lied,” He said and then walked out in a huff.

  “Well fine then!” Anna called after him, “be a big baby about it!” she yelled. Anna turned back to the feasting horse and walked over to him, “You still like me boy, right?” She asked Thunder and rubbed his head. The horse gave a muffled neigh in answer and Anna gave his head another rub, “Of course you do,” she said, “You’re not a baby like Hayden.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Anna left the horse to finish his dinner and pushed the barn door shut behind her. She latched it and turned for the house. She took her steps slowly, in no hurry to cross the hundred feet distance between the barn and house. Anna did half the length at a snail’s pace. She didn’t want to deal with Hayden’s sulking and also wanted to think. His outburst of loving her had taken her by surprise. It seemed rash, but the way Hayden had said it, with such conviction, Anna almost believed that he really felt that way. Maybe that was why Anna had said what she did. Maybe she said it because she was afraid. Not by how he felt about her, but afraid that she felt exactly the same way in return.

  A noise came from behind her and Anna looked up. A dark figure on horseback shot out from behind the barn and charged her, swinging a rope above his head. Anna instinctively raised her hands to protect herself and screamed for Hayden. The rope her predator swung came down over her head and looped around her neck. Anna’s hands flew to the rope as the figure raced past her and then was jerked back to the ground. The rope cinched tight around her neck, pinning her fingers between her neck and the rope. Anna spotted Hayden and Harmon at the door as she was dragged past the front of the house towards the street.

  Her fingers burned and throbbed, but thankfully they kept a gap big enough for her to still breathe. The ground tore at her clothing and scratched at the exposed skin of her back. The cobblestones of the main street beat against the bones beneath her flesh as her attacker dragged her through the middle of the city. Tears streamed down Anna’s cheeks from the pain and her head throbbed from the pressure. Anna knew if she didn’t get free quick, it would kill her. She remembered her dagger and started working on wiggling a hand free to get to it. The rough rope cut into her fingers and burned them every inch of the way as she jerked to get her hand free.

  Finally Anna freed her right hand and reached down to her belt for the dagger. She pulled it out of the sheath and reached up above her to cut the rope, but couldn’t see it. Anna knew she would have to flip over to do so and jerked her body hard to her left. It took two tries before she flipped herself, which in turn twisted the rope and tightened it around her neck, cutting off Anna’s air completely. Trying not to panic, Anna reached up and started cutting at the rope as quickly as she could. Her attacker raced through the open entrance and drug Anna across the field she had just come from. The ground was relentless on her front and the rocks beat hard at her vulnerable ribs. Anna kept on cutting as her lungs screamed for air. Just as she was about to black out, the rope snapped and Anna dropped like a rag doll onto the ground.

  Anna gulped the precious air into her lungs and shakily loosened the rope from around her neck. Behind her, she heard the returning hoof steps of her attacker’s horse and hurried to her feet. Anna looked back and found her attacker only meters away from her and started running for her life. She stumbled after a few short steps and fell down again to the ground. Anna tried to stand up again, but her legs were like rubber and she fell back down to her knees. Anna could hear him nearing and quickly rolled herself into a fetal position, preparing for his attack, but the attack never came.

  Instead, Anna heard a thump and looked over to find her predator lying on the ground a few feet away from her, lifeless with an arrow in his chest. His horse ran past her and that was when Anna heard clattering of other hooves beating the ground in pursuit. Anna knew it was Hayden, coming to her rescue. Anna rolled over onto her back, but that was as far as she could go.

  “Anna!” she heard Hayden’s voice and turned her head to where it came from. She saw his boots running towards her and then stop. A second after, Anna felt a gentle pair of hands touch her cheek and she looked up to find his face. Worry and panic screamed in his eyes, but Hayden only smiled and faked mild concern not to worry her. A blanket came down upon Anna’s battered body, to cover her.

  “It’s going to be ok Anna….” She heard him say, but somehow never saw his lips move. Hayden only seemed to smile and nod a lot to her. The fight for consciousness came upon Anna as she tried to keep Hayden’s face in focus. Gentle hands come up underneath her and Anna was scooped up. Anna whimpered from the pain the scooping had brought to the damaged skin of her back and every step he took brought pain to her battered body.

  “I know it hurts dear, but we’ll get you fix up real quick!” Came a voice and Anna realized it wasn’t Hayden holding her, it was Harmon. Anna felt herself lift up and then a new pair of hands gently took her; Hayden’s. Anna knew it was him as soon as he cradled her against him. Anna slumped in defeat and let consciousness leave her. Hayden grabbed the reins and nudged the horse to go and rode back towards the city. Townspeople stood gathered in the streets with worry all over their faces as they watched Hayden race past, holding their fragile chosen one in his arms.

  “It’s the girl, Anna Kippling!” Their voices cried out after him, “She’s been hurt….” They spoke to each other.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Corrine was already waiting for them on the front porch, when Hayden steered Thunder down the little street towards home. He pulled the horse up to the front steps and carefully climbed down, gently holding the broken Anna close against him. Hayden marched through the open front door and climbed the stairs in five steps. He went quickly down the hall towards Anna’s bedroom with his mother running to catch up to him. Medicine bottles and other medical fixings were cradled in her arms.

  Hayden gently laid Anna down upon the bed and walked over to the other side so his mother could put her things down on the nightstand next it. Corrine then turned and gently pulled back the blanket that covered
her and gasped in anguish at the sight of Anna’s predicament. Most of Anna’s clothing had been torn up and the skin underneath was in a worsened state. Corrine grabbed a pair of scissors and carefully started cutting the clothing away as her son looked away to give them privacy.

  “Help me turn her onto her stomach,” She asked him a little after and Hayden turned back to assist his mother; blushing a little as he did so, trying to keep his eyes averted. Anna cried out as they flipped her and rolled onto her belly with a grunt. “I’m sorry dear… I know this hurts…” Corrine gently soothed her as she gently removed the cut clothing from off of her.