Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1)

by Heaven Lyanne Flores

  “What are we going to do now?” We had to leave the area as soon as possible I’m sure but I didn’t want to leave Weldon. We had no way of taking him back with us.

  “There is a wagon in the barn right?” I nodded. “We will put Weldon and Verijo in it and take them back home.”

  “Okay,” I whispered. The thought of my friend lying in the back of that wagon twisted my stomach. He did not deserve this.

  “I’ll get everything set up outside.” He removed his hand from my arm. My body suddenly felt heavier. Yelson gave me one more worried look before he exited the cabin.

  I laid my head back down on the cushion seat. This time I touched my forehead with Weldon. His cold skin felt normal to me. He was cold blooded so it didn’t surprise me but this time it felt different because it was. His body wasn’t cooling down just because it was natural.

  I closed my eyes and thought of Weldon. Pictures of his smile ran through my mind, his brown eyes, and his kindness. I remembered the first day he gave me the book of paintings. He helped me get through so much even though he was going through his own problems.

  I went back to our conversation this morning. I remembered how sad, mad, and confused he was about what happened with his family. I knew he wanted to see them again just as I did with mine. Now he never would have the chance.

  I couldn’t control the tears anymore. They came rushing down my cheeks as I sobbed next to what was left of my friend.

  Please don’t cry.

  “I thought you left Yelson.”

  Annie.

  I lifted my head and wiped the tears away, my vision blurry from the crying. I made out the shape of Yelson at the end of the couch. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here.”

  You never have to apologize.

  “I just miss him already,” I cried as I touched Weldon’s cheek.

  I miss you too.

  “What?” I blinked my eyes until I could see whom I was talking too. “Weldon?”

  My eyes went to the couch. He still laid on it but when I looked up, he was standing at the end of the couch. That million-dollar smile of his plastered on his face.

  “How is this possible?” I asked. My eyes bounced from the couch to the now clear vision of Weldon standing.

  There are things you don’t know Annie. Things you need to know about yourself.

  “What are you talking about? Weldon what is happening?” My breath quickened the longer I saw him standing there. “How are you here?”

  Annie you are powerful. More than we thought. This is why you can see and hear me like before when Yelson was here.

  “That was you?” I remembered when I thought I first heard Yelson talk to me in the room. But it couldn’t have been him because it was like someone whispered it in my mind. That someone was Weldon.

  You need to find Ulma. She will explain everything to you. Ask Mari to take you to her.

  “Who is she?”

  He walked over to me and knelt down. It felt like he was there. He didn’t look different. In fact, he was wearing the same tattered shirt. I could feel the tears threatening to come back.

  Can you promise me one thing?

  I nodded my head not trusting my voice.

  Don’t hate anyone for what they did. They thought they were protecting you. I thought I was protecting you by not telling you the truth but I was just hurting you more.

  “What do you mean?” I croaked. He wasn’t making any sense to me.

  A sad smile spread across his face.Goodbye Annie. Tell Emilie that I’m sorry I didn’t come back like I promised.

  “No, Weldon. Don’t leave me please.” But it was too late. He was gone.

  Footsteps came from the porch. I didn’t want to see anyone yet so I ran to my room. I heard Yelson yell my name before I closed the door on him.

  ~*~

  Weldon’s body laid on the wagon next to the guard. I knew it wasn’t him anymore, he was gone, it was just his body but that was just as bad. It took everything in me not to roll into the fetal position and cry my eyes out when I saw him.

  Yelson attached the old wagon to both the guards’ horse. Simon took Verijo’s horse while Mari towed Weldon’s. We didn’t waste any more time than we needed too.

  The way back to the palace seemed to take twice as long. It was as if we were trying to prolong our arrival. We didn’t stop for the night but kept going.

  We reached the village before the sun came up. The few people around kneeled when we past them. They bowed their heads and placed their fingertips to the ground. I stared in confusing. What were they doing? They hadn’t done that when Cabel brought me here.

  When we reached the palace Cabel was standing by the front door with Emilie and Kenelm. They seemed relieved to see us but that quickly changed when they saw my brother and Weldon’s empty horse. They immediately got on their knees, bowed their heads and placed their fingertips onto the ground.

  Now I understood what they were doing. That was how they paid respect to their fallen.

  Tears rolled off Emilie’s face as she ran to my side. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her. I murmured soothing words to her but I knew it didn’t do anything to help her. She knew what happened to Weldon, her best friend, and nothing would be able to help that.

  “I’m glad you are okay Annie,” she whispered as she let me go. Her eyes focused on the wagon just feet away from us. I wasn’t sure who but someone had taken the horses to the barn and left the wagon.

  Yelson and Kenelm were talking most likely about the events that occurred on our visit to the cabin.

  Simon made his way to me a small smile on his face. “Emilie, it has been too long.”

  “Simon,” Emilie whispered. A sad smile spread across her face as she gave him a hug. “It’s so great to see you again.”

  “Anastasia, can we speak? In private. I need to tell you something I should have a long time ago.” Kenelm asked me.

  “Yeah,” I replied and looked to my brother. I did not want to leave him after I just gotten him back.

  “Go ahead. I’ll stay with Emilie. I’ll see you in a bit.” He gave me an encouraging smile before he looked to Kenelm. They shared a look before Simon nodded to him.

  I gave my brother a hug and followed Kenelm into the palace. He made his way upstairs to the door to the third floor. He opened it and motioned for me to walk in. I hesitated of course. Cabel had warned me not to go up there.

  “It’s okay,” Kenelm said when he saw me stop.

  I took a deep breath, calming my nerves, and moved through the door.

  I expected to see computers and top secret things scattered throughout. But that wasn’t what was there.

  One giant table sat in the middle of the room less floor. Six smaller tables lay against the wall. Each one had stacks of papers and other tool’s I didn’t recognize.

  I noticed one didn’t look as messy as the others. It had only a small stack of papers and a book. Kenelm towed me to that table and motioned for me to sit down.

  “First off I would like to say I cannot express how sorry I am about what you have been through, your majesty. A young woman as yourself should never experience such things.” Kenelm looked at me with sympathy. I felt like he wanted nothing better than to sweep me away to a place where nothing bad could happen to me.

  “Thank you, Kenelm.” I felt like I should have said more but I couldn’t find the words.

  “Now, I believe we have found a way to kill Daruka without you being involved.”

  I shoot up in my chair at his words. “How? I thought you said I was the only one who could do it.”

  “The Sword of Ustrina,” was all he said in reply.

  “You have it?” I gasped. “But my brother told me it was just a tale. He said it doesn’t exist.”

  “Of course it does. My family has kept it hidden for centuries. We have made people believe that it never existed to protect it from the wrong hands.”

  “Like Daruka?”

  “Ye
s,” he replied. “Cabel and I have both agreed that the sword will be able to kill Daruka. Yelson has already volunteered.”

  “What?” I croaked. He couldn’t do that. There was no strong evidence that said the sword would for sure be able to kill Daruka. For all we know it would not work on him at all and Daruka would rip Yelson to shreds. “But Daruka will kill him.”

  “A risk we must take. We cannot allow you to risk your life like that. I will not allow it. You are far more important to me.”

  “You don’t even know me.” A flash of hurt passed his eyes. He took a step back from me. I thought he was going to pass out. “Kenelm are you alright?”

  “I do know you. More than you think,” he whispered. His large hands picked up the book that sat on the desk and handed it to me.

  The papers seemed like they would fall apart from the leather that bound them at the smallest touch. I didn’t want to open it in fear I would destroy it but I had to. Kenelm was trying to tell me something, something he couldn’t say himself for some reason.

  “I will be downstairs,” He said. He quickly turned around and exited the only door on the floor. I wanted to tell him to stay. It didn’t feel right for me to be here by myself but I let him go. This could be the answers I was looking for. I had to do this by myself.

  I took a deep breath before I opened up the old thick cover. I gasped in shock of the picture on the first page. I could have been looking at myself.

  A woman smiled at the painter. Her long blonde hair framed her face in perfect curls. Her shocking blue eyes showed the happiness she felt as she held a baby in her arms. Underneath the painting was written:

  Queen Amelia Rosewell and Princess Anastasia Rosewell.

  The book slipped through my fingers as I sat stunned at what I saw. That couldn’t be true. That wasn’t me. That was Kenelm’s wife and daughter. Even if I looked like Amelia, she wasn’t my mother. She couldn’t be. My mom was kidnapped by Daruka. She was being held captive in who knows what kind of conditions.

  But I couldn’t lie to myself. It would explain so many things. Why I did not look like my family. How I was always the outsider. Why I felt unusually safe around Kenelm.

  He was my father.

  What did that mean? If I was his daughter why were other people raising me as their own? It didn’t make any sense to me.

  I grabbed the book off the floor and ran out the door and down the stairs. I could hear people on the second floor calling my name but I didn’t stop. They weren’t who I was looking for. I ran into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the table.

  “You need to take me to Ulma,” I told her as I caught my breath. Mari’s face stared at me shocked at what I said.

  “How do you know of her?” She asked me skeptically. She still did not trust a word that came out my mouth.

  “Weldon told me.”

  “What? When?”

  “After he died,” I whispered.

  She gasped wide eyed at me. “Follow me.”

  Without another word, she took my arm and ran out the front door. She pulled me down the crowded street until we stopped at a small cabin. Potted flowers framed the walkway to the front door. An old rocking chair sat on the front porch next to a small table with a book on it. It all seemed very inviting to me.

  Mari towed me to the front door and pushed through it not knocking. An older woman sat on a blue armchair. Her green hair was braided down the right side of her face tied with a white feather. Her bronze colored eyes smiled at me as I walked in after Mari.

  “Anastasia. Finally.” She gracefully stood up to hug me. Her arms wrapped around me sending an instant feel of comfort. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and hugged her back. I

  wasn’t sure why I did it, I barely knew her, but I felt safe with her. “We have been waiting for you, young lady, for a long time.”

  “Weldon told me you would tell me everything. I have no idea what he was talking about but I had to see you.” I gripped the book still in my hands tighter to my body. Ulma saw and her smile grew wider.

  “Well it seems to me like you know something now.”

  “Is it true? Is he my father, my real father?” I wasn’t sure if she would be able to hear me as my voice was a trembling whisper.

  “Yes darling, it is.” My body could not take it any longer and I fell to the floor. I couldn’t control the tears that freely fell as I grasped the book. To hear someone confirm my suspicions broke my heart.

  The family I grew up knowing wasn’t mine.

  “Help me put her in the chair Mari.” Before I knew it I was lifted onto the blue armchair Ulma had just occupied.

  “I’ll get some water.” I heard Mari walk out of the room, her footsteps echoing off the hardwood floor.

  “Now, what do you want to know?” Ulma asked me as she lifted my chin to look at her. Her eyes held sympathy for me.

  “Everything,” I croaked. She nodded and sat in a matching blue chair across from me. Mari came back and handed me a cup of water before she sat down on the floor next to me.

  “It all started when your parents married.”

  Chapter Ten

  “The king appointed your mothers brother as his spokesperson after they had wed. He would travel Bolton and speak in the name of the king and queen both in this kingdom and others.”

  “Daruka is my mother’s brother.” I gasped. I remembered Cabel saying the same thing when I asked him about this man. Only he told me that I was related to him.

  “He is.” A sad smile spread across her face before she continued. “When your mother got pregnant with you everyone was so happy. However, Daruka was not. He was furious at your mother. He started talking about overthrowing the crown. After a month, he gained many followers. They started attacking innocent villagers, killing them for no reason at all other than to anger the King. The King attempted many times to sign a truce with Daruka. He wanted the violence to end before his daughter was born.

  “On the day you were born Daruka agreed to a ceasefire. After a few days, the King left the village to meet with Daruka. He left his family behind, you and your mother. He thought you were safe. But he was wrong.

  “Daruka’s men waited outside the village lines until the King had left and then they attacked. They killed half the village population before they were able to reach the castle. Before they could break in, though, your mother and grandmother gave you to Alder and Celesta Miller. They made them promise to take you to earth and raise you as their own and never to bring you back.

  “Once they were safely out of the palace your mother tried her hardest to stop her brother’s army. She was successful until Daruka himself stopped her. He killed her and his mother and searched the entire castle for you.”

  “He wanted me dead as well. That way the prophecy wouldn’t come true.” I clutched the book to me. It was the only connection I had to the woman who gave her life for me, my mother.

  “He still does Anastasia. Unless you stop him first,” she whispered to me as if she was afraid I would break.

  “My name is Annie,” I stated. “I know who you all want me to be but I’m not her. No matter how hard I try I will never be able to kill him.”

  “That is not true. It is in your blood to do it. Only you can.”

  “No. Kenelm said that the sword of Ustrina could kill him. It doesn’t have to be me.” I couldn’t be me.

  “Yes it can but only when you yield it.”

  Her words hit me like a train. There was no way out of this. No matter what solutions Kenelm could come up with none would work. Not unless they involved me.

  I looked over to Mari. She seemed sorry for me. She knew I couldn’t do this from the way I acted at the cabin yesterday. It would only be a matter of time before I finally broke down.

  “Darling, I know it is not what you want to hear but you must understand you are the only living person who can kill him.”

  ~*~

  I paced back and forth across Ulma’s small li
ving area. Mari watched me silently. Her lips pursed a little as she thought about something. Ulma had made her way to the back of the cabin. The smell of something cooking soon found its way to my senses.

  I knew what Ulma had been telling me, what a lot of people had told me in the month I had been here. I had to kill Daruka. There was no way around it.

  As much as Kenelm was trying to find a different way, it just wasn’t possible. My stomach twisted at the thought of taking a life. Even if that life was the truest of all evils like the prophecy said.

  I wanted to go to my room and hide under the covers forever never to be bothered again.

  “Here you go dear.” Ulma handed me a small cup filled with a dark green liquid.

  “What is this?” I asked as I grabbed it. It didn’t smell bad but it looked horrible. It reminded me of medicine.

  “A special drink. I am a spiritual leader and know what people need. This will help to calm your nerves and open your mind more to the idea of fulfilling the prophecy.”

  “And if I don’t drink it?”

  “Darling, I’m not forcing you too. It is your choice.” She held out her hand for the cup but I held it tight in mine.

  I needed to drink this. Without it, I would never get the courage to become what they wanted me to. But was it something I wanted? I knew if I were to stay who I am I would never be able to kill Daruka. I needed to change I just didn’t want to change into the person they all wished for me to be.

  I wasn’t Anastasia Rosewell I was Annie Miller. A nineteen year old girl who just wanted her whole family back. To live peacefully in our little cabin never to be bothered by the outside world again.

  I pressed the cup to my lips and drank it all at once. It tasted like apples but it was overly sweet. I gave the cup back to Ulma who quickly made her way back to the kitchen.

  Within seconds my body sighed with relief. I felt like one hundred pounds were lifted off my shoulders. I sat down with an oomph and closed my eyes.

  My whole body felt like it was tingly. The kind that happens after your legs fall asleep. I didn’t dare breathe as it hurt. Ulma didn’t tell me about this. I could hear someone yelling but couldn’t make out who it was. Someone touched my face and tried whispering something into my ear before I lost consciousness.