Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) Read online

  He really was a sweet guy.

  “Hey look, she finally came out,” he laughed as he petted my horse one more time before walking to me.

  “Why does everyone swear I take forever?”

  “Because you always do.” He gave me a quick wink before making his way to his horse that was lazily poking at the grass. Mary was already saddled so I quickly got on her so that everyone was now waiting on Yelson.

  Once everyone was on a horse, we walked into the forest that surrounded the back of the palace. It reminded me of the one at my family’s cabin. I tried not to think of them that much now a day as all it did was make my heart throb. Cabel promised me they were still looking for them but the search was going nowhere. The only way I would be able to find them was to find Daruka. And if I found him I would have to kill him.

  I just could not deal with that right now so I concentrated on the trees that we passed by. They were mostly the same ones that were around my cabin but every now and then there would be a green one like the ones on earth.

  We rode for about an hour before a wide clearing appeared. White flowers spotted the ground around the blue tinted grass.

  “This is as good a spot as any.” Yelson said to the group as he slowed down.

  We all agreed and stopped. It was the first big clearing we had seen since we left and who knows when we would find another.

  I was the first one to get off my horse and survey our surroundings. Trees of all kinds encompassed the entire oval shaped clearing. The sun shone bright as it peaked in the sky letting out rays of heat. Yelson was right this would be a perfect place.

  I helped Emilie lay out the blankets she had brought and unpack the basket.

  “Is that for me?” Weldon brushed his finger against the frosting on the cake and put it into his mouth.

  “Yes, birthday boy. And that is gross.” Emilie swatted away his hand when he went for seconds.

  We all laughed. Today was Weldon’s twenty third birthday. He told us that he was tired of being cooped up in the palace and wanted to go out for once. We all decided a day in the woods would be nice. After all, we technically were not allowed out here so we jumped at the idea.

  Yelson invited his sister, Mari, to come along but she declined when she heard I would be going. I did not know why she didn’t like me. We have never really talked with each other since I had gotten here. The only time I had even seen her was when other people were around and she would quickly leave once I entered the same room as her.

  “What are we gonna do?” Arabella asked as she eyed the cake.

  “Well, I vote cake first.” Weldon spoke up. His brown eyes were also trained on the cake.

  “No, that has to go last, before we leave,” Emilie said as she pulled the cake away from them.

  “But, but, cake.” Weldon and Arabella threw their puppy dog eyes at Emilie. I looked at Yelson. He was trying holding in a laugh but failed. We all knew she would give in to them after a while.

  “Oh, fine.” She said after a minute. She handed him the knife and let him cut the cake. To celebrate Weldon, Arabella and Emilie decorated the cake to look like the ocean with a tiny island on it. A mermaid tale poked out of the water.

  “It’s alright Em. We will still do everything. I promise,” Yelson said earning a smile from Emilie.

  I lay back on the blanket and looked up to the sky. Only a few clouds were around. It almost reminded me of earth, if earth had a purple sky and two moons. I closed my eyes. I could almost forget everything that was happening. Almost.

  “Hey,” Yelson whispered in my ear. I opened my eyes to see him lying on his belly next to me.

  “Hi.” As much as I have seen of Yelson, we have yet to really talk to each other since my first days here. In all honesty, I kind of missed it even if it were just a few times.

  “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

  I lightly laughed off his apology. Master Kai was trying to teach my how to protect my midsection from attacks while still fighting off the enemy. I had left my right side open and Yelson punched me hard in the ribs.

  “It’s okay. There is not even a bruise,” I lied looking back up to the sky. A small cloud covered the sun blocking its warm rays from reaching us.

  “Liar,” he laughed. He lightly poked the area he hit earlier laughing a little harder when I slightly flinched away.

  “Not nice,” I said trying to cover my side.

  He had asked me last night if I wanted Emilie or him to heal me. I declined because I had to get used to some sort of pain. Daruka certainly wouldn’t be nice to me and offer me a healer when things got bad.

  “So, when will we be leaving the village?” Cabel thought it would be best to go back to the cabin to search for any clues as to where my family could be. I was surprised to hear that no one had gone back in the last month.

  I was hesitant at first. I didn’t want to see the result of what happened there but I had to. It was my home. No one was going back without me. Yelson asked him if I could go along. My training was going better than expected so Cabel, after three days of deliberation, agreed to let me go.

  “A week from today. I will have everything ready for you to go.”

  “Thank you Yelson.” I whispered. He knew how much this trip meant to me. It took a lot for me to even think of returning to my family’s cabin. I knew what waited for me, knew what wasn’t going to be there. My family.

  Every fiber of my being hoped and prayed that this mission would lead us to getting my family back. Daruka had them for far too long.

  “Yel, here’s your cake.” Arabella held out a huge slice of cake for Yelson. His eyes grew into saucers when he saw it. Arabella giggled before she handed me a smaller piece and skipped back to Emilie.

  “So I heard that Master Kai was going to give me the next three days off.” I took a bite of the chocolate cake. I moaned from the delicious taste. It had been so long since I had this sinful treat.

  “Yes,” he laughed. “He is going to leave town. Don’t ask me where because I do not know.”

  I nodded too busy with the cake to comment any further.

  When Cabel told me that Master Kai had canceled our next three day’s I thought it was a big joke. Master Kai would get mad if we arrived on time saying we were late. We had never had a day off since I met him. I guess the business he had to do outside of the village was important.

  “Hey Weldon what’s that?” Arabella giggled while pointing to his face.

  “What?” Weldon tried to look at what she was pointing at but failed. Arabella quickly painted his face with frosting startling him and causing him to fall backwards onto the grass.

  We all erupted in laughter. The sound was beautiful in my ears. I rarely had the chance to hear it now a days so I cherished it when I could.

  The next few hours went by quickly. Arabella and Emilie kept everyone occupied with playing games and making jokes that we barely noticed when the sun had started to set. We hastily packed away our things and saddled the horses before we made the way back to the palace.

  The walk was peaceful in the cool air. The only sound came from the horses as they walked down the path. It was a little odd though. No sound came from the other animals that usually filled the air with their music.

  “Yelson, does something feel off to you?” I asked him when I saw him looking around as well.

  “It’s like you read my mind.” He motioned for everyone to stop as he looked around. Nothing seemed to be hiding behind the thick tree line but I could not shake of the feeling that something was wrong. It felt as if someone’s eyes were on me but as we looked into the forest around us no one was there.

  “Maybe we should keep going,” Emilie whispered in a scared voice. Her eyes moved franticly around. She could sense the same thing we did and she did not want to face it.

  “She’s right. We are almost back to the palace anyhow.” Weldon motioned for his horse to start walking without waiting for Yelson’s reply. Emilie followed him wit
h Arabella in tow. Yelson still looked into the forest trying to see something that was not there.

  “Yelson?” I asked him when he didn’t move to follow the others. His face looked strained as he tried to look for something that wasn’t there.

  Without a word, he continued down the path. I knew we both were feeling the same sense of uneasiness but Weldon and Emilie were right. We were close to the palace, which was our safe place. If we got there, we would not have to worry about it anymore.

  A high-pitched scream echoed around the trees coming from in front of us. The other half of the group had already turned a corner on the path so we could not see but it had to be them. Without hesitation, Yelson and I motioned for our horses to run towards the sound.

  Emilie was sitting by a tree emptily staring into the forest. Blood gushed out of a gash on her left arm, bleeding into her shirt. Weldon and Arabella were nowhere in sight and all three horses were gone.

  “Em, what happened?” I asked getting off Mary. I ran to her side and gently checked on the cut. It was a small gash but deep, like a stab wound. Yelson took off his jacket and pressed it to her arm. I was about to tell him to heal it for her but he would just cause her more pain. That was the last thing he wanted to do to Emilie.

  “Where are Weldon and Arabella?” Yelson’s said threw closed teeth. His eyes scanned the area while he kept pressure on the wound.

  Emilie shook her head back and forth. Her purple eyes were glued to the forest. “I-I don’t know. T-they came out of nowhere. Grabbed Arabella off her horse. Weldon ran after them. I-I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Shh, Emilie it’s okay.” I pushed back her purple hair, wiped away the tears that were on her cheeks, and helped her up to her feet. “Okay you need to go back to the palace. Come on.”

  I guided her to Mary. I helped her on and told her to run home.

  “You are going too.” Yelson grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me onto his horse.

  “No,” I replied to him. “Not until we find them.”

  Mary ran off toward the house and I motioned for his horse to follow leaving Yelson and me alone once again. His gray eyes pierced into mine showing me how enraged he was for my staying. It didn’t matter to me, I was not about to leave him alone out here with who knows what trying to get us.

  “You stay by my side,” Yelson ordered before turning around and entering the forest where Emilie was looking.

  It was easy to tell that the thick brush had been recently disturbed. Branches were broken and fallen leaves stepped on. We followed it until we heard what sounded like someone grunting. We walked up to a small clearing. The minimal light entering the area was just enough for us to see what it contained.

  Arabella lay on the floor face down a few feet away from us. Her blue hair was stained with blood. I panicked when I saw that she was not moving. There was no rise and fall of her chest from her breathing. I moved forward only to be stopped by Yelson’s strong hand. He motioned for me to look across the clearing.

  Two huge men were holding Weldon while a third was punching him everywhere. Both his eyes were swollen shut, a long cut was on his cheek and his right leg seemed to be contorted in an odd fashion, it must have been broken.

  The man who kept hitting him had a sinister smile on its animal like face. He was enjoying himself. That thought made me want to punch his throat in.

  “We have to do something,” I whispered to Yelson. I wanted to go out there and beat up the men hurting Weldon but I knew I could not do it alone. We needed a plan that could take all three of them out. There could also be more hidden in the trees.

  “We need to distract them from Weldon and find a way to kill them before the kill us.” The way he said it you would think he killed people on a regular basis. Heck, for all I knew he probably did.

  One spell went through my mind. I wasn’t sure if it would hold more than one person or even if I could do it. I had never used magic before. But I had to try. Those things were hurting my friend.

  I’ll be damned if they were going to leave here without a scratch.

  “I have an idea.” I moved again to walk out into the clearing but Yelson stopped me and pulled me back to him. “Just trust me.”

  He trusted me, I could see it in his eyes, but it was his job to protect me. He didn’t want me to walk into what could be my death. But Yelson knew we had to help Weldon and Arabella. After a moment’s hesitation, he let go of my arm.

  “Be careful.”

  I nodded to him before I walked into the clearing. I instantly ran to Arabella. I turned her over and tried desperately to feel a pulse. It was faint but it was there. Her forehead was split opened just below her hairline. Blood covered the left side of her face. It scared the crap out of me. I gently laid her down and focused my attention on the men.

  They did not seem to notice me until I started to chant the binding spell I had learned a month ago. Before I was finish, all three of them were frozen in place. The man who was hitting Weldon had started to make his way to me but was stopped in midstride. The other too still held him in there grasp.

  Yelson came running out of the forest to Weldon. He was passed out in their hold. Yelson pried the men’s claw like fingers off Weldon’s arms and carried him to where I was now knelt next to Arabella. Weldon looked tiny in his arms.

  “Can you carry her?” He asked me. I nodded keeping my focus on holding the spell. Gently, I scoped Arabella into my arms and followed Yelson back to the palace.

  My head was starting to hurt and I was feeling faint when Cabel suddenly appeared by my side. We weren’t far from the palace so it wouldn’t have taken much to find us.

  He took Arabella from me before I could fall to the floor. One of the guards who had followed Cabel wrapped his hands on my arms to keep me up. He smiled gently when I thanked him causing his gold colored eyes to sparkle.

  Cabel asked what happened after a few seconds when he was sure I wouldn’t pass out. After Yelson’s explanation Cabel ordered the five men next to him to apprehend the men from the clearing. We began to walk back to the palace and after a few minutes had passed Cabel told me to let go of the spell.

  My body relaxed instantly after. I felt drained all over. It was the first time I had used my magic. I was a little mad that no one warned me about the side effects.

  We continued to walk to the palace. Cabel carried Arabella, holding her close to his chest. He murmured soothing words to her even though I was sure she couldn’t hear him. His kindness seemed unusually to me. The way he carried and spoke to her showed just how much Arabella meant to him.

  When the palace came into view, Emilie ran out of the door. She held a small stone in her hand as she made her way to Arabella. She started to say something under her breath as she held the stone over Arabella’s wound. Slowly the skin started to fuse together until a faint pink line was left.

  She then moved to Weldon, who Yelson still carried, and repeated the same spell three times, once over his face, then his chest, then his broken leg. After a minute, his wounds subsided leaving nothing in their wake.

  “Let’s go lay them down.” Cabel walked into the palace to the living room with everyone in tow. He put Arabella down on the loveseat and Yelson put Weldon on the couch across from it. We then left them to rest and went into the kitchen. Emilie shut the doors that separated the two rooms once we were all in.

  “How could you let this happen? You know none of you are to be out of the village lines,” Cabel quietly yelled at Yelson, as he did not want to disturb Arabella or Weldon.

  “I know, sir. It was stupid on my part.”

  “It wasn’t Yelson fault,” I spoke up in his defense. “We all wanted to go out there for the day. We’ve had it planned for days.”

  “It does not matter Anastasia. He should have known better than to let you all out there with no protection, especially you,” he said pointing one of his long fingers at me.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, Cabel, I can take care of m
yself,” I huffed back at him.

  “What about the others?” He asked me sternly. He stood less than a foot away from me so I could not look away. “Emilie was so distraught when she made it back that she could barely tell us where you all were. Weldon was almost beaten to death and Arabella was holding on by a hair. You may be able to take care of yourself, Anastasia, but do not assume the same for everyone else.”

  With that, he walked out of the room, his heavy footsteps echoing on the staircase. I looked around at everyone in the room. Mari had joined us and was leaning against the counter looking at her brother. Emilie sat down at the table absently staring at the stone still in her hands. I hadn’t noticed before but the gash on her arm was gone, not even a scar to prove its existence. Yelson had his eyes closed with his hands on each side of his head.

  “Cabel is right. I wasn’t thinking straight. I should not have allowed us to go out there,” he said taking his hands away from his face to look at me.

  “No he is not. We have all been kept in this village for too long and needed to get out.”

  “That is no excuse Anastasia,” Mari said accusingly. “We all know how dangerous it is out there. That is why they keep us in the village lines. They are protecting us but you just had to go out didn’t you?”

  “Mari, she didn’t suggest we go out there.”

  “No,” Mari said to her brother. “But if it wasn’t for her, Weldon would never have suggested it.”

  “That’s not true.” Emilie in a small voice as she stood up from the chair and glared at her. “Weldon had been talking about going into the woods for months before Annie even came here. You can even ask him when he wakes up.”

  Mari stared angrily at Emilie as she came to my defense. Her dark blue eyes turned cold as she turned to look at me. The anger that was building up inside her threatened to burst at any moment but before the flood gates could burst open she walked out the room into the backyard.