The Key (#1 of Anna Kippling Series) Paranormal romance by A.D. Duling (12 page)

Val scrunched her eyes shut.

The Chancellor looked over to the guard who
then walked over and jabbed a knife against her ribs. She
screamed.

“
Open your eyes and look
at me!” he ordered her.

The guard jabbed the knife in a little more
causing her to scream again.

“
Open your
eyes!”

She finally did so and his eyes lit up
again. “You will take the dagger and plunge it into his heart!” He
ordered her.

As he said this, the fight went out of her
and she became submissive. Anna could see her friends hand clench
tighter around the dagger. The guard then lowered his dagger and
stepped aside.

The Chancellor repeated himself and the girl
silently nodded. She then turned towards Hayden.

“
Val, don’t do it!” Anna
yelled to her.

But her friend did not acknowledge her. She
jumped up to run over to them, but the chain of her shackles pulled
her back. Val now had the dagger raised with both hands above
Hayden’s chest.

“
No Val, don’t do it! You
have to fight it!” She screamed to her, tears streamed down her
face.

Hayden moaned; he was waking up.

The door burst open to her left, slamming
hard against the stone wall right next to her. Another masked guard
ran in and looked around. When he spotted Anna, he ran over to her
and unlocked her shackles.

She quickly grabbed her pendant, “Conceal
me!” she yelled out and disappeared.

“
Get him!” The chancellor
yelled to his guard. He then snatched the dagger out of Val’s hand
and pushed her out of the way. He held it over Hayden’s chest,
“Show yourself Anna or your friend here dies!” He yelled
out.

Hayden was now awake and yelled to her.
“Don’t Anna! He’ll still do it!”

Seconds passed and nothing happened.

“
Show me where you are
girl!” he yelled again. “Reveal me!” Her voice cried out and she
appeared a few feet away from the table.

He grinned. “There you are.” He calmly said
and thrust the dagger into Hayden’s chest.

“
No!” she screamed and ran
over to stop him, but he hit her. She stumbled back and fell on her
butt. Suddenly Val was wrestling with him and out of the corner of
her eye she saw the masked guard that had helped her fighting with
the other.

Anna sat there and stared up at Hayden’s
lifeless body. The book had predicted his death, but it had not
played out as it had said. It didn’t really matter how it did
anyway, he was dead and there was nothing she could do about it…or
was there?

As her friend and helpful stranger fought to
the death with the Chancellor and his man, Anna lifted her wrist
and rubbed the stone on her bracelet. “Give me time!” she yelled
out.

Instantly everything paused for a second and
then started rewinding backwards before her. She knew she only had
a few seconds to react and quickly jumped up and ran over to
Hayden.

Then just as it reached the Chancellor
holding the dagger above him; it paused for a second and then
resumed. This time however his dagger came down and plunged into
her back. She could hear Hayden scream and his body tense beneath
her as he helplessly watched.

She gasped; the pain unbearable. The
Chancellor leaned back stunned, pulling the dagger up with him.
Without hesitation she reached up and ripped the dagger from his
fingers and sent it deep into his chest. His eyes widened and he
staggered back.

“
Anna!” Val screamed from
behind her.

“
Unlock these!” Hayden
yelled to her from underneath Anna.

The masked guard went over and undid the
shackles around his wrists. He sat up and grabbed her before she
slid down, “Anna!” he yelled, looking into her eyes.

She looked at him and smiled. She went to
take a breath and coughed, sending blood up past her lips. The
guard quickly freed his legs and he climbed down and picked her up.
He laid her gently down onto the table. Val was there now holding
her hand.

“
Anna!” was all he could
say and he kept his eyes on hers.

The masked stranger walked over to her other
side and pulled the mask off. It was a woman.

“
It’s the Empress, Anna.
You saved her.” She heard Hayden tell her.

She looked back over to him, tears in her
eyes. She did not speak; only gasped in a breath and kept her eyes
on him.

“
I love you, Anna.” He
told her.

“
Wait! The beads… they can
help her!” Val yelled and started fishing through Anna’s
pockets.

Hayden’s hand reached over and touched hers
just as she pulled the satchel out. “She’s gone Val.” He somberly
spoke. She looked over at her friend’s face. Anna’s eyes were now
closed and her chest still.

“
No!” she slapped his hand
away. “These can save her! They saved me!” She cried out and poured
a handful of them out and started stuffing them into Anna’s
mouth.

“
It took only one to cure
me! Think about what a few more could do!” she pleaded and stuffed
the remainder of the beads inside and closed her friend’s
mouth.

They waited in silence for a few
moments.

“
Any minute now, you’ll
see!” she assured them. She looked up at Hayden, “Any minute
now….”She went on and looked back at Anna, but still nothing
happened. She looked back to Hayden, “Maybe we need a little more
time….” She stammered.

He reached up and gently touched her cheek.
She looked back down at Anna, her friend did not move. Val dropped
her head onto her friend’s chest and sobbed.

The love, the friend and the Empress
gathered around her and mourned the fallen hero, who had saved them
all.

Chapter 17

T
he journey home was traveled in mournful silence. Word had
already spread through the lands of the Chancellor’s defeat and the
death of Anna. Earlier as they passed by the walls of Heron, flags
of respect already hung from them. Its large wooden doors stood
open allowing its citizens to give their respects as they walked
by. A head councilman even volunteered to escort them home. Later
that evening as they neared his home city; Hayden could see their
own councilmen on their horses outside the gates waiting for them;
his father among them.

Harmon rode up to him. “Hello son.” He spoke
somberly.

Hayden only nodded.

“
We would like to take her
to our home and make the preparations there.”

Hayden nodded again.

His father rode by his side to the house;
mournful citizens lined the streets as they guided the wagon
holding their precious fallen Anna inside of it. When they pulled
up to the house, his mother and Anna’s great grandparents were
waiting.Hayden climbed down from Thunder and walked over to the
back of the wagon. He and three other men lifted and carried her
body up to the bedroom that had recently been hers.

They laid her body gently onto the bed and
the men left Hayden alone with her. His mother walked in. She
quietly walked over and hugged him. He hugged her back. She then
walked over and delicately pulled the blanket back from over the
young woman’s head. She gently stroked her head; pushing a few
loose strands of hair back into place.

“
Her skin still feels
warm; she looks as if she is only sleeping.” She knelt down and
kissed her forehead, “If only it were true… goodnight my sweet
girl.” She softly spoke and cried.

Hayden walked over to his mother and
comforted her.

“
If only we had an answer
on how we could have saved her.”She sobbed.

“
I know mother…” he
consoled her.

He held her while she cried until she
stopped. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief
and wiped at her eyes.

“
I should go downstairs
and join the others and let you have some time alone with her.” She
commented and stood up, “Thank you son.” And she leaned over and
kissed the top of his head.

He sat quietly looking down at Anna. As soon
as the door shut, he bolted over to Anna and pulled the blanket all
the way off of her. He fished into her pockets, looking for the
book.As soon as his fingers touched the leather cover of the book
he pulled it out and opened the book.

“
How can I bring Anna
back?” he asked it, but the pages remained blank. He flipped to
another page, “How can I bring her back!” his asked again, his
voice cracking.

But the book still did not answer. He
slammed it shut and held it tightly, clenched between his fingers!
The tension climbed up his arms and spread through the remainder of
his body. The strength had finally run out in him and he plopped
down into the chair next to the bed.

A sob slipped past his lips and he shakily
sat the book down on the nightstand next to him. He then cradled
his face in his hands and cried like he had never done before!The
sobs were so strong they shook his body.He didn’t know how long he
cried and he didn’t care. From time to time he could hear footsteps
outside the bedroom door; but he didn’t care and continued crying.
Finally when the last bit of light left the room and he could not
muster another tear, he stood up and left her.

Chapter 18

“
H
ayden, wake up!” someone spoke and a hand shook at his arm.
He moaned.

“
Hayden, wake up!” someone
whispered into his ear.

Finally he opened his eyes and looked
around. Anna was standing next to his bed staring down at him. He
blinked and rubbed his eyes; thinking they were playing tricks on
him.

“
Yes I am really here.”
She confirmed.

With that he bolted upright in his bed and
held his hand out as if to keep her back. “No, you’re dead!” He
said, trying to convince himself more than her. “You’re dead
Anna!”

She smiled. “So you thought.”

He sat quietly and stared at her.

“
Are you just going to
keep staring at me?” she asked him.

He nodded.

She laughed.

“How?” he asked her.

“Val certainly stuffed a lot of those beads
into my mouth.” She commented.

He smiled. “She stuffed all of them.” He
informed her.

“All of them?” And she laughed. “No wonder
why I can’t get rid of that funny taste in my mouth!”

Hayden climbed out of bed and stood up,
“You’re really here?” He reached up and touched her cheek to
confirm it.

“I’m really here.” She assured him.

“But I still don’t understand!”

She smiled. “Sometimes things are far above
our understanding. We just have to be thankful for the gift we are
given and use it wisely.”

He returned her smile, “How did you become
so knowing?”

She shrugged. “You can learn a lot from
death.”

“So you did die?” He asked.

She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t say that
I did, since I did not go anywhere. More like a deep sleep, but I
was still aware of my surroundings.” It was her turn this time to
touch his cheek. “I couldn’t speak or move, all I could do was lay
there and listen. I could hear you crying Hayden… I wanted so much
to sit up and comfort you, but couldn’t!”

He touched her hand with his and pressed her
palm against his cheek. “I thought I had lost you forever.” He
pulled her hand down and kissed her palm. “Life without you in it
definitely would be dull, but maybe that would have been a good
thing?” he added to lighten the mood.

She laughed, “Oh, you think?”

He grinned. “Not really, I think I like the
excitement that comes with you!” he teased.

They silently stared at each other for a
moment, allowing the passionate tension to rise between them.

“I’m going to kiss you now Anna.” His words
broke through the silence.

She only nodded in response.

He leaned his face in and pressed his lips
gently against hers. Her eyes instantly closed and she tilted her
head back. When the kiss was finished, they lay on his bed and
looked at each other. Hayden was the first to fall asleep. Anna
laid there and watched him. She knew now there was no more denying
the fact that she loved him. The moment she replaced his life with
hers sealed her fate; a life that could not be satisfied without
him in it.

She smiled at the thought
of introducing him to her parents.
Her
parents!
She had not thought about them in
a while! She missed them and dared to think what they must be going
through with her missing! And just a few days ago they had almost
lost their daughter without even knowing it!

The life she had once lived, she knew would
never be the same again. The world she came from almost seemed
nonexistent. She knew she had to go home and wondered what Hayden
would think about that? Would he be able to let her go? Or would he
go with her? Her grandparents did it, so it was possible!

She watched his chest rise and fall; his
breaths came softly. She wondered what his decision would be. The
next question was; how was she going to handle it?

Chapter 19

W
hen word had reached the Empress of Anna’s resurrection, she
joyfully announced a celebration. There would be a ball! Anna
laughed at the idea, when Hayden had told her. She could not
imagine herself attending a ball and fitting into all the grandeur.
But having no desire to offend the Empress, she graciously
accepted. The Empress did all of the arranging and word got around
of the lavish décor and food prepared for the event.

When it came time for Anna to be measured
for a gown, she found herself actually becoming excited! It would
be neat to parade around in a beautiful gown and be done up so
elegantly! It would be like playing “Cinderella”!