Stolen Heart (10 page)

Annika had drifted off.  Her lower lip trembled and Kieran knew she was searching for courage. His stomach was in knots because he knew what was coming next.

“I was fifteen when he first raped me.”  Annika looked at Kieran and her eyes were filled with self-disgust. 

Kieran’s heart ripped.  “No, Annika.  It wasn’t your fault.”

She held her hand up to stop him and he knew she needed to finish before she chickened out.  “I didn’t know much about sex, but I knew it was wrong.  I tried to fight him off.  But he was so strong.  And when he was done, he told me I was the best he’d ever had.  That he was so glad he’d come to live with me.  Before he walked out of my room, he grabbed my face and gave me a kiss…”  Annika visibly shuddered.  “Then he told me…he told me that if I told anyone, he would first kill my father then he would kill me.”

Kieran tentatively reached out and grabbed Annika’s hand. At least she didn’t draw it away.

“It went on for the next three years.  I got good at hiding from him. I visited Mary as often as possible.  So it didn’t happen a lot, but when it did…I just couldn’t stop it.  Toward the end, I didn’t care if he killed me.  But I was afraid for my father’s life.  So… I just took it.”  Annika looked at Kieran with a pleading look on her face.  “Does that make me a bad person?  That I just took it?”

Kieran couldn’t hold back.  He grabbed Annika and pulled her onto his lap.  Placing his lips against her hair, he squeezed her.  “No baby, you are not a bad person.  You were a victim.  There was nothing you could do.”  Kieran held her tightly and rocked her back and forth.  Her head lay on his shoulder and she was silent for a long while.

“I did try to end it.”

Kieran pulled back a bit and looked at her.  He stroked her face.  “What do you mean?”

“Just before I turned eighteen, I tried to kill myself.  Mason had just left my bed, and I was in so much pain, I just wanted it to end.  I took a knife to my wrists.  I would have succeeded but one of our maids found me.”

“What happened next?” Kieran had pulled her head back to his shoulder and was stroking her hair.  He felt like he was going to vomit.

“A healer came. They saved my life.  But...” Annika took a deep breath and let it out, “my father came to see me right away.  He was so kind, so caring.  He asked me what drove me to it.  He told me I could tell him anything.  That he would fix whatever the problem was.  And I was fool enough to believe it.”

Suddenly, Annika launched herself up out of Kieran’s lap.  He stood up too.  She turned to look at him, and bitterness clouded her face.  “I told my father what Mason had been doing to me.  And…and…”  Annika stuttered to a halt.

“He didn’t believe you--,” Kieran finished for her.

“He believed me…somewhat.  It was his belief that I must have done something to lead Mason on.  That whatever had happened, had been done with my consent.”

“Son of a mother-fucking-bitch.” Kieran’s blood was boiling.  He was going to kill Mason, then her father…then go kill them both again.

Annika gave a bitter laugh.  “That’s not all.  He actually tried to talk me into marrying Mason.  He said it would be appropriate since we were not related by blood.”

“I’ll kill them, Annika.  I’ll kill them both for you,” Kieran vowed.

Annika reached up and touched Kieran’s face.  Her eyes were so sad.  “It’s ancient history now, Kieran.”  She leaned up and kissed him chastely on his lips.  “I’m telling you this because you need to know why I can never give you more than just sex.  You saw how I just reacted.  I can never be more than what I am right now.  I only have my body to offer you, if you’ll have it. But do not ask for my heart.  It turned to ash a long time ago.”

Kieran just stood there.  He didn’t know what to say.  He had never felt such sorrow for a person before.  He had never felt such rage either.  He was going to make Renard and Mason suffer for what they did to her.  Then another thought occurred to him.

“Your charity…
Saving Grace
.  Is Grace your middle name?”

Annika nodded with a half-smile on her face.  “Pathetic that I would think helping other women might somehow save me, huh?”

Scrubbing his hands through his head, he struggled with words.  Taking a deep breath, Kieran put his hands on her shoulders.  “Annika.  I am so sorry for what happened to you.  I cannot even imagine the pain and betrayal you felt.  You’re secret is safe with me and I will never tell another soul without your permission.”  He pulled her close into a hug and to his surprise, she sunk into it.  He kissed her on top of her head and then pulled back to look her in the eye. 

“But we have a problem, Annika.  I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but I am falling in love you.  I can’t help it.  And it’s not going to change.”

Annika gave him that slow, sad smile.  “Oh, Kieran…you poor, poor bastard.  Falling for a fuck up like me.”

Kieran smiled at her and hugged her again.  “Yeah, but your my fuck up… all mine.”

Annika actually giggled with her face pressed into his chest.  But then she was serious again as she looked at him.  “I’m serious, Kieran.  I have nothing good to offer you.”

“Don’t you worry.  I’ll take what I can get and see if I can convince you otherwise.”

Kieran was in his bedroom, packing for their trip to Balvraine.  One bag had the necessary ingredients Annika needed for any potential potion she would have to make.  The other some traditional Balvraine clothing.  It held a mix of fashions, ranging from clothing of the poor to the wealthy.  Kieran didn’t know what ruse they would have to use to get in the palace, so he wanted to be prepared for all situations that could arise.  Annika was in Mary’s room, spending some time with her before they left.

“Getting ready to leave?”

Kieran turned to see Carrick standing in the doorway, leaning against the door jamb. 

“Yup.  I’m pretty much ready.  Just waiting on Annika.”

“We’ll look after Mary.  Don’t worry about her.”

“I appreciate it.”  Kieran zipped up both packs and turned to look at Carrick.  “Listen, I need a favor when we return.  I’ll need you to talk to Ava about it.”

“Whatever you need, just name it.”

“I need to pay a visit to Myridian when I return. I would like Ava to go with me.”

Carrick raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

“I can’t tell you the why of it, but I’m going to issue a challenge to the death to Renard’s stepson, Mason.  I need Ava’s permission, of course.  I would like her to go with me to lend authority to my challenge.”

“That’s asking an awful lot, Kieran.  The House of Foss is a longtime ally to Kestevayne.”

“I know, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.  If Ava doesn’t want to go with me, I will go on my own and do what needs to be done.  Then it will not have the Clairmont name behind my actions.”

“Without telling me why you’re doing this, it’s going to be a hard sell to Ava.”

“I know, but I can’t tell you.  I can only tell you that Mason deserves to die for what he has done to Annika, and Renard, well, he deserves it to, but I’ll be happy with just Mason’s head on my platter.”

Carrick was silent but Kieran knew he was contemplating his words with care.  “I’ll talk to Ava, but I’m sure she’ll agree to have your back.  We’ll discuss it further when you return.”

“Thanks, Carrick.  It means a lot.”

“You love her then?”

Keiran sighed and sat on the end of his bed.  “Yeah, I do.”

Carrick gave a soft smile.  “And does she return those feelings?”

“Who knows.  She says she’s not capable of love, but I’m not letting that deter me.  Seems I once knew a stubborn bastard who used to say the same thing.  Now look at him.  He’s completely whipped by love.”

Carrick let out a bark of laughter.  Kieran was referencing Carrick’s own refusal to admit his love for Ava all those years ago.  Carrick walked over to Kieran and clapped his hand on his shoulder.  “You’re right, bro.  People succumb to love all the time.  I hope it happens for you and Annika, truly.”

Kieran briefly clasped Carrick’s hand while it rested on his shoulder.   A silent gesture of thanks. Then he pushed it off.  “Let’s stop with this sappy crap and let me get to work.”

***

Annika and Kieran arrived in Balvraine just as the sun was setting.  The Veil they traveled through set on the outskirts of the city, which rested on the edge of a vast, flat desert.  Kieran could see nothing but sand in one direction, as far as the eye could see.  In the opposite direction, sat Balvraine.  It was an oasis in the middle of the stark landscape. 

The city was surrounded by a large stone wall with wooden gates that were currently open.  He could see tall palm trees peeking out over the top.  People traveled in and out and there didn’t look to be any type of security checking visitors.  That would make their entry easy enough.  Annika and Kieran had both dressed in middle class clothing which they figured was their safest bet.

Prior to leaving, one of the Conclave members had met with both of them to educate them about Balvraine.  As far as the AltVeritas itself, it was very small.  While the desert stretched for miles and miles, the only inhabitants were in the city of Balvraine, as it was the only oasis that provided water in the entire AltVeritas. 

Even though Balvraine sat in a desert, it didn’t succumb to the torrid temperatures normally associated with such climates.  Oh, it got hot--just not brutally hot.  And the sun, which looked very similar to the sun of The First Dimension, didn’t produce the same blazing heat.  Still, the AltVeritas was dry and the water was in limited demand.

Annika and Kieran learned that the societal makeup was not much different than Vyronas.  You had a working middle class that provided the basics of daily living.  Farmers, craftsmen, retailers. There was a warrior class but it was small.  Given the isolation of Balvraine and the fact they had no major commodity of trade, it was unlikely that they would be invaded by neighboring AltVerita.  Finally, you had the Royal family, which really consisted of a young ruling Queen, Claire Moldevaine.  She had recently inherited the throne at the age of twenty-five after her father died. She had no siblings and no other relatives of note.  She also had no advisors.  Whereas each ruling family in Vyronas had a Conclave to act as a panel of advisors, it appeared young Claire was running the ship all on her own. 
Talk about pressure.

Kieran considered Claire Moldevaine further.  There was not much information about her. The history of Balvraine showed nothing more than they were a peaceful people.  They led a simple life and had never aspired to be more than a small nation that kept to themselves.  He found it fascinating that she could orchestrate the theft of such a well-protected and powerful magical object.  The real question?  What was her intent for The Scepter?

Walking into the city, Annika and Kieran kept a sharp eye on their surroundings.  They would need to absorb every bit of information to make further plans.  The streets were cobblestone and lined with vendors hawking their wares from small colorful tents.  Most of the buildings were constructed of stone and mortar with wooden roofs.  Large, exposed windows were built into the walls to let in as much air as possible in the dry heat.  Luckily, the clothing of Balvraine was smartly constructed to deal with the elements.

Annika was wearing a light weight, cream linen dress that reached just below her knees.  It was sleeveless and lightly belted at her waist.  She wore leather sandals that laced up around her ankles.  Kieran sported cream linen pants and a wrap around, linen tunic vest that was belted at his waist.  Some men chose to wear a skirt like sarong, also of linen, but Kieran felt the pants were better suited in case he needed to fight.  Most men wore sandals as well, but Kieran chose brown work boots, again, in case he needed to fight. 

“Let’s walk to the palace so we can check out the points of entry as well as the types of visitors they let in,” Kieran suggested.

“Sounds good.”

They could see the top of the palace rising above the rest of the buildings.  It looked to be built entirely of a pink veined marble with white columns.  It had domed roofs and large open windows.  It was quite pretty but surprisingly small for a royal home.  It would make it hard to go unnoticed in such tight quarters.

Turning down a side street that looked to lead them to the palace gates, Kieran and Annika came out into a beautiful park.  A huge lake sparkled blue in the sun, surrounded by palm and date trees.  People were fishing in long, flat boats on the calm water and more vendors had tents set up to sell food and drink.  Outdoor tables and seats dotted the area.

Kieran and Annika decided to sit down for a while and observe the palace gates.  They purchased a few meat pies for their dinner and found a vendor selling a dark brown ale.   Choosing a table closest to the gates, they settled in and watched. 

There were two gates within their view.  One appeared to be an entrance gate.  Over the course of an hour, they watched as many visitors were turned away from the entrance gate by two guards standing post.  However, some produced papers that gained them entry.  The exit gate was not guarded and people exited at regular intervals.  Most appeared to be palace workers as they all wore a uniform of brown pants with matching tunics. 

Sipping slowly on his ale, Kieran pointed out the entrance gate.  “You’re going to need to assume the identity of someone that has proper paperwork to get in.”

Annika nodded. “And once in, I can check out the entire palace and figure out our next move.”

“I suggest we mark someone coming out of the gate that appears to be a palace worker.”

“Agreed.”  Annika swallowed the last of her ale and watched the gates. 

Before long, they saw two young men leaving the gates together, dressed in the same brown uniforms. They were talking jovially with each other and once outside the palace gates, they waved goodbye and went their separate ways. 

In unspoken agreement, Annika and Kieran stood up and followed the man that walked right by them.  They didn’t have far to go and after a few blocks, he turned down a side street lined with small, one-story houses.  They hung back and watched him enter the small yard bordering the front of one such house. 

The door opened and a young female stood there with a smile on her face. Then a young boy, about five years old ran out the door and down the steps yelling “Daddy”.  The man went down to his knees and scooped the boy up in a big hug.

“Seems like a nice family man.  It’s going to be a shame to have to kill him in the morning so you can assume his identity,” Kieran said.

Annika whipped her head toward Kieran, a look of horror on her face.  Before she could denounce that plan, Kieran just chuckled at her and said, “Gotcha.” 

She responded with a sharp punch to his upper arm.

“Ouch!  Damn woman, you pack a mean punch.”

She gave him a sweet smile.  “You have no idea.”

Kieran reached his hand to her head and pulled her face close.  He gave her a swift kiss on the lips.  “I look forward to finding out.”

Annika returned the kiss more deeply.  Pulling back she murmured, “Come on.  Let’s go find a place to lodge for the night and I’ll let you goad me further.”