Remembered (20 page)

“As silly as this may seem, this makes me feel like a gold
digger,” she explained.

“That
is
silly,” he replied. “Extremely silly, since
you knew nothing of this when you agreed to marry me.”

“Yes, but still,” she said, then sighed deeply.

“You’re angry with me?” he asked.  “I didn’t mean to keep
this from you, beautiful girl. It isn’t something I even think about, so it
just never came up.”

His worried look pulled at her heart strings. “I love you
more than anything in the world, and that will never change. We just won’t talk
about this again,” she said.

“So, you’re not angry?”   He asked.

“I’m not angry,” she replied. “It was just a shock, but it’s
passed, and now I can concentrate on what’s really important.”

“Like?”

“Like your perfect body, and how I’m becoming more and more
intrigued with the idea of having you spend the remainder of your days in this
position. Though, I think you may grow bored of it after some time.”

His eyelids grew heavy with lust. “No, I don’t think I ever
would,” he said, his eyes flashing to her lips. “No, Annie, this I could never
grow bored with.”

They spent the journey home holding hands and going over the
plans that Kellus had made.

Since the twins were not yet legal adults, they would live
in her house with them. Kellus planned to speak to his father about taking over
the operations of the shop, feeling confident that Tol was ready to retire. But
their first big project was to bring the spare room to order. They passed the
time discussing colors to paint and what furniture to buy.

Finally, after many long hours, Annie’s house came into
view.

When they were less than a hundred feet away, Max ran out
the front door and down the hill to greet them, but Annie noticed, immediately,
that there was something wrong with his expression. It was not a welcoming one;
it was an expression of panic.”

“Annie, Kellus, thank goodness you’re back. I need to speak
with you right away,” he yelled to them.

Annie noticed Cora standing at the front door, biting her
nails. Her heart sank into her stomach. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her heart
beating faster.

“There’s trouble,” Max replied flatly.

Kellus and Annie jumped down from the carriage and rushed
into the house after Max. “What happened?” Kellus asked, easing into a chair by
the table.

“Your father came here yesterday to see if you’d returned,”
Max explained. “It seems that a man from the Citadom visited your house when
you failed to return on time. He demanded to know of your whereabouts. Your
father told him nothing about Annie, but the man told your father that he had
heard, from a trusted source, that you’d taken a lover, despite your vows.”

“Shit!” Kellus blurted out. “That idiot Loc.”

“Was it Nordorum?” Annie questioned.

“No,” Max answered. “That was my first question. Tol wasn’t
familiar with this man. He says he’s never seen him around the Citadom, but he
wore the uniform of a peaceman.”

Kellus was about to say something, but Max held up his hand
to stop him. “There’s more, Kellus,” Max said, his face grim. “This person
threatened to arrest your father for withholding information.”

“What?” Kellus gasped, placing his hand on his forehead.

“Your brother became enraged and threatened to throw the man
from your house,” Max added.

“Markum did what?” Kellus asked, his face turning pale. He
pushed away from the table and stood up. “What was he thinking? He could’ve—”

Max shook his head and placed a calming hand on Kellus’s
shoulder. “Your mother and sister were able to defuse the situation before it
went too far, and luckily, no charges were brought against your father or brother.
Tol said your sister was terrified, though.”

Kellus ran his fingers through his hair. “Poor Zif,” he
mumbled.

“It’s worse than what Max has told you so far,” Cora piped
in. “This man left a warning with your family. He said if you return to the
Citadom immediately and denounce your lover, you will face only minimal
punishment, but if you do not, there will be an arrest warrant issued, and when
you’re found, you’ll spend the remainder of your apprenticeship in prison.”

“What the fuck?” Kellus screeched. His mouth gaped open.

Annie let out a loud sob and covered her mouth with both
hands. Panic began spreading through every part of her.

Kellus looked back and forth between Cora and Max, his mind
racing. “What crime have I committed?” he yelled, his nostril flaring. He
balled his hands into tight fists. “The prisons are meant for murderers and
rapists. Whom have I harmed? Do they mean that breaking a vow is comparable to
murder?”

Cora stared down at the table, looking unnecessarily guilty
for being the bearer of bad news.

Kellus shook his head and composed himself. “I’ll go there
tomorrow and explain that Annie isn’t merely a petty fling. I’ll tell them
she’s my wife. Surely, the sanctity of marriage still takes precedence over a
vow of celibacy.”

Max and Cora exchanged a troubled look. Cora put her hand
over her mouth and looked between Kellus and Annie. There was something else
troubling her.

“What, Cora?” Kellus said through clenched teeth, balling
his hands up again.

It was Max that replied. “The peaceman told your father to
warn you not to attempt to force a dismissal by marrying. He said that there
are peacemen in the Citadom with the authority to annul and that they
will
.”

Kellus staggered backwards. “This is fucking madness!” he
said in a voice thick with distress. “These are my only choices? Divorce my
wife or face prison?”

Annie burst into uncontrollable tears. How was it possible
that her happy ending could be ripped from her so soon?

Kellus pulled her to his chest and rested his chin on top of
her head momentarily. “Don’t cry, love,” he pleaded. He knelt down in front of
her and took both her hands in his. “Look at me,” he said calmly. She stared
down at him. “This is a lie,” he stated. “This is wrong, Annie. I entered the
Citadom of my own free will, and by my own free will I took the vows. I was
told that the punishment for breaking the vows was dismissal, not
imprisonment.” He stood up and sat on the chair, pulling Annie onto his lap.

“Has this happened before?” Cora asked. “Has anyone ever
broken the vows?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Kellus replied, “probably not in
many years at least. If it has happened, no one told me.”

“So you’ve never witnessed someone punished for
oath-breaking?” Cora questioned.

“No,” Kellus answered, “but I know the Master and most of
the others; they are honorable men, reasonable men. Even the most violent of
murderers would not go to prison without a fair trial. There’s something very
wrong here.” 

“What should we do?” Annie sobbed.

“I’m not going there tomorrow,” Kellus stated. “I think I
should wait a while to see if things settle down. In a week or so, I’ll go
there and speak directly to Nordorum, face to face.”

“Loc saw us together. They’ll come here,” Annie said
timidly.

“Let them come, then,” Kellus answered confidently. “They
won’t imprison me, I’m sure of it.” He turned to face Max. “Can you drive a
carriage?”

Max shrugged and nodded.

“Please take the carriage back to my father,” Kellus
requested. “Tell my family what I’ve told you. Assure them that I am fine and
that I’ll remain so. Tell them that I’ll take Annie to meet them next week.”

“Okay,” Max said.

“Take the Ocean Road,” Kellus added. “I’ll give you
directions.”

“Why the Ocean Road?” Annie asked suspiciously.

“Just as a precaution,” Kellus said, touching her cheek in a
reassuring manner. “I think that it’s best if we stay away from town for now.”

Kellus was so sure that there had been a mistake, that by
the time Max returned, with messages from every member of the Kir family, the
mood was much lighter.

In the days that followed, they heard nothing from the
Citadom, and soon the incident was almost forgotten.

Annie and Kellus continued their honeymoon as best as they
could with two other people living in such a small house, but they were always
conscious of the lack of privacy.

After a week passed and all remained quiet, Annie sent the
twins into town for some much needed supplies.

She and Kellus were excited to have a few hours alone, which
gave her an idea. She asked Kellus to go up to the little forest, behind her
house, to bring food to a stray cat that lived there. It would take him at
least ten minutes, which gave her ample time to implement her plan.

As soon as he was safely out of sight, she fetched her
little yellow slip from the wardrobe and put it on.

Before she had finished tying back two pieces of hair with
her favorite hair clip, she heard the front door open quietly. It didn’t occur
to her that this was unusual, that Kellus would come in the back door instead
of the front, but she should have registered that the footsteps were heavier
than his.

Suddenly, a hand was over her mouth and nose. A bitter smell
filled her senses. She tried to struggle, but the bitter smell made her dizzy.

Everything went black.

Annella Kir

Annie sat on the floor of the cold kitchen with her back
against the wall. She looked down at her black and white converse sneakers, and
the tight, ankle-hugging bottoms of her skinny jeans that she had purchased for
her trip to London.

How was it possible that just yesterday she had no memory of
the only man she would ever love, just odd, haunting dreams of a supposed
stranger?

She pushed up from the floor and went to the bedroom that
she’d shared with Cora almost all her life, searching in the closet for something
more appropriate to wear.

Her eyes fluttered to the bed—the last thing she saw the day
she was ripped from her world, her husband, and her family.

The sadness inside was quickly replaced with rage.

All those lonely years spent in New York with no family,
knowing deep inside that something very important was missing, had been the
result of a terrible crime committed against her.

She wiped tears of anger from her eyes. There was no point
in succumbing to that now. Now was the time to find her family and to try to
put her life back together.

She pulled on her light-green, gauze and satin skirt—the
same one she’d wore to the spring festival over eight months ago—and a long,
thick, loose fitting wool sweater with a hood. She placed her jeans, sneakers,
and sweatshirt in the bottom of the wardrobe, and then sat on the edge of the
bed to tie the laces of her calf-length, black boots.

She took one more look around the house then walked out the
front door.

Walking down the steps, she sighed at the beautiful scenic
view of West Vistira from the top of the hill, drinking it through her eyes,
able to appreciate it now that her panic to find the twins had passed. She
gazed at the majestic, jade and tawny mountains, the cerulean sky marbled with
billowy clouds, the turbulent waves rupturing against the Cliff of Porser.

She cut down the path, to the little walkway that led to the
Ocean Road, and strolled past the cottages that faced the beach, recalling
every person that lived in each one.

The wind blew cold off the ocean, causing her to pull up the
hood of her sweater, and to cover her distinguishable hair in case anyone
should recognize her. She sucked in the smell of saltwater and seaweed.

She walked on as the road wound to the right, bending to
accommodate the shape of the shoreline, far past the outskirts of town.

After more than an hour, she turned at the fifth left as
directed, and saw a large, beautiful, three-story building on top of a steep
hill. It fit Mr. Wellum’s description perfectly.

She began her track to the top of the hill, unsure of what
awaited here there.

Two young women sat on a porch swing wrapped in blankets,
their heads together, bent over, reading from the same book.

She slowed her pace, not eager to interrupt them.

One young woman looked up briefly and stared in her
direction. She glanced back down, but a look of recognition crossed her face.
When she looked up again, Annie’s eyes met hers.

She was the most beautiful girl Annie had ever seen.

Annie’s hands began to shake, blood pounded in her ears, her
knees threatened to give out, but she ran towards the girl. “Cora!” she cried
out.

Cora’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widened with shock,
and she rose to her feet.

The other young woman—whose straight light-brown hair
cascaded beautifully around her shoulder’s—stood up and placed a hand on Cora’s
shoulder, looking in Annie’s direction. The unknown girl seemed to discern the
situation and wrapped her arm around Cora’s shoulders protectively.

Cora walked away from the pretty young woman, down the porch
steps, and approached cautiously—as though she was approaching a ghost—then she
began sprinting down the path.

Annie could hardly see through the tears that flooded her
eyes. Her arms reached out for her sister as they ran towards one another.

“Annie!” Cora cried.

“Cora!” Annie yelled again.

“I can’t believe this,” Cora gasped, throwing herself into
Annie’s arms. “Annie, is it really you?”

“Yes, Cora, it’s really me.” Annie sobbed into her sister’s
neck.

“Annie…” Cora broke down completely.

After a few moments, they pulled away from one another,
nervously laughing through tears.