The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) (3 page)

"I'm sorry Anna; I
wish you didn't have to go through tonight's ordeal," Meg says, a note of
sincerity in her voice, which brings tears to my eyes.

Meg is the one person
that I can rely on, the one person I can trust, and I am wondering why she
doesn't escape. We both know I wouldn't be able to survive, if she left me here
alone.

I meet her eyes in the
mirror and I can see the sorrow within my own eyes.

"I am too
Meg," I whisper, my throat choking upon the words.

She helps me slip on
the dress, before I sit down and slip on my beige leather boots. Meg quickly
fixes up my hair, and when I look into the mirror I realize that I look exactly
how my mother would want me to – like a princess.

It is the idea that
today is my last day as a person who has no problems, whom is not tied down,
and whom has a reason to live, that makes me hesitant to walk out that door.
For I know once I take a step out into the world, that time is going to fly by,
and that tonight would be here before I know it and my day, the last day I have
to myself will be gone. All of those things will no longer be mine by the end
of tonight. I turn to Meg, and she hands me a handkerchief so that I may wipe
the tears from my eyes, we hug quickly before I exit the room and find my
mother waiting for me.

"It's about time
Annabelle. I was beginning to worry," My mother states, as we make our way
down the hall. It is as lavish as any other part of the castle, though it is
most certainly boring.

"Why would you
worry mother. I was only getting dressed," I reply sarcastically. She
gives me a disgusted look, probably for the tone that I just used on her, but
she does not chide me. It is like she is literally offended by my offhanded
tone. It isn't long before we reach the front doors, but in the silence my
mother and I share, it seems as if it takes forever. It isn't like I hate my mother,
but I cannot forgive her for allowing my father to be as cruel as he is, or
allow him to hurt the only people that I care about; Meg and Simon. My
relationship with my father isn't the greatest either, so I am not exactly
surprised by his spiteful attitude when we finally enter into the carriage.

"What took you so
long Darleen?" He asks my mother, without even giving me a sign that he
acknowledges my presence. My mother keeps her eyes locked on his for a while
before she casts down her gaze, looking away from his uncaring eyes.

"I apologize
Rupert; Annabelle was not dressed as I had hoped she would be," She
replies without meeting his eyes. It is clear that she is terrified of him and
sometimes - I have to admit - I am afraid of him too; however this is not one
of those times.

"Do you have
anything to say for yourself Annabelle? Or are you just going to behave like a
mute?" My father asks, taking his gaze off of my mother and placing it
onto me. I move my gaze from the outside world, to my father and look him
square in the eyes.

"I have nothing to
say Father," I reply curtly, trying as hard as I can to keep the venom out
of my voice. My father is ultimately the one who will decide my fate for me
tonight, and I want to do as much as I can to lessen the cruelty of his choice
before then.

"Good, I expect
you to be on your best behaviour today. You know that you will only make things
worse for yourself if you do not behave well." He gives me a knowing look,
and I understand completely what he means. The consequences would not only be
him choosing the worse person possible for me, but he would harm the ones that
I care for.

"I understand
father," I say, succeeding to keep the disgust out of my voice.

"That's my
girl," He sneers. How my mother could sit there and be oblivious to my
father's actions and words I would never know, but I cannot allow myself to be
oblivious, and so I am grateful when the carriage pulls up to the little
restaurant near the shoreline. My father gets out of the carriage first and
helps my mother out, and then offers me his hand to help me out of the carriage
as well. I grudgingly take his hand, and I quickly release it when my feet are
firmly upon the ground.

My father and mother
walk hand in hand throughout the fairly empty restaurant to a table with three
occupants, that of two men and a woman. None of seem to be "bound" to
the other, and I wonder which of them is the infamous Mr. Sitzman that we are
meant to be meeting.

"Good Morning Mr
and Mrs VanDyken, I hope you do not mind that I have brought a few friends with
me." One of the men says, he has platinum blond hair and dazzling blue
eyes that sparkle like sapphires. The other man's hair is like wild fire and
the woman's hair is a soft silver. Their eyes are unusual colours as well, the
woman's being a harsh silver and the man's is beyond explanation, as it changes
every time I look at him, as if his eyes cannot decided which colour they wish
to be.

"That is not a
problem Mr Sitzman; I would like to present my lovely daughter, Annabelle
Louise VanDyken." My father says to the blond man, or rather I should call
him Mr Sitzman. Mr Sitzman gets to his feet and in a show of exaggeration, bows
at the waist and gently kisses my hand. Mr Sitzman is dressed in a black tux,
his red tie almost as bright as the other man's hair. His light hair is pushed
back and there is no stubble upon his face, giving him a clean cut look.

"Please forgive
me; I have failed to introduce my friends. The Gentleman with me is Fawkes, he
is my adviser and the lovely Lady is Talia." Mr Sitzman says, there is a
round of hand shaking and my mother and Talia smile politely with each other.
Everyone soon takes their seats, and a waitress comes and takes our order.

"I'm sorry that
our arrival is quite late. I was informed of Anna's betrothal a few weeks ago,
however because of our distance it took us a while to get here." Mr
Sitzman says, his blue eyed gaze focusing on my father.

"Well it is good
to finally meet you Mr Sitzman, I have heard very highly of you. However, you
weren't exactly what I had in mind. Some how your reputation exaggerates your
age, you appear quite young after all." My father says, and I wonder how
long he has known of Mr Sitzman.

"Ah yes, well
truth can often be twisted when travelling from mouth to mouth. I may appear
young but that is only by appearance, at heart I am far much older. Regardless,
I am old enough to know how to rule over a prospering kingdom." Mr Sitzman
says, and I wonder if he has taken offense at my father's words. Although Mr Sitzman's
eyes never leave my father's face I can feel him watching me.

"I apologize if
I've offended you Mr Sitzman; it was not my intention. I was simply commenting
on your youthful appearance." My father says, and I can understand what he
means. Mr Sitzman looks to be about my age, if not a few years older. My father
and Mr Sitzman appear to be getting along well and it raises hope within me,
perhaps I will be wedded to a man close to my own age after all.

Our brunch passes
quickly and in good conversation, everyone seems to be getting along well, and
it makes me wonder if everything is finally going in my favour for once.

"You all are more
than welcome to follow us back to the castle, if you have no other plans for
the day." My father says to the trio, as we rise from the table to leave.

"We will take you
up on your offer Mr VanDyken; as we have only just arrived in town and we have
no where else to go." Mr Sitzman says and our two groups leave the
restaurant together.

My father, mother and
myself climb into our carriage and wait for the trio to get into their own. I
watch Mr Sitzman through the small window at the back of the carriage, I watch
him say something to their driver before he climbs into his carriage. The
carriage begins to move and I move my gaze away from the window. I catch my
father's eyes and I can see that he has been watching me the entire time. I
refuse to give him any acknowledgment but he smiles slyly anyhow. Somehow, I
know the arrival of Mr Sitzman is not in my favour.

Anna's P.O.V

"You behaved well enough Anna, though I'm sure
Mr Sitzman would have appreciated you to join in the conversation," My
mother says to me as we get out of the carriage and make our way inside.
"I could tell that your father was quite pleased with you." Her words
stir something within my mind. My father is pleased with me. That is something
that I have never heard before, and I am not quite sure how to feel about it.

"Your Majesty, the servants need your
direction, if you could come inside for a moment." A servant says to my
mother the moment we walk through the door. My mother scatters off with the
servant without saying another word.

"You're mother's deduction was incorrect
Anna," My father sneers into my ear, his hand twisting my arm around my
back. "Although you behaved well I am not pleased with you. This morning
we were late to the meeting. That alone has set you in my bad books today. You
always cause trouble, do you really want me to hurt your friends so
badly." He says as he pushes me into a little nook in the wall. I am not
afraid for myself, my father has never laid a harmful hand on me, but Meg has
suffered more than enough because of me.

"Can I expect you to be well behaved Anna? Or
will I have to go and seek out one of your friends? Perhaps that stable boy? Or
that servant girl you're around so often? It would be a shame should one of
them got harmed or lost a finger," My father grins, there is a dark
loathing look in his eyes and I push him off of me.

"I will be more than well behaved father. Just
leave Megaera and Simon alone." I respond trying in vain to keep the venom
from my voice. I begin to walk away from him but he grabs my wrist and turns me
back around to face him.

"I mean it Anna, behave or they will
suffer." He releases me after a moment, and I walk away from him as fast
as I can. I make my way through the castle to the kitchen, where I know Meg
will be. That is exactly where I find her, chopping away at vegetables, obviously
busy at preparing the feast for tonight.

I pick up another knife and begin to chop with her.
Quietly I whisper to her "Watch out for my father, he's not in the best of
moods. Somehow I've upset him this morning and well now he's out for
blood."

"Alright I'll try to keep out of his way,"
Meg says with a worried frown on her forehead. "Are you alright Anna? He
didn't hurt you did he?" She asks, her eyes rising from her job for a
moment to look at me.

"No, he knows that hurting me won't really
change anything. He's learned that I'm more concerned for you and Simon then
for myself." I say softly, as I look into Meg's eyes.

"Did he threaten Simon as well?" Meg asks,
concern for our only other friend is evident within her voice.

"Yes, that's where I'm going to go next. I
needed to warn you first, it was more likely that my father would have come
looking for you first. Simon is more of a threat to the old man." I say,
and this causes a giggle to rise in Meg.

"I'll say, have you seen how big he's gotten
lately. Especially in the past two years? He went from being a shrimp to the
biggest guy in the castle," Meg says, before another giggle comes along.

"No I hardly notice, although you clearly have.
Have you told him yet? You must do so soon so that I can see the two of you
together!" I say in a hushed tone as if we are talking about a conspiracy
rather than Meg's true love.

"No. I just don't ever know what to say to
him?" Meg sighs and pauses for a moment before turning to me. "You
should go and warn him Anna. I don't want to see him get hurt."

"I'll go and tell Simon then. I'll see you
later Meg," I say, finishing the last carrot that I had been chopping. I
put the knife down, wipe my hands upon the tea-towel and make my way out of the
kitchen, feeling a bit more relieved that I had warn Meg about my father's
threat.

It doesn't take long for me to get to the stables. I
find Simon attending to Ruby and Steve two of the royal horses. Ruby is my own
and her fine coat is an auburn colour. Steve is the general's war horse, a big
black stallion and more furious than a lightning storm.

"How are they? Is Ruby feeling any
better?" I ask and Simon, lost in combing ruby's coat is startled by my
voice.

"She has recovered; though it wasn't a stomach
bug as I had believed it to be. It seems that Steve has been giving Ruby too
much attention." Simon says, getting down from the high stool that he had
been sitting on and he walks over to me.

"What do you mean?" I ask curiously, and
he simply smiles at me as he takes my hand. He pulls me two stables down from
Ruby's, and we peer over the gate to see the foal inside.

"This is what I mean," Simon says and I
stare at the foal in awe.

"It's beautiful," I whisper so that the
foal will not be woken.

"Yea, she is." Simon whispers back and we
move away quietly. "Anna why did you come here? You have more important
things to do on your last day of freedom than to be in a stable." Simon
says, his eyes full of worry and concern for me.

"I came to warn you of my father. He threatened
me with you and Meg's safety. I wanted to make sure that you knew to stay away
from him. I didn't want to see you get hurt." I say to him, worried for my
friend. It has always been that way though, he has protected me and I protected
him. We protect each other from the cruelties of this world.