The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) (31 page)

"You let me believe that my parents' deaths
were because of my curse. Instead it was Novak, the Skin-walker king! I can't
believe that you would do that to me." Victor's voice is harsh, and holds
accusation in his voice, and I can understand where he is coming from. The man
whom he trusted his entire life, the man whom Victor allowed to bring him up
had lied to him, about the very thing he had wanted to
know
all of his
life. Of course I also understood Augustus' and Astoria's pain, to have lost
their only child the same night that they lost two of their closets friends.

I get up from my chair and make my way toward
Victor. I know what he needs right now, and as I stand before him my arms wrap
around his waist. My arms barely reach all around him, and I lay my head on his
chest. He looks down at me for a moment; I can feel his eyes upon me. After a
moment his arms wrap around me as well, and he relaxes into the hug.

"Victor, I am sorry for what happened to you,
but it isn't right to take your anger out on Augustus. He's only done what your
father asked of him. I know that he's done the best that he can. If you should
be angry with anyone it should be me, I was the one who brought the memory
back," I say softly stepping back so I can look into his eyes. I can see
his confusion, I can see how unsure he is in what he must do, whether to push
me away, and blame me for what had happened, or to simply let it go. I believe
the latter is the best option for his sanity, as the man who really did this to
him is not present or perhaps not even
alive
.

"Your right Anna, can you give me a minuet
alone with my Godparents?" Victor asks, he releases me when I nod my
consent. I leave him with his Godparents so that they can grieve. It is so
unreal to have Victor home, safe and alive! I'm glad to have him back, but what
consequences will this cause. It was never part of his plan for me to learn how
to fight, or how to use a sword, or how to use the curse as a weapon. It was
never part of his plan for me to meet Sadar, or for my parents to come here and
become our prisoners. It was never part of his plan, and perhaps it will never
be part of his plan. However it is part of my plan, and I wouldn't change that
for anything. The scariest thing to think about is Kayden's feelings and
Victor's reaction to them. I cannot bear to think of what kind of consequences
this will bring about. I cannot bear to think of what will happen now. However,
with Victor's return I know that the war is only approaching faster than ever,
only time will tell how much time we have left together.

Anna's P.O.V

Kayden and Shade are fighting in the
stables, and for a moment I watch the two boys. Seeing as my training session
with Augustus and Astoria is over, I figured I would come here and do some more
training. I knew that these boys would be here, always training, and who could
blame them, there was something approaching fast, and everyone could assume
that it was the war. I could feel the vibe of it passing throughout my body,
electrifying every single cell within me. The war is coming and we all have to
be prepared for it.

The sounds of swords clashing, or
rather should I say that the sound having stopped brought my attention back to
the boys. Shade had his sword hovering inches away from Kayden's heart.
Kayden's eyes however are on me, there is a half-smile formed on his lips. He
drops his sword and pulls away from Shade, striding quickly over to me. He
lifts me up in his arms and spins me around. Alas at Kayden's actions I realize
that they do not know of his return.

I cannot bring myself to tell them of
Victor's return, if they knew they would go hunting him down to celebrate his
return. However, right now Victor needs time alone with his Godparents, and I
had no right to take that away from him. I relax into Kayden's hug, I even
return it. I would do anything to keep both of these boys here at this very
moment. Kayden reluctantly lets me go after a minuet.

"So who's up for a fight?" I
ask, going over to the weapons wall to bring down Sinistra's - now my - sword.
The boys are grinning now, Shade has lifted his sword into a fighting position,
and Kayden has retrieved his from the spot where he had dropped it. Kayden
allows Shade to go first, seeing at how fast he jumped at the chance to continue
fighting.

"Alright little girl, are you
ready to rumble?" Shade says, his voice is in a singsong tone, his
chanting is most likely to make me lose my head, but I ignore it, waiting for
his first move. He is distracted as he dances around chanting nonsense at me. I
realize that this is the perfect time to strike, now that his concentration is
no longer on my sword completely. I slip my knee under his, pushing up hard to
knock him off his feet. I move quickly from out underneath him, so I do not get
squashed, and as Shade falls down onto his rear I hover my sword above his
heart.

Shade is laughing, his eyes are
sparkling with his merriment, and he is smiling, nay grinning up at me.
"That's our girl, you're no longer feeble! It's fantastic being able to
fight you." I look up to find where Kayden is, instead I see Victor
standing at the entrance to the stables. His usually pale skin is blanched. I
knew that he wouldn't be happy about me learning how to fight, but I didn't
realize how it truly would affect him. I pause frozen in horror of Victor's
reaction; Kayden and Shade see me freeze. Shade knocks away my sword, and
knocks me off of my feet. I don't bother trying to stop him, and I just sit on
the ground my legs stretched out and on my rear. I simply stare at Victor in
fear of his reaction. The two boys turn around to see their friend and King at
the entrance, and they move to rush up to him.

Victor holds up his hands to stop
them, his face still blanched in horror at what his friends had done. "Did
you truly believe that I would be okay with you training Anna to fight! I
thought that you two knew me better than that." Kayden and Shade look
shocked at Victor's reaction.

Kayden speaks up though, his hands
held up as he slowly approaches Victor, almost as if he's approaching a
frightened animal. "Victor, Anna asked me for lessons. She
wanted
to be able to defend herself and we both know that this is important, she is
our only chance." I watch the exchange still sitting on my rear upon the
soft hay that covers the stone floor. Victor seems to return to his normal
pallor as he listens to Kayden's words. I get up to my feet and slowly approach
Victor as well.

"It's true, I did ask Kayden to
teach me, and I am grateful for his help. I know why you chose me, why you placed
your soul within me. I do not hate you for it, but my training with the sword
is necessary now. You must realize this," I say gently trying to soothe
the man that I love. Victor's eyes move from Kayden to me, his eyes are soft,
his eye ducts becoming red from his tears.

"Anna, I regret having put you
through this. You shouldn't have to train to protect yourself, I should be able
to protect you," Victor says brokenly, his tears spilling over.

I shush him, "Victor there will
be a time where you will have a chance to protect me, but there will also be a
time when you will not be able to do so." My words are solemn and I
enclose Victor in my arms. He rests his chin upon my head and wraps me up in
his embrace. I can feel eyes upon my back and I know that it is Kayden watching
this private moment, longing to be the one to hold me.

Victor releases me from the embrace
enough for both of us to face Kayden and Shade. Shade's face is impassive, and
I've learnt that he only holds this face when he doesn't want to show his
emotions, or what he is thinking. Kayden is trying to smile, but because it is
forced it is stiff and looks unnatural on his face. However Victor doesn't seem
to notice the other two men's reaction and smiles broadly to his two closest
friends as he wipes away the blood tears that he has shed.

"I hate to state the obvious boys
but I have returned! Tonight we will feast in honour of my arrival, and we will
enjoy the night before we bunker down in preparation of the war which is
drawing ever near." These are Victor's words to his two closest friends,
his obliviousness obvious to all of us present.

I watch Kayden hesitate for a second,
stuck between the choice of Victor and I. Another second passes, and Kayden makes
his move. For a moment I think he is moving towards me, but at the last second
he turns slightly to the right, and claps Victor on the back.

"It is good to have you back; it
has been far too long Vic!" Kayden says smiling brightly at his oath
brother, Shade walks towards us as well, and he makes similar noises of
agreement.

The boys had gone their separate ways
from that point on, and I was fine to let them go. They had to have their
reunion without me. For they had had each other far longer, then I had had
them. I watch them as they walk away, Kayden's the tallest of the three, and
although Shade's the biggest in the sense of muscles he's also the smallest in
the sense of height. Victor although taller than me is roughly the average
between his two friends. As I watch them walk away I realize how much that each
of them mean to me and how lost I would be if I were to lose them. Before my
only tie to life and to this world was a hope for a better future and now, well
now they had become my tie to this world, the gravity that keeps me bound. They
had irrevocably placed themselves into my life, and there was nothing for me to
do about it.

Time flies by and it is a few hours
later as I make my way downstairs, fully prepared for the feast. It has taken
some time to enclose myself in the red velvet dress, due to its built-in
corset. The dress itself flows down my body, like a stream of red. The mask
covering my face is a necessary item, as the feast itself is a masquerade. I
stop for a moment to look at myself in a mirror upon the wall, my chestnut
brown hair falls down in soft ringlets, framing my oval shaped face and
covering my left shoulder, and my birthmark. The mask is all black, it is
simple yet elegant, my eyes are smoky and the overall outcome makes me appear
as a seductive woman, cloaked in the mysteries and power that I know I posses.

When I enter into the ballroom, the
party is in full swing, there are hundreds of people out on the dance floor,
all wearing gowns or tuxedos, all masked in many different fashions. There is a
table at the front of the room, rounded so that those seated can converse
easily with each other. The other tables meant for all the other guests are at
the back of the room. The table at the front is the only one there. Sitting at
the table is Augustus, Astoria, Lord Baron, Shade and Kayden. Victor is
standing, staring at me in awe. I can feel my cheeks heating up, as I make my
way towards the table. Shade notices Victor staring first, and he turns around
and grins - so widely that it goes from ear to ear - when he sees me. Then
Kayden turns around and he too is awestruck, his jaw hanging low as he stares
at me in abandon. As I reach the table the three elders turn to me as well,
Astoria with the smile of a proud mother, and Augustus and Lord Baron with the
smiles of dumb founded fools.

"You, my dear, look lovely,"
Astoria murmurs, smiling sweetly at me. The boys nod their agreement as they
are unable to articulate words.

"Thank you Astoria, it wouldn't
have been possible without your help," I say, noting towards the help that
she had given me with the corset dress.

"Don't be ridiculous dear, you
would have made any of these boys dumbstruck no matter what you wore,"
Astoria teases, nudging her husband slightly, so that he might be the first to
recover from his slight lapse of focus.

Augustus closes his mouth with a snap,
and this wakes the other boys from their stupor. The only open seat at the
table is in-between Victor and Kayden, and thus I have no choice but to sit
next to them both.

"This is a spectacular event, for
such short notice," I remark, to no-one in particular.

"Well it's easy to throw an
event, when you have endless of people waiting on you. Besides Vampires love to
party, there is never an abandoned party when it comes to our kind," Lord
Baron replies, taking a swig from an almost empty glass, filled with a golden
liquor.

"Yea you would know!"
Augustus taunts, elbowing Baron in the ribs, as he too takes a swig from his
glass.

"Anna, you look amazing
tonight." Victor whispers, his breath tickles my bare neck. I turn my eyes
from the older men, to the man sitting besides me. He is dressed completely in
black, except for the white, slightly open shirt he wears underneath his
tuxedo. He too is wearing a black mask, which frames his eyes and helps
identify his high cheek bones. His crimson eyes boar into mine, silently saying
all the things that he cannot say out loud. The intensity in his eyes gives me
chills, and my breath hitches as he leans in, and slightly kisses me on the cheek.
When he pulls back, there is a twinkle of merriment in his eyes, almost as if
he is laughing on the inside. There is this look in his eyes that promises that
we'd have a much greater reunion later on in the night.

"Anna," another soft whisper
catches my attention and I turn to Kayden sitting besides me. His green eyes
stare at me in wonder and he smiles slightly, the crooked turn of his lips
makes me want to smile in return. "May I have this dance?" I realize
that he means now, as there is a new song starting up. I turn back to Victor,
silently asking for his consent. He appears to be fine with it, and Kayden
leads me out onto the dance floor. He brings me to the middle of the floor, and
pulls me into his arms. He is similarly dressed to Victor, every man here seems
to be wearing black and white tuxedos, but his eyes are framed in this red
mask, it is plain yet on his tanned skin, the red comes to life. Almost as if
the red mask, was a mask of fire encasing his green eyes in its flames.