Anya

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Two

Anya stood to her feet, what was she even doing behind her Grandmother's chair? Anya Zardonov didn't cower and sit in the corner because it was easier!

She had been watching Dimitri as he stood next to his father. They really did look alike.

They had the same bright, green eyes and although Nikolai was slightly hunchbacked, they had a similar posture. They were very intimidating together. She knew that Dimitri worshipped his father and you can see why. He was very strong willed and he stood up for what he wanted without being scared of the consequences, it was what she aspired to be.

Everything that had been said between the King and Nikolai was very scary – at least it was to her. When she had been in her classes of Modern History she had always been interested in the character of Timur, Nikolai's brother.

In all of the books she read that mentioned him, they all said the same. That he was a cold-blooded murderer who maliciously targeted her Great-Uncle Nicholas in a jealous rage. She knew something was off about it but at the time she had accepted it as truth. She was told that the Kanatova family had tried to overthrow the Zardonov's and when they were defeated they were thrown out and so they became bitter.

Timur had never come across as the jealous type. She had found the journal of her great-grandfather's uncle. He was 95 years old when he died and he went through a lot of paper when writing it. He was called Filat and he seemed to get along with the Kanatova's. He even spoke softly of Timur and described how he used to help his younger brother with his magic.

It was reading this journal that made her interested in him and why nothing ever made sense in regards to him. When she asked her father, he told her that he eventually just snapped but if it had truly been an accident then his death was on their hands and that made her feel awful.

She had to sympathise with her grandfather a little, that year must have been one of the worst for him. He is very close to his sister so seeing her husband die must have been awful for him, plus the fact that his father died and so he would have been dealing with his coronation and his grief. Finding out that his mother had been murdered when he was fourteen years old must have been the icing on the cake.

His closest ally was then torn away from him. She couldn't even imagine what he went through. She felt so much pain right now because of Darya but if she was to lose her father as well as say, her Aunt Elena then she would be mentally crippled. She loved her family so much and even imagining any of them dying gave her heartache.

She felt such a weight of guilt over Darya and the fact that she can't do nothing but accept it was keeping her awake at night. She just tossed and turned until she fell into a restless sleep. She wasn't eating because she was too tired and so she was exhausted. Her clothes were starting to hang off of her but she didn't seem to notice.

Carefully, she made her way towards Dimitri. She needed to show that she was not scared; she never had been one to stay in the corner! Her grandfather was in the wrong and she had to show him that he was.

"Anya darling, come and sit back down." Her grandmother ordered in her soft voice.

Anya shook her head in response. "I cannot grandmother."

She stood next to Dimitri and brazenly, she put her hand into his. The heat he just always seemed to have radiated off of him in waves. When they were in the cave, she loved just holding onto him because he always kept her warmer than what any fire could do.

Her grandfather narrowed his eyes at the gesture. His already visible wrinkles on his forehead creased deeper and his mouth turned further into a frown than it already was. The liver spots on top of his head were showing underneath his light, grey hair and he did not look happy. Even her grandmother looked slightly hurt at the gesture.