Ehrhart

Anastasia is Betrayed

Tears flew from Anastasia's eyes as she raced back inside the palace. She flew into the study, where her father had opened a different book.

"Father, Father!" She cried, screaming his name as she flung herself to him, sitting next to him on the cushioned seat. "The Queen! You can't trust her, she's evil! She's cruel! She's enslaving her own people!"

The huntsman closed his book and set it aside, putting an arm around his daughter. Softly, he said, "I know, Stasia. And the Queen has promised that one day, she will make a statue of me, as well. Won't that be grand?"

Anastasia scrambled away from her father, facing him as she wiped another set of tears from her eyes. She stared at him, hard. Something had changed in his tone. Something was off with him.

"You've changed," she said simply, quietly. "You're different. The Queen is hurting you, twisting you."
Anastasia's father stared at her, unblinking. His eyes seemed hollow now, not soulful and loving like they used to be. "I'm still your father, Stasia."

And the truth came to Anastasia, then. It came to her and it hurt her and she started to bawl. "No!" Anastasia yelled, stomping her foot. "You're not my father any longer! You're the Queen's measly servant, and you don't even know it!"

Her father stood. "I would do anything for the sake of my Queen, and you should be the same way, my daughter!"

"Anything?" Anastasia cried, furiously blinking the mist out of her eyes.

"At all!" Her father shouted.

Anastasia took a dangerous step closer. "Would you..." She sighed, her breath shaking, her heart pounding. "Would you kill me?"

The room became washed in utter silence. Father stared at daughter, the air hanging thickly around them, the eerie light from the candles brightening the room seeming to dance with electricity.

Her father said earnestly, "I would do anything for the sake of my Queen."

Anastasia turned and fled.