Anya

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Anya 

Chapter One

   The storm was rumbling in the skies, turning the thick clouds black and getting ready to unleash its full, unrelenting power onto the forgiving people who lay underneath the hills that the kingdom and palace of the Zardonov’s sat on.

   Watching from her bedroom, Princess Anya Zardonov held an expression on her face that one would not expect to see from a Princess. She had sympathy and longing. Sympathy for all the people who were all trying to find shelter away from the Storm of Heinodis and she held longing because she wanted to be out there helping them.

   It was September and the storm came every year for as long as anybody could remember. There was nobody alive that could remember a time when there was not a deadly storm hovering above them, ready to strike at its unwilling victims.

   The door leading into her bedroom creaked open and distracted Anya from her own thoughts. “Anya?” Her mother caught her attention as she came further into the room and closed the heavy, wooden door behind her softly.

   With her maroon coloured hair up into a tight bun at the back of her head, Anya’s mother appeared older at first glance. Katerina Zardonov was an extremely beautiful woman but with the recent changes around the palace, Katerina and her husband Demyan were under a great amount of stress and it was starting to appear in Katerina’s appearance.

   “Yes mother?” Anya replied as she climbed down from the bay window she was sat in and placed herself beside her mother on the chaise longue.

   With a heavy sigh, she looked at her daughter, “Your grandfather is throwing a party for tonight, so I came to tell you that you must be ready in two hours.” Seeing Anya’s face fall at the mention or her grandfather was one of the main reasons for the extra stress lines.

   “Do I have to attend?” Anya questioned although she already knew the answer – yes. At any other time of the year she could use the excuse that she was out in the Zafiro faction where she and her sister were ambassadors with their Aunt Elena but during the Storm under no circumstances were any part of the Royal family allowed off the premises and therefore she did not have an excuse.

   “I am sorry Anya but you are second-in-line for the throne and showing your face will benefit the family a great deal.” Katerina placed her arm around Anya’s shoulders and she leant into her mother just like she had done on many occasions before.

   Anya and her mother had a very precious relationship that Anya held dear to her heart. Her mother was probably one of her biggest role models along with her grandmother Olga. With female role models, Anya was not short of them however, with male role models, she really only had her father. Her uncle Ivan lived in a smaller palace in the kingdom but he was always so busy that she only ever saw him at important family parties and meals.

   “I know mother,” Anya breathed through the comfortable silence. “You need to rest more,” she informed her as she glanced upwards at her.

   Katerina rolled her eyes, “Wait until you and your husband are in my position, you will understand that sometimes there is not a time to simply rest.”

   The word husband scared Anya more than she thought it would. “Mother, I honestly thought Mikhail would be my husband,” the once fond smile that accompanied that name fell short and was replaced with a grim look.