Anya

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

   They had been walking for an hour in silence. Nobody said anything; all they focused on was the palace that was finally starting to be seen through the trees.

   When Dimitri first caught sight of the palace, he was indifferent to the building – but that was because he could only see the tops and he did not believe it to be anything special. It was only in the last few minutes as they came out more into the open. With no trees to the left of the path, Dimitri could see the whole west side of the palace and he was awe-struck.

   On top of the hill, the palace looked down on everything. Its walls were as tall as the bleak, stony, wall in Anceps, except these walls were white, marble and shiny. He was getting that close that he could see the many windows that lined the walls. The grass seemed greener there than anywhere else and there was a small wood surrounding the bottom of the hill.

   He could see the blue and silver flag of what he assumed was the Zardonov family emblem. They were perched on top of each of the five turrets, flying high in the wind.

   From the north side, Dimitri could see the road that led up to the entrance. He knew that they could not risk going up that side as they would be seen immediately and that meant he needed to ask Anya if she knew of any other entrance – but they had not been talking and he did not want to anger her again like last time.

   She blamed him for the death of her best friend – he knew he should have expected it but the sting of her words hurt more than he anticipated. In fact, it hurt him so much that he did back down and was not speaking to her because he was afraid she may say something even worse and he loved her and he did not want his heart to be broken more than it already had been.

   She did not feel the same way, how could she? She was so far above him in the pecking order that she only saw him as some entertainment while she ran away. He knew how she felt, about the pressures family put on you without realising – sure it was a different situation but he still felt the similar feelings that she described but whereas he saw her as a happy mistake, she saw him as nothing but a means to an end.

   She was walking slightly ahead, face pointed towards the ground. She had only looked up on a few occasions to get her bearings right and then it was straight back down again.

   He strode in two large steps towards her; he needed to get their plan of action correct. “Anya,” he whispered as he shuffled Darya’s body around in his arms again to gain some feeling. She was not heavy, but as her body stiffened she did become heavier and after walking with her in his arms for an hour and a half, she was starting to weigh on a little. He would never complain aloud however because he was doing this for Anya, he had killed her so it was the least he could do – besides, he would carry her body for the rest of his life if it made Anya love him like he loved her.

   “What?” She muttered. He was stunned that she replied but took full advantage of it.

      “How are we going to get into the palace? Is there a back way?”

      She sounded exhausted as she replied. “We can walk round the hill to the south side and go through the servant’s entrance. The workers seem to gossip less than the friends of the family.”

   She let out a yawn and started walking down the path leering off in right towards the south side like Dimitri had suggested.

   He wanted to sweep her up in his arms so that she could sleep as he made the rest of the journey but with Darya, he couldn’t and it was just another reason as to why he could not help her and it annoyed him. He wanted to do everything for her and he did not have the skills or the knowledge – or even the family to do so and it was irritating.