The Key (#1 of Anna Kippling Series) Paranormal romance by A.D. Duling (5 page)

His eyes searched hers, “Why do you think
you did it?” he asked her.

She wiped her eyes, “I guess maybe because I
couldn’t bear to think that you had died all because of me.” She
suggested.

He rubbed her cheek with his fingers, “Anna,
you don’t know it yet, but you are very important to Tatania. I
know my saying this only confuses you more, but you will get your
answers and very soon. I chose to be your protector; if I should
die it’s a sacrifice worth making.” He smiled, “But it’s going to
take a lot more than a giant bird to do that!”

They both laughed. He then leaned in and
gently kissed her.

She smiled, “Why did you do that?”

He sheepishly smiled back, “You looked like
you needed one.” he teased. She punched his arm and shyly went back
to her meal.

Hayden slept close to Anna that night; and
even after she had long fallen asleep; he remained awake, watching
her. He knew what he had volunteered for, he already predicted the
risk, but what he had not predicted was falling in love. She was a
complete stranger to him, but yet he strangely felt connected to
her. There was so much to learn about this girl and he wanted to
learn it all.

He was told she would be young and she was…
yet what she did today was far from what a child would do!

She had a lot more strength and courage than
even she believed she did. It had been foreseen long ago of her
coming, he knew she was the chosen one, the only one. He couldn’t
believe then that a young girl could be the one, but seeing her
today made him believe.

He thought about her little book. Did it
really hold the answers to all of her questions? It needed a key to
open it and she was told she had it, but where? The only key she
had could not. So what then? Well he did know one thing. She was
right, she was meant to discover that place and she was supposed to
get that book.

A lot of people in Tatania had questions and
if her book could have the answers, then they needed to figure out
where this key was quickly!

Chapter 7

T
he chirping of birds above them woke him up. He turned onto
his back and looked over at Anna. She was still sleeping. He stood
up and stretched, the horse neighed behind him. He walked over to
Thunder and stroked his head, “Good morning my friend, are you
hungry?”

The horse gave another neigh in return as if
answering his question. He walked over to the saddle bag and pulled
out another satchel of food. This one was filled with a sort of
fruit cake. He broke a big piece and feed it to the horse. He
quickly ate it and nudged him for some more.

Hayden laughed, “Alright, how about an
apple.” He reached inside the bag again and pulled one out for him.
The horse enthusiastically took it. Hayden left him busily munching
on it and walked back over to Anna. He reached down and gently
shook her shoulder, “Anna, wake up.”

She gave a small moan and waved him away
with her hand. He laughed and smacked her on the bottom. She sat up
and gave him a nasty look, he raised his hands. “Hey, you wouldn’t
wake up.” He defended himself.

He helped her to her feet. “Did you sleep
well?”

She yawned and stretched, “I did, but I had
a very strange dream!” She picked up the blanket and started to
fold it.

“And what was it about?” He asked her.

She handed him the blanket, “It’s hard to
explain,” she went on, “It was mostly random images.”

“Well was there an image of me?” he
teased.

She grinned, “Don’t flatter yourself.” She
stated. “You Tatanian men, you’re just like the ones at home.”

“And how is that?” he inquired.

“Your all hopeless perverts!” she
exclaimed.

He furrowed his brows, “What is a
pervert?”

She laughed, “You’re joking with me, right?”
He shook his head. She just stood there and stared not sure how to
respond.

“Anna, what does pervert mean?” he asked her
again.

She blinked, “Well…” She went to explain,
but he interrupted.

“It doesn’t mean something bad does it?”

She shrugged, “Well, not entirely, it just
means… well that…well a pervert is someone who thinks inappropriate
thoughts about someone else.” She finally answered.

“Oh.” He responded and walked over to her,
“So if I am a pervert, then I can ask you what I was doing in my
image?” he joked.

She slapped at his arm and blushed, “There
was no image of you!” she laughed back. He gave her a devilish grin
and they returned back to their packing up. Afterwards, they ate
their breakfast under the same tree.

“Anna, I did a lot of thinking last night
about your book. This man said you had the key, are you sure you
only have that one?” he questioned her.

She nodded, “Yes. The only things I have on
me are the key, the dagger and my grandmother’s jewelry…” she
paused, “Wait, that’s it! What if the key is one of the pieces of
jewelry!” she exclaimed.

She reached up and undid the necklace and
handed it to him. She then undid the clasp of the bracelet and both
started examining their pieces. It didn’t take long for Hayden to
spot a keyhole at the bottom of the pendant, “Anna look at this.”
He handed it back to her.

“How could I have missed that?”

“Sometimes even the things right under our
noses can get overlooked, especially if there was no need to look
for it in the first place.” He consoled her.

She nodded, “Well, let’s see if it works in
this.”

She pulled it out of her pocket and inserted
it into the lock. The key turned with ease and the top of the
pendant popped open. Inside she could see a metal loop; she grabbed
it with two fingers and pulled it out. It was a key!

She pulled her book out of her other pocket
and inserted the key into its lock. It worked! She quickly pulled
it out and unlatched the clasp. She opened the cover to the first
page, it was blank. She flipped through the other pages, they were
all blank. “Why does everything here have to be so difficult!” she
complained and threw the book down.

Hayden picked the book up and thumbed
through the pages,

“Maybe there’s magic behind this, maybe you
need a password.” He suggested.

“But the man said nothing about a password,
he just mentioned a key!”

He handed the book back to her, “We’ll
figure it out once we get to Tatania, the Empress may be able to
help.” He assured her.

“You have an Empress?” she asked.

He laughed and nodded, “There’s a whole lot
about Tatania that you don’t know about, but that will come later!
For now we need to get moving again.”

He climbed up on Thunder and helped her up.
“If we ride straight through the day, we will make it there by late
evening.”

And just as he had predicted, they reached
the walls to the city late that evening.Hayden guided the horse
towards the entrance to the city; she was amazed by its surrounding
walls. They were made of granite, so when the moonlight hit them it
made quite an exquisite sight!However, the guards standing post
every twenty feet along the top made it clear these beautiful walls
were meant more for its strength and protection, than for its
beauty.

As they neared its grand doors, it was
apparent its beauty did not stop at just the walls; beautiful
carvings were engraved in the wood.

“Hello up there!” Hayden called up.

“Hello down there!” The guard waved down,
recognizing him.

The heavy doors then slowly opened for them
to pass through. It had already been announced of their coming when
they were first spotted and a crowd of people had already formed on
the other side, waiting for them. Many waved at him and everyone
was staring at her.

They rode along the center street, passing
the closed shops that ran along it. It was a very quaint city,
resembling a Parisian street. Shops and buildings then turned into
quaint little town homes and as they passed by, curtains parted and
faces peeked out to get a look at them.

Finally he guided them down a side street
and up to a very welcoming home. A small garden could be seen in
the back yard and beautiful flowers overflowed the flower boxes
that sat on its tiny porch.

Hayden climbed down, just as the front door
opened. A man came out and walked over to them; he grabbed Hayden
and gave him a hug.

“It’s good to have you safe, back at home my
boy! Your mother has been worried sick since you left!” He patted
him hard on the back.

Anna had already figured him to be Hayden’s
father. He looked exactly like him, only a little older and grayer.
The man looked over at her and smiled, she smiled awkwardly back at
him.

“
So you’re Anna Kippling!”
His big hand grabbed her small one and gave it a vigorous shake! “I
am Harmon and you have probably already figured out that I am
Hayden’s father!”

She smiled and nodded, “Yes, It’s a pleasure
to meet you.” She politely responded.

He chuckled and took the reins from Hayden,
“Take this young lady into the house and introduce her to your
mother, while I take this old fellow here out to the barn.”

Hayden helped her down and grabbed her hand;
he gently pulled her towards the house. “If that horse understood
what you just said about him father, it may be you tied up in the
barn tonight!” He yelled after him.

His father chuckled again and rubbed the
horse’s nose as they walked out to the back. They went inside and
Hayden shut the door behind them.

“
Go ahead and have a seat
at the table, I am sure mother is in the kitchen warming up a meal
for us.” His gently pressed on her back and nudged her in the
direction towards it.

She walked over to the nearest chair and sat
down; he sat down across from her. A moment later the door opened
from the kitchen and in walked a very lovely woman with plates of
food in her hands.

“
I knew you would be home
tonight, I’ve kept your dinners warm for you both!” She announced
and sat a plate down in front of each of them; which smelled
wonderful!

She smiled at Anna, “Hello Anna, my name is
Corinne; I’m Hayden’s mother.” She leaned over and gave her a
hug.

Anna hugged her back, “It’s very nice to
meet you Corrine and this dinner smells wonderful!”

She chuckled, “Thank you. Now you two eat
up, there is pie waiting for you after!” She walked over to the
nearby hutch and grabbed some glasses and forks for them.

She handed them to Hayden, “I will be right
back with something to drink.” She walked back into the kitchen; He
handed her a glass and fork. The woman returned a minute later
carrying a pitcher. She poured their drinks and then sat down next
to her son.

“
Your being spoiled
tonight Anna, this is my mother’s famous chicken and dumplings!” he
bragged.

Anna took a bite and he was right it was
very delicious! Within minutes she had cleaned her plate.

“Would you like some more Anna?” Corrine
asked her.

Anna laughed and wiped her mouth with the
napkin that came with the plate. “Forgive me, I normally have
better table manners, but we did skip lunch today. And as delicious
as it was, I don’t think I could possibly fit another bite!”

“Not even for some apple pie?” Corrine
teased.

“Well… give me five minutes and I am sure I
could squeeze in a pie!” She teased in return.

“
Done!” the woman said and
she cleared their plates. The front door opened and in walked
Hayden’s father.

“Well my son, your horse is fed and now
resting!” He announced.

Hayden smiled, “Thank you father, now come
sit down and have some of mother’s delicious pie with us.” He
invited.

“I could never refuse that!” and his father
went over and sat down in his seat at the head of the table.

Corrine chuckled, “Well I had better hurry
then and get that pie!” She returned to the kitchen with their
dirty plates to fetch it.

Harmon leaned back in his chair and crossed
his arms on his chest, “So Anna, how much has Hayden told you?”

She shrugged, “Very little… just a mention
of an Empress.”

“
I told her all would be
explained when we got here!” He interjected and gave her a playful
nasty look. She grinned.

The older man nodded, “Do you know what
happened with Taren and Kimble?”

He shook his head. Anna shot up in her seat;
“Wait! The woman gave me a letter.” She pulled it out and handed it
to him. He opened it and read it. His face conveyed his concern,
when he finished reading; he crumpled it up in his fist.

“What did it say?” his son asked him.

“They wrote that they had no choice, but
pledge their allegiance to the Empress. Most likely they will be
put to death for this…” he paused and looked over at Anna, “But
this is a sacrifice they are willing to make for the safety of you
Anna.” He emphasized.

“Why? Why would they die for me? Why is
everybody saying I am the chosen one? What am I exactly chosen to
do?” She implored.

“There is an evil man known as the
“Chancellor”, who is roaming these lands; doing whatever he wishes!
What he is doing is not good! Our Empress rules over these lands;
she is here to ensure order, for the good of all cities. This
Chancellor is the opposite; his laws for the ones who follow him
are corrupt! When things are corrupt only bad things come from
that…. a rumor is spreading among the lands of war, exactly what
the Empress does not want! Nor does anyone else! You were meant to
come here Anna because you are the chosen one!”

“What does that mean? What am I chosen for?”
she repeated.

“
You were chosen to stop
him. It has been long prophesized of your coming.” He answered
her.