Chapter 4: It's Time to Grow Up

Anna tugged at the handle of the knife, freeing it from one of the tree stump bulls-eyes that had been set up around the stable courtyard for her to use as target practice. It had been a year and a half since Anna's eighteenth birthday, since she met Killian, the captain of the Jolly Roger who had snuck into the manor to find treasure, and turned down his offer of an adventure. After running to the docks the next day and finding his ship had vanished, she had convinced herself it had been some sort of a dream. She had been crying some, thinking of all the unfair things her mother had said and wishing she could get away from it all. She figured it had all been some last grand dream as a farewell to her childhood, but now she had to grow up.

And grow up she did. She began studying old books she found on the highest shelves in the library, and wrote her thoughts and findings in a journal. She spent more time with her mother, taking the insults with a grain of salt and listening to her advice; Anna found that the more she listened, the easier Isabel was to get along with. She had helped Tess with her wedding arrangements, going over every detail with a fine tooth comb; at first, Tess had seemed odd when she moved to Corwyn from Ilina, but the more time Anna spent with her, the more she realized that she was as normal of a person and as true of a friend as Audra.

Most of all, Devlin had been teaching her to throw knives, as he had promised her, and she had been becoming quite masterful at it. He had figured it would be the safest for her to learn—she was quite fragile and he doubted that teaching her to use a sword would be futile if she was ever faced with someone much bigger than her, which was mostly anyone. He had been impressed with how easily she picked it up; it only took a month or two before she could actually get the knives to hit somewhere on the targets.

"You're slacking," Devlin called to his sister from across the courtyard.

"I've been at it for an hour Dev," Anna replied. "I'm getting tired."

"You're getting lazy," he countered.

"My corset is tight, this blouse itches, my new boots are pinching and these trousers…" Anna always complained about wearing such form-fitting clothes, especially since she used to only wear such things for travel, but she knew that it would be impossible to practice in a dress; mobility was terrible where fashion was great.

"Quite making excuses and just throw," Devlin snapped. Anna scowled and flipped the knife over in her hand to get a feel for its weight. She looked at the target, imagining her brother's face, and when she released it, the blade made contact with the bull's-eye.

"Good job," he congratulated her. "Again."

"You must be joking," Anna scoffed. When Devlin just raised an eyebrow in challenge, she sighed. "I'd like to see you do this a thousand times over, every day for the next year."

"I know how to kill a man if I need to, sister," he told her. "You do not. Not yet. Hopefully the opportunity will never arise, but I'd like to be prepared anyways."

"I wish I could kill you."

"My wedding is tomorrow. Please show some consideration, for Tess' sake at least." Devlin watched as Anna threw the last knife she held then turned to him. She skipped—skipped—across the courtyard and then punched him repeatedly in the arm.

"I. Swear. I'm. Going. To. Kill. You." She paused then began to hit him again. "Kill. You." Devlin chuckled with mirth at the action, although his arm was beginning to get sore. Anna had changed; gone was the innocent little girl, the skipping and a few other remnants left behind, and in her place was a respectable young woman.

"Are you going to stop?" he asked.

"Not any time soon, no."

"I guess you don't care that we're done for the day, then?" Anna stilled at his words and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you," Anna beamed and was about to run to the manor when Devlin stopped her.

"Don't forget to clean up after yourself," he told her, motioning towards the targets, half of them with knives embedded in the wood. Anna rolled her eyes and went to do as she was told, punching her brother in the arm one last time as she passed him.

Anna had just finished changing into a dress and had begun to brush her hair when there was a knock at her bedroom door. She was getting annoyed at all the interruptions and requests for her presence; guests from other parts of the kingdom had been arriving all week: Lords and Ladies from the closer regions and representatives from regions further away who brought good wishes and gifts for Devlin and Tess. In fact, just on her way to her room from the stable courtyard, she had been stopped to talk by at least three people.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Something from your mother, my lady," came the muffled reply. "She asked me to bring it to you." Anna huffed, working her hairbrush through a particularly difficult tangle.

"Yes, come in," she sighed. The door opened behind her and she heard the soft footsteps

"My, if I'd known a fairy princess resided in this room, I would've cleaned up a bit." Anna looked away from her reflection when she recognized the voice, and then jumped out of her seat in surprise. "Hello Anna."

There, standing before her with a bright grin on his face, was Lord Charles Henshaw, son of Lord Michael of River's Bluff. He was tall and handsome, with brown hair that curled just so and reached the nape of his neck and expressive grey-blue eyes.

"Hello Charles," Anna greeted with a smile of her own. "Did you just arrive?" Anna asked, noticing the riding clothes he wore.

"A while ago, yes," Charles replied. "But I was talking with Evan Lowell, the representative for the King. He has the aptitude for gossip akin to that of an old woman and held me up for some time."

"Yes, Lady Tara arrived a few days ago and did the same with me," she told him, and neither of them contained their laughter. When the merriment calmed, Charles looked down at himself and coughed sheepishly.

"Forgive my state; your mother said I could come up and say hello if you weren't busy. I should've changed first, but I was eager to see you."

"It's quite alright," Anna beamed brightly.

She had gotten to know Charles well over the past year and a half, thanks to his frequent visits to Corwyn under the pretense of delivering documents between their father's. Devlin had done the same thing when courting Tess, as it was a man's duty to travel between his and his intended's cities until the actual engagement during noble courtships in Doria, so Anna knew better. She found him to be very interesting and whenever news came that he would visit, her heart was set aflutter. He was always so nice to her and made her smile, but there was something…unsettling about the whole thing.

She cared about him, yes, but every minute she spent away from his company made her wonder do I genuinely care for him in a way that would lead to love, or are these feelings arising just because our fathers have pushed us together? She shook those thoughts from her head and sighed; there was still time before anything serious, like marriage, was to be decided.

"Come, you can clean up a bit, and then we'll find you something to eat," Anna said, forcing a smile onto her face. "I'm sure you must be hungry after your long trip from River's Bluff."

"Attention everyone. Attention." Lord Liam's voice overpowered all those that were chattering and the crowd quieted down. "First off, I'd like to thank everyone for joining us in celebrating such a special day. I can truly tell that my son's marriage to Tess will be a happy one thanks to all the joy being shared with them tonight…"

Anna's father loved making speeches; she believed it had been destined to be his great calling if he were the general of an army during times of war. However, as he was not he had to just settle for making speeches at gatherings instead.

Devlin and Tess' wedding had been beautiful and very emotional, not only for her family and Tess' parents, but for all the guests as well. It had all seemed a blur for Anna, though, as her mother had her on disaster control to make sure nothing got too…out of hand. Weddings tended to cause problems—arguments between guests, not enough wine, food not making it to people's plates fast enough—and Isabel was a perfectionist. She would rather die than have someone speak ill about something so close to her. The wedding, rather, more than the bride and groom themselves.

Everything had gone as planned though, and Anna was enjoying the reception. She stopped at mostly every table, listening to stories and jokes. One of the guests, a Scholar friend of her father's, had even brought her a gift; it was a book about different universes and dimensions. He told her that it was his life's work to find if the stories had been true and he had traveled far and wide to find answers.

"If I had another life to live," he had said. "I could put my knowledge to good use. Create…a device that could be used to travel to them so I could learn more about them. I've heard rumor that fairy magic could do it…but…magic. The handiwork of demon's. Who uses magic anymore? Not anyone here. Not anyone I'd like to meet."

When Anna began asking him questions, he refused to speak another word of it, and told her to read the book. She had just about abandoned the reception right then and there to do just that, but figured it would be impolite and returned to her seat.

"To keep in trend of this wonderful occasion," Liam continued, gaining Anna's attention once more. "I have an announcement to make. As most of you know, Isabel and I have another child: Annaleigh." Anna blushed as the guests murmured their acknowledgement and greeted her. She lifted a hand in greeting and could feel the burning in her cheeks get worse. "Yes, there she is. Annaleigh. Well, I'm happy to announce that as of tonight, she and Lord Charles Henshaw of River's Bluff are engaged to be married."

As a congratulatory cheer rang throughout the crowd of guests, Anna's stomach—and her jaw—dropped in horror.

Author's Note:

Readerpossessed: You're so kind! I'm glad you like the story so far. I'm going to try and update on a timely basis, so I hope you keep reading. Thanks for the review.

PrincessOfSilence: I'm glad you liked chapter 3 and I hope you like this chapter as well. Thanks for the review.

luvdamon: Thanks, I'm glad you like the story and Anna so far, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Thanks for the review!

Hello again. Here we are at the end of Chapter 4. It was somewhat short, and lacking some action, and there's no Captain Killian Jones in this one either, but he'll be back soon and the action will pick up again. I promise. I hope you enjoyed this one regardless.

Anyways, that's pretty much it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited after Chapter 3. I'd love some more feedback though. Do you like the story so far? Is Anna a believable character? Is she a good OC? Any questions? Suggestions, even? Leave a review and let me know.

Thanks for reading!