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Anniya

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Anniya stared at the picture. It was her mother, she had no question about it. It coincided exactly with her memory. All the way down to her long, white blonde hair and soft brown eyes.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. Was this man her father?

Anniya flinched, just at the thought. This man was not her father! He wouldn't be! He couldn't be! Her father had been an elf, she remembered that clearly! And her mother had not been a lady, her mother had been a peasant woman.

" Well, well, well. Look what I've caught nosing around in my study," a cool, amused voice said.

Anniya froze. Why had she let down her guard? She spun around and took several steps back. Count Frederick watched her with an amused expression. Behind him at the door way stood six guards and several figures in cloaks.

" Throw her in the dungeon, and I want thirty guards around that building, and have some of TSSal's men on the inside." The guards moved forward, and grabbed her hands before Anniya could even think to run. She stared defiantly at the Count, but refused to struggle. She'd go out with her dignity. He studied her with unusual curiosity.

" I must say, I am intrigued to know how you have managed to get on my estate before I did. And even more so how you managed to get in here without anyone detecting you. Landon, while your down there, make sure you bring up the rack. It and this lovely lady will have a bit of a chat later on." Anniya stared at him in horror. It had come down to torture. " Oh, and I'd advise you to not try anything magical. You may find yourself in for a nasty surprise. Knock her out."

At least she knew she was at the Count's manor now. But as the sword's hilt came down on her head, a thought occurred to Anniya that no one else knew.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



Anniya woke up in darkness. She groaned softly, and rubbed her head.

" She's awake," a guard said. He chewed noisily on an apple.

" What a brilliant observation. With an eye like yours, you should be captain of the guard," Anniya said sarcastically. His fellow guards chuckled, and Anniya grabbed the opportunity immediately. She was still a bit disoriented, but the thought of the portrait hadn't escaped her mind in the least.

" Why is she in there!," Anniya demanded at the guards. She could make them out now, even in the darkness. There were about ten or so. They looked tired, bored, and hungry. Good.

" What 'exactly do ya mean, missy? Who's she?"

" The woman with the Count! The portrait!"

She didn't want to leave the portrait. It brought the memory of her mother back, more clear then ever. Anniya wanted to find out, before god knew what happened to her.

The guards shifted nervously, obviously debating what to tell her. Please tell me, Anniya thought, wishing that they would tell her. Not surprisingly, a green aura settled around one of the oldest guards. But Anniya failed to notice it.

" Why is she in there, damn it! My mother wouldn't be in a portrait with him unless she was forced! My mother was too good for him," Anniya screamed again, and a tear trickled out of her eye. She wiped it away quickly, and then slumped back down. The guard paused for a moment before speaking.

" Women in this court lacked intelligence," he said at last. Anniya glanced up, surprised. She hadn't expected anyone to speak, for fear of the Count.

"The ones that had any wits about them were married or scarred visibly. Ugly. The Count decided that he would never marry. After all, a woman would of only held him back. Until Eirene."

Eirene. After all these years, Anniya at last knew her mother's name. It was pretty, just hearing him say it. It was an uncommon name, although not unheard of. It fit the charming young woman in the portrait.

" She was one of the Queen's many relatives, and nearly as old as the Queen herself at the time. She was a Duchess, and probably one of the richest, unmarried girls in the country. Eirene was beautiful, the fairest of all her sisters. And intelligent. I knew the Count had to have her. So he courted her and showered her with gifts. Eventually, she came to love me as he loved her."

" You're lying! That disgusting creature could never be my father, and my mother would of never loved! And if so, he's incapable of love," Anniya screamed at him.

A distant area in her mind reminded her that Anniya had only several dim memories of her mother. If this man said anything true, the Count would probably know more about her mother then anyone. She didn't care.

" Well missy, I may not know a lot about nobles and their ways, but I do know a lot about love. And the Count Frederick was smitten. The Count did anything and everything for her. I never saw a man more in love with her then I saw the Count. He was handsome; she was beautiful. They were the talk of the court, but neither of them cared. Let me tell you, if one thing is true, it is this: Eirene and the Count were deeply in love with each other."

The man paused, expecting Anniya to interject yet another lovely comment. She didn't.

" This part, only I know. Me and Richard, we today are the only ones who know. Count would have me killed if he had known I'd seen. The Duchess Eirene came into the study one day, a week before they were to be married. The Count, he's been plotting for the throne for eons. The Lord of Kentsoa had found out about the Count's plot for the throne. The Count was forced to kill him. He did it slowly. While Richard and I were debating to stop him, Eirene walked on in the room. She shouldn't of watched, she should of said something right away. But she didn't. The little missy watched him, and saw the Count's true personality."

" He broke down and told her his plans for the throne. After all, he had been caught in the act. She was horrified. Eirene's one fault, in the Count's opinion, was her lack of ambition. She could of been great, Eirene could. But part of what made her great was when she told the Count, simply, that she was engaged to a cold blooded killer. That was all she ever said, before exiting the room."

" She didn't want him to die. Eirene still loved him, I know she did, the Count knows she did. But she couldn't marry the Count any longer, she said. But there was no way to break the betrothal, for her father refused. So Eirene ran away."

"She shouldn't of ran away, it was bad for all of us. I spent four years of hell searching for her. Four and a half, to find a woman who the Count knew would never be his. He was obsessed with the little witch. He let all of my careful plans drop, except for my treaties with the ogres. And then, at last we found her. In an Elf settlement. She had run off to find some greenie, a pathetic excuse for a man, as the Count had said. He begged her to come back with him. He begged. At that point, the Count would of given up my life for her, all of his property, even his plans for the throne at that point. He was losing money at terrifying sums, but the Count didn't care. That's how I know he loved her, missy Anniya. No man who had that much power and that much money would trudge through the rain on foot himself just to find a mere woman if he didn't love her. No man would give up his life just to find a single woman he didn't love."

Anniya was quiet for several moments. Perhaps the man spoke truth. She waited for him to continue.

" No, Eirene said. She had married the elf a few years ago, and now she had a child. The Count didn't care, he was so desperate. He'd raise the child as his own, he said. Still she refused. He knew some part of her still loved him; she had named the child after the greenie and himself--,"

" What was the name," Anniya asked. At last to know who she was.

" Duchess Anniya Fredericka of Estalen . So he did the only thing that would bring Eirene back to her senses: the Count arranged to have the greenie killed. She would come back to him then, the Count was sure of it. So he arranged to have some of the ogre clan to go on a little raiding party. They were to kill everyone but Eirene and the child. The Count knew that Eirene would never be happy again if her child was killed. I gave them specific directions: Kill everyone but the woman and her child. The woman would be wearing an emerald necklace, and her child would look like a miniature version of her."

" So the ogres raided. Eirene should of lived. But the necklace wasn't on her. And the child wasn't to be seen. The ogres killed her along with the greenie."

" He killed her! What sort of love is that," Anniya said fiercely, but quietly.

" He had them bring back her body, and had every single ogre that was there gutted. He buried her in his gardens, near the river. She loved the river. She'd sit their and embroider all day long, singing sometimes. We all remember the missy singing, lovely voice she had. Always polite to us guardlings too. Eirene shouldn't of died."

This account disturbed Anniya slightly. She had felt no remorse for the man, previous to this. After all, to stop the murder they had to kill him themselves. But Anniya hadn't felt so bad then. It was like killing a plant or something; it had no feelings. And the Count had destroyed so many things held dear and planned to destroy more. Ridding the world of him had seemed like a good thing.

He had killed her mother, and though on accident, her father's death hadn't been an accident. That should of made Anniya hate him with a passion, especially for all the years she had blamed it solely on the ogres. But it didn't. It just made her feel confused and uncertain. Of all the things, she hadn't expected the Count carrying a feeling like love. But it was even evident in the portrait. And her mother had loved him. Her mother had loved him enough to give Anniya his name, even when she wasn't his child. And the Count had loved her enough to drop all of his power hungry plans and crawl through the night searching for her.

And although Anniya could argue all night long about her mother's death, the final sentences the guard had said about it troubled her. He had buried her in the gardens. It was the place Robert had told Anniya that the Count spent his most time in, just sitting out in his garden.

And as much as she tried, Anniya found it impossible to hate the Count. He was no longer an blood thirsty dictator about to usurp the throne. He was a human being who had simply walked down the wrong path.

Anniya no longer wanted him to die.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

West had a pretty good idea of where Esperanza might of been. Mainly because West had been in the same place himself. The highest tower in the old castle.

It had taken him some time to acquire a guard's outfit, of course. He had also stopped at the market place to buy Anniya a gown first, for the last ball. It was odd, how he no longer felt jealousy for Robert. But even so, he loved making her happy. West couldn't describe the feeling he felt when Anniya smiled; it seemed like the entire world lit up. West looked for an excuse to do it as often as possible.

The wind whipped around his golden hair, and West pulled the hood of his cloak up. He looked like a guard, now it was time to act like a guard. He strode toward the castle, and entered it.

The guards hardly noticed him. He was simply another protector; nothing special. West smiled. There was no greater satisfaction then pulling something like this over the Count's head.

He walked up the grand staircase, and continued upward. He passed an ogre or two; they didn't even see him. He went straight to the room, and knocked in the distinguished pattern that opened it. He hoped Esperanza was in there.

The door swung open. And sure enough, Esperanza sat, huddled in the corner. She sprung up at the sight of him.

" Stay back! Stay back, you bloody-," Esperanza began screaming, just before West clamped a hand over her mouth. " Are you bloody crazy? I'm here to rescue you!"

She managed to get rid of his hand. " Like last time? Stand in front of the mirror, let's see if you're so brave now," she snapped, backing away as if terrified of him. West stared at her, wondering what they had done to make her so paranoid. Obligingly, West stepped in front of the mirror and turned around several times.

" My reflection is still there, Espera-," he began, only to be cut off by Esperanza again.

" You can't fool me! You think that I'll fall for the same trick twice, just because you fixed the little mirror trick. Well I have news for you, it's not working," she screamed, tears streaming down on her cheeks. She was visibly shivering, and West came to the conclusion that she had to be sick with fever.

" Ranza, I hate to do this," West told her, and took out the sword he had stolen. She backed into a corner, screaming ogre at him. The sword hilt came down on her head, and Esperanza crumpled to the ground. West dismissed any feelings of guilt. He was saving her bloody life; the least she could do was be quiet.

Now the real problem had come. Sneaking in had been fairly simple. Sneaking out with an unconscious prisoner would not.

".........screams from the prisoner's room," a voice said out in the hall. West's head snapped toward the door way. He carefully placed Esperanza on the floor, in a position to make it look as if she was sleeping. West gripped his dagger and stood behind the door. It swung open, colliding with his face. But it hid him from view.

A stench accompanied the two tall, dark figures that glided in. A smaller, more clean one followed them.

" There was noise in here. I heard it," the first one oozed. Ogres, West thought. What the hell were they going to do? If they discovered West, there was a good chance he might be able to kill them. But not before they screamed out for help and West managed to get Esperanza out.

The second figure sniffed the air. West's hand tightened on his dagger as his body tensed, ready for a fight. Even if he lost, West would have damn fun trying to win this little battle that was coming. Ogres had an excellent sense of smell, which the figure only proved.

" A human's been in this room," the creature said, swinging around. The man bent down to look at Esperanza, checking her pulse.

" Well that's the obvious. She's in here, and I'm in here. Her pulse is still going."

" That is the obvious. No, there was yet another male in this room, not some time ago. The scent is still fresh. He could still be in here," the ogre hissed. West's green eyes watched it carefully, waiting for the search to begin.

The man wasn't as concerned. He shrugged his shoulders, and stood up after making sure that Esperanza was alright. " Don't do more work then you have to. If it makes you feel better, stand guard at the door. It's the only way in and out, at least that I know of."

They exited the room, the second ogre last. He sniffed the air once more, directly on the other side of the door. West stood perfectly still.

The second ogre finally left, and West was presented with a new problem. How to get out of the castle.

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Anniya waited a long time. She didn't know how long; it could of been a few hours, it could of been a day. The guards changed shifts a few times, but other then that, Anniya had no concept of time down in the dungeon. Her stomach growled loudly, but she received no food.

So Anniya focused her time on glaring at the guards, especially when they made leering comments about her. She sat up straight, and decided to have a conversation with one of them. She had already learned something useful from one; perhaps she would learn something from another.

" What does he intend to do with me," she asked quietly to the youngest guard. He had shoved his cloak up, an action that had drawn Anniya to him. Most of the guards remained hooded. He wasn't particularly handsome, but his face was kind.

" I wish I could tell you lass, but I don't know." the man hesitated for a moment, then went on.

" I don't think it's anything pleasant though, not to worry you."

" Does this mean I don't get a tea party," Anniya asked, slightly sarcastic as she slumped down. Her ball gown fluffed out around her, and she wished she had a knife to cut some of it off. She ventured onward.

" Well, is it possible that I could have some food? I haven't eaten in some time," Anniya told him. Little did she know that it had been a day and a half. Her throat was parched, and her stomach ached for food, any food.

Another guard overheard her question, and shoved a canteen in her face. " Count said that you were to drink this, and nothing else," he said gruffly. Anniya didn't bother to say thank you, but just fumbled for it. The young guard kindly helped her slip it through the bars. She put it immediately to her lips, and drank. Common sense in the back of her mind nagged at her, saying it could be poison for all she knew. Anniya didn't care.

It was sweet. The liquid had a sugary, relaxing flavor to it. It oozed sweetness. It was better then water and food, at the moment. Anniya inhaled it all in several gulps, before handing it back through the bars. Did the younger guard look guilty, Anniya wondered. Perhaps it was just her imagination. She sighed, and began sketching in the sand with her finger.

Within twenty minutes, Anniya was oddly sleepy. It had to be boredom, she told herself. But all that she wanted to do was to sink into oblivion. She yawned, and stretched out on the floor. It was against her better judgement to go to sleep, but Anniya was exhausted. She'd just close her eyes for a moment, she decided. Famous last words.

Anniya awoke from a sharp kick delivered to her ribs. She flinched, but did not cry out. Two guards yanked her to her feet, and dragged her out of the cell.

" Come along, missy," one said, sounding apologetic. Anniya ignored him, stumbling on her feet. Her vision was blurry, like everything was spinning. Everything was extremely loud, and Anniya covered her ears with her hands. " Stop screaming," she mumbled. Or had she thought it? She was so tired, why wouldn't they just let her sleep, Anniya wondered. In a tiny part of her mind, a part that held the common sense, screamed at her: Anniya, they've drugged you! Snap out of it!

Anniya felt herself being put in an upright position, her legs being crossed. She felt the cold metal of chains snap on her wrists, and her ankles tied down to the table. She dimly realized that she was in a torture chamber. The world spun, and Anniya fell unconscious.

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