Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) by Heaven Lyanne Flores Page B

his face. “Of course, your majesty.”
    I nodded, holding him to his word, and allowed Yelson to pull me away.
    We walked through the kitchen and into the living room. I internally groaned when Yelson held the front door open for me. I did not want to go out there again. I did not want to have to face the people who hated me for some reason. The orange morning light spilled into the room, shortly blinding me from what waited outside. I followed him out letting out a breath I did not know I was holding. Oddly, no one was around.
    Yelson lead the way with me in tow across the dirt road to a small building with only a door on the front side. He held that out for me too, allowing me to go first.
    The inside was just as plain as it seemed on the outside. No windows were on the first floor, neither was a floor. Dirt crunched under my feet with every step I took. One large mat covered two thirds of the floor. A staircase was in the back left corner of the room. We walked up it to the second floor.
    A cot and small kitchenette were placed in the far corner of the room. An old man sat in the middle of the floor with his back to us. His gray hair was in a low ponytail that covered his dark back. It was longer than mine, reaching down to his pant belt.
    “Master, this is Anastasia Miller.” Yelson introduced me as he sat down cross-legged in front of the man. He motioned for me to sit next to him.
    “Ah, Anastasia. Welcome home.” Master Kai eyes were a cloudy gray, the kind people with blindness get but he was looking right at me. His smile caused even more wrinkles to appear on his dark, aged face. A deep scar ran across his left cheek onto the bridge of his nose. “Yelson has brought to my attention that you need training and quickly.”
    I looked over to my guard. He was looking straight at Master Kai avoiding my eyes. I did not understand why I would need training. Was it to help me kill Daruka? The thought of it made me want to vomit. I could not kill someone, I just could not. It wasn’t who I was.
    “From the looks of you, he was right.” So he could see. Master Kai rose from his sitting position. Yelson followed just as gracefully. I, on the other hand, stumbled after them as they made their way down the steps.
    “She needs to learn how to defend herself, Master. I may not always be there to protect her.”
    “I understand.” Master Kai walked to the middle of the mat. Yelson and I stood on the outskirts of it. “Anastasia, please stand in front of me.”
    I quickly took off my shoes and stood a foot in front of Master Kai. Yelson sat down on the dirt floor keeping his eyes on me. He looked amused. I stared at him wondering what could be funny about this situation.
    A sudden sharp pain broke out on my left arm. I grabbed the area just above my elbow and held it close to my body as the pain erupted.
    “Ow.” I cried as the pain spread throughout my upper arm.
    Master Kai lashed out his arm again hitting me in my stomach. I kneeled over grabbing my midsection. “If you don’t wish for pain you must stop me first. Then the pain will never come.”
    His leg shot out at me meeting my right thigh. A small cry of pain escaped my mouth and the new sensation of pain. I could see Yelson in the corner of my eyes. The smile faded from his face being replaced with a look of worry.
    Master Kai moved away from me giving me time to stand back up. It took a minute until the pain in my thigh was bearable. I slowly got up putting as little pressure as possible onto my right leg.
    I saw his hand lift away from his body and before I could process what I was doing, I grabbed it, stopping it from coming into contact with any part of me.
    “Good. You have some instinct. Think with your body not your mind.” He took his hand back and walked around to where Yelson now stood.  He looked at me wide eyed.
    “Bring her back tonight. We have only just begun.”
    Yelson nodded and grabbed my arm. He escorted me out of the building. A few