...The Play...
After saying those words, Anastasia stepped away from Valdimir, then she continued her training
" That bastard. Is he playing hard to get? I will pretend that I have never confessed to him."
Zachary noticed how pissed she was, so he tried to talk to her:
- Anastasia, why are you angry? Did anything happen?
- It's nothing...
- Are you still angry at me?
Anastasia took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down:
- Though I was very disappointed, I understand why you did it. I'm not angry anymore.
Zachary felt very happy:
- I promise, I will never disappoint you again...Can you be my training partner for today?
Anastasia wanted to refuse, she can't trust Zachary anymore after what he did to her. However, she needed someone to distract her from Valdimir who kept glaring at her.
- Alright, let's start...
She ignored valdimir's presence and tried to focus on her training with Zachary.
- So what should we do today?
- The commander ordered us to fight each with our bare hands.
- Really?
- Yeah, don't worry, I will go easy on you.
Zachary pulled up his sleeves and became in the position to fight.
- Come on, you need to use your hands to put me down.
Anastasia backed off:
" I shouldn't have come today...How am I going to do this?"
Anastasia wasn't comfortable with the thought of fighting with her hands...She is not that close to Zachary to touch him with her bare hand..but she did it before with Valdimir and it didn't bother her.
She looked at her hands, then she clenched them:
" Is it because I like Valdimir that I didn't dislike touching him? Even so, I'm a soldier now and I must do it.
She also pulled up her sleeves.
- I will do it.
Zachary became confused when he saw her frail arms.
- Are you ready, Zachary?
Zachary blushed when he imagined holding those arms.
- Oh...Y...Yes...I'm...I'm ready...
When they were about to start fighting, suddenly Anastasia felt someone pulling her back.
- What's happening.
Valdimir pulled down her sleeves, then grabbed her hand and dragged her to his tent in front of everyone.
- Is there something between the two of them?
- I don't know...maybe.
Valdimir was so pissed that he slammed his desk and broke it into pieces.
- ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME OUT OF MY MIND? WHY DON'T YOU EVER LISTEN TO ME?
Anastasia was confused, she couldn't understand his reaction. He has been avoiding her and even asking her to not come to the training ground.
" Why is he acting like this? "
She decided to ask him what she was wondering about:
- Do you hate me this much?
- What are you saying?
- You don't want to see my face...
At that moment Anastasia broke down and started crying.
- What did I do? Why everyone hates me? Even if I did a mistake and fell in love with you you shouldn't treat me like this...
- What about you? Didn't you hate me when I killed that man?
- What are you saying?
- You look terrified that night...you couldn't even look into my eyes.
- Of course, I looked terrified, that was the first time I saw a man being killed that way.
- That's who I am, and that's the way I have been living for a decade....such a lady like you will never be able to get use at it.
Valdimir turned around to not be shaken by her tears.
- So, are you saying that you have been avoiding me for my own sake?
- You don't want to be involved with someone whose hands are always stained with blood.
Anastasia understood that Valdimir didn't hate her as she thought, he was only afraid of hurting her.
- You better leave the tent while you still have the chance...
- Turn around and look at me!
When he turned around, Anastasia pulled him from his collar and kissed him.
- Is this enough as a reply?
When Valdimir was about to talk Sergio came in a hurry...
- Commander...There is something urgent!
- What is it?
- The...The king is coming!
- Are you sure?
- Yeah, he sent someone that announced his coming.
Anastasia bowed her head:
- It seems that there is something urgent, so I will take my leave...
Then she rushed out of the tent while her heart was about burst:
" What did I do? how could I kiss him that way? This is so embarrassing..."
Valdimir glared at Sergio with burning eyes:
- How dare you break into the tent like that when you know that I'm talking to the lady...
- But...the king is coming...
- It is not like he arrived. You cut our very important conversation.
- Come on, don't be pissed, you will have another chance to talk to her...
Valdimir sighed:
- Leave...I want to stay alone...
Valdimir couldn't erase Anastasia's terrified face from his memory during the past days, he thought that she hated him for that and he didn't dare to face that reality, but it seemed he was wrong, she even kissed him.
" This woman is driving me crazy. "
Anastasia went back to her training. Everyone kept looking at her wondering what was going on between her and their commander.
She pretended to be sad:
- Why is the commander this harsh, he punished me again. What's wrong with him?
Those words made the rest of the soldiers think that nothing is going on between both of them except Zachary. The way that Valdimir glared at him and prevented Anastasia from touching him made him sure that he has feelings for her.
- What did the commander tell you?
- Oh, it's nothing he just scolded me...by the way I heard that the king is coming!
- Yeah, he comes to visit from time to time.
- What kind of person is he?
- Who? The king? Don't you know him?
- I didn't have a chance to meet him.
- Really, but you are noble!
- Well, I have my circumstances.
- He is known for his love of the empire. He likes our commander very much and is willing to do anything for him.
Anastasia became confused, she thought that the king hated him.
" Then why did he kill him in the past life? Something surely happened to the king that made him change his heart about Valdimir and I must know what it is. Fortunately, that thing still didn't happen. I still have time to change our fates. "