Moon Blessed

Chapter 13 ~ Helping Hands

    Nastasia hesitated at the sound of her parents' voices, her fist still raised above the door. She lowered it and pressed her ear to the wooden frame. "I don't like this, Sera," Gavriil was saying.

    "No one does, but it's what's best."

    "It is, but Nastasia deserves a chance to be heard as well. I complied with your wishes, banning her from the meetings, but I still think we should bring her along to the other kingdoms. She should get to meet the Knights, and I believe her presence will be beneficial in maintaining peace. Think about it. Our people have never had a living Saint walk among them."

    "And remember what happened to every other living Saint?" Serafima fired back. "All it takes is for one fanatic to throw a knife or fire an arrow and she will die! I did not allow our daughter to become...whatever she is, only for her to be taken from us for that same reason!"

    "You think I don't want to protect her as well? I do, but look at her. She is miserable, Sera. She hates being locked up in the palace. She hates not visiting new places or meeting new people. And now she is going to be married to a man she's never met and sent off to a place she's never been? How is that fair to her?"

    Nastasia had to strain to hear her mother's whispered reply. "How was it fair to me?"

    Her father's voice softened. "It wasn't. That we agree on. So why don't we make sure Nasi doesn't face a similar fate?"

    "The difference is no one stood to gain something if they killed me. If someone kills Nastasia..."

    She couldn't bear to listen to any more of the conversation. Nastasia knocked on the door and strode inside. Gavriil and Serafima cleared their throats, placing more distance between themselves. "What is it, Nastasia?" Her father asked.

    "I've come to ask you to leave Nikolai alone. It wasn't his fault. I asked Alexei to teach me to ride and he was just..."

    Serafima held up a hand, halting her mid-sentence. "Volya has already been told to relieve his brother of duty."

    "No!" She protested. "No, please don't send him away."

    "He was given express orders to stay away from you," Gavriil reminded her. "He disobeyed them, meaning he disobeyed me."

    "Father, please." Nastasia grabbed her father's hands, dropping to her knees before him. "Please let him stay."

    Gavriil squeezed her hands. "Can you assure me that this is the first time he's disobeyed my commands, and that it will be the last?"

    "Yes," she blurted out. "Yes, I haven't seen him since you gave him the order."

    He pulled one hand out of hers and stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Why don't I believe you?"

    "Father, please." Nastasia blinked back the tears that stung behind her snowy lashes. "He's my only friend."

    "A friend you have grown far too attached to, which is why he must be sent away," Serafima said. "I'm sorry, but it's for your own good."

    "Father," Nastasia pleaded one last time, "please. You know what he means to me."

    "Your mother is right," he sighed. "I will allow you to say goodbye, but then he must go."

    Nastasia pushed herself to her feet and yanked her hands from his. She swallowed the bitter lump in her throat and breezed out of the room without another word. They won't let me leave the palace. They won't let me use my magic or train with weapons. They won't let me go places or meet people. And now, they won't even let me have my only friend.