Page 73 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

Near dawn, a familiar voice and presence came near, and gentle arms wrapped around her. “Anna. Come with me.”

Peter.

He gently helped her to her feet and led her away from the chaotic crowd writhing on the ground. They found refuge in a nearby pavilion, where he drew the curtains closed. With his support, she lay down on a soft bed and he wrapped his arms around her. “You’re safe now. Go to sleep.”

Anna smiled weakly and fell into sleep, though it was not deep enough to be restorative. She had disassociated herself from her reality so thoroughly that her mind couldn’t even really feel how tired she was, though her body betrayed her.

Sometime later, she was alert enough to sense when Peter got up and left the bed, and she heard hushed voices nearby, but their words failed to make sense.

“... progressively worse each year.” A familiar voice, but she couldn’t name the speaker.

“Why?” Was that Peter’s accent? His voice had a hard edge to it that she hadn’t heard in a long while. She couldn’t move her body, but her mind retreated even further from the frightening tone. The voices became like waves rushing across a flat sand beach. Comprehension left her, though she could still read the emotion in their voices.

“I don’t understand him. He’s changed from the man I used to call uncle.” A sad sigh. “Dad said he really fucked her up on Thursday night. I didn’t get to see her until she was up there. Normally Devin lets me be with her before things start.”

“You fuck her too?” Disgust laced the second man’s tone, making his accent more pronounced.

“No. I make love to her.” The voice was filled with both longing and regret. “The last time we were in D.C., she begged me to. Said it would be the last gentle touch she’d have.” A pause. “She wasn’t wrong.”

“I wish there was something we could do.” A third voice chimed in. The tenderness here was palpable.

“How does your dad feel about all this?” the accented voice asked.

There was a long pause. “It’s dangerous to dissent.”

“Why do you ask?” The third voice revealed a sliver of hope.

“Others have taken notice of what he’s doing. Yes, to her, but also politically. Your president literally worships him. That’s not a good thing.”

“There was only one person who could stop him. He’s dead.” Deep, enduring grief filled this voice, echoing the pain in her own heart at those two words.

A pause. “He needs to be weakened.”

“He takes his power from her.”

“Then she needs to be removed from his presence.”

“Impossible. She’ll get sick.”

“Maybe.”

The hushed voices moved farther away, becoming whispers in the boughs of the towering trees. All memories of their words blew away with the breeze. Darkness crept in and captured her once more, taking into a deeper, more restorative sleep.

Chapter 39

“Where the hell is she?” Devin’s angry voice brought her wide-awake at once.

“I brought her in here because she wasn’t well,” Peter said.

“Of course she wasn’t well. She’d been raped all night. It’s not your concern what I do with her here. Your concern is to keep her sane the rest of the time.” Devin grabbed Anna’s hair and pulled her out of bed. “Go clean up. I need you in my pavilion in twenty minutes.”

Anna looked up at Devin. “I—I don’t know where to go, Master.”

Devin’s eye narrowed. He pulled her out into the sunlight and across the field to a path. “Go down this path to the dorm. Clean up and come right back. You don’t need clothes to wear, so don’t worry about that.”

Anna hurried to the dorm to obey Devin’s commands.

When she returned to the pavilion, the curtains were closed. At the entrance, Anna hesitated, wondering if she should go in or announce her presence somehow.

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