ANA
The next morning, Ana woke to the Alpha lifting her out of bed. She immediately tried to snuggle into his chest, keen for the comfort she had missed all night, but Maddoc bathed her, applied the salve to her back, and dressed her without saying a word.
Strangely, he dressed her in a long olive dress that was typical commoner wear. The coarse material scratched her skin but she found she liked the style and fit. He pushed hard sandals on her feet and brushed her hair so that it fell loosely over her shoulders.
Picking her up again, he carried her out of the pavilion toward the clearing she was in yesterday. A number of highcloaks waited for them by the campfire, and as soon as Maddoc joined them, they all started heading in a specific direction.
Ana took the opportunity to enjoy being in Maddoc's arms. She hated that she did, but it wasn't as though she had a choice. When she pressed her cheek against his chest and sighed, he looked down on her, his beard twitching. She scowled and turned her face in toward his chest so he couldn't see her face.
When she turned her face back out again, they had left the camp and were trudging through bushes and bramble and leaves. Ana cursed inwardly. She had missed how they exited the base, and didn't even know which direction they had headed in to access it.
She remained alert, trying to make note of what she saw, but all around them was greenery and bushes. It was impossible to pinpoint anything in particular.
Finally, they came to a more spacious area where horses awaited them. Maddoc climbed the same huge, black horse he had ridden to the base and placed Ana on the saddle in front of him, a thick arm around her securing her against his body.
They rode for a long time, possibly even longer than when they had arrived here, but Ana had been so disorientated she couldn't tell. Being on the horse for so long, she began to ache, and right when as she thought she couldn’t take any more, the horses angled to the left and the forest began to thin out. They rode into a medium-sized town and stopped outside of a tavern.
Maddoc dismounted and lifted Ana off the horse, but this time allowed her to stand, even though his arm remained around her.
They all headed to the outskirts of the town, toward the fields and took position in a small cluster of abandoned buildings near one of the fields.
The highcloaks clearly had a routine. Some of them positioned themselves farther down, crouched behind a broken wall. The ones with Maddoc rolled a blanket underneath the windows to kneel on, propped up a bow next to the window, lay their swords on the floor in front of their knees, and took out magnifying lenses to look through.
Maddoc rolled a blanket on the floor and knelt down, pulling Ana to stand next to him, his arm around her hips. She didn't need to kneel.
"I have been watching these fields for a while," he began in a low voice. "There are eight farmers across the entirety of the land, but in this quarter, only two manage it. Their families help them maintain their crops." He gave her a magnifying lens, and she took it, confused about why he was telling her this. Through the lens she saw men, women, and children working on the land.
"These farmers don't own this land," Maddoc said, taking back the lens. "They used to, but they were forced to sell when the owner of the neighboring lands threatened their family if they didn't."
Ana made a face. That shouldn't have happened. Anyone forcing someone to sell through threats should be dealt with by the crown. The farmers could have petitioned for a hearing with the king.
"Since they have been bought, they have not been able to meet the quota of crops demanded by the new landowners," Maddoc continued. "They have struggled mainly for two reasons; the land is too big for the two farmers and their families to successfully manage, and the crops that the landowners want do not grow well on this kind of land."
Ana nodded. These landowners seemed like they were being unnecessarily unreasonable.
“At the beginning of this quarter, the landowners told the farmers that if they did not meet their requirements, they would be made nameless."
Ana shot Maddoc a sharp look. That was not the way things were supposed to go. She had read the boring rules around landownership, farming, and crops when she had been researching him. It was completely unlawful to threaten namelessness for those reasons. Besides, only the crown could make someone nameless, not some noble with an ego.
Maddoc met her gaze, but she was unable to read the look in his eyes. He gestured back toward the fields. "Watch."
Ana turned to see horses approaching the field where the families were frantically working. There were at least fifteen horses!
A dark tremble drifted at the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong. It was impossible for fifteen people to own one piece of land, so what were so many doing here?
The horses stopped by the field, and the riders called out to the farmers and their families. They reluctantly all stood together while they conversed.
Ana watched closely, wishing she could hear what was being said between them. She hoped the farmers were threatening them with the crown and Allandis Law that had been so painstakingly put together to avoid abuses of this kind.
Suddenly, one of the people on the horses drew a sword and pointed it at the farmers. Ana tensed, unable to believe the sight in front of her. Surely, this person would not attack anyone in broad daylight simply for not providing crops on time.
The families in the field shuffled on their feet, and then one of them began running across the field as fast as they possibly could. Ana watched in shock, hoping that he would be able to find some help before the rest of them were hurt, but suddenly, he fell to the ground, sprawled out. She gasped and clung to the edge of the window.
Looking back at the men on horses, she saw that one of them held a bow and arrow.
The remainder of the families, huddled closer together, but the rider moved the bow and arrow and aimed it at them.
Some of the riders dismounted and headed toward the families,
“This is the way they make them nameless," Maddoc murmured, as the riders approached the farmers’ families. “After this, they will have no status in society and no one will believe them.” It wasn't clear what they were doing, but it was clear that it was violent. Some of the farmers fell to the ground, some of them were pushed until they became a big jumble of people and she couldn't determine what was happening.
Ana shook her head in horror, but just as she was about to say something, Maddoc handed her the magnifying lens again and gestured that she looked through it.
Nerves rolled in her stomach, but she lifted the lens to her eyes. The sight sickened her.
The riders were much better dressed than the farmers; it was easy to tell who was who, and they were carrying out the most horrific acts.
One man was driving his sword into the twitching torso of a man lying on the ground, another had a woman on her knees and held her head as he pushed his cock into her face, a third man had a young girl on her knees, gripping her ass as he pounded into her, her panties tangled at her knees, and yet another man was doing the same to a young boy. Another older boy was topless and being whipped on his bare skin as he knelt. An older man, possibly one of the farmers, was watching in horror while another one of the riders stood by talking to him.
"You can increase the distance by turning the dial here," Maddoc said, pushing her finger onto a dial on the magnifying lens.
Ana wrenched the magnifying lens away from her face, glaring at him. Why did he bring her to witness this? If he knew it was going to happen, he could have called the crown and asked for support for the farmers from the king, even in the current state of the kingdom, somebody in the court would be able to help.
Maddoc watched her closely. "It is to help you see who they are," he said. "You will recognize them."
Ana’s stomach dropped, the sickening feeling creeping into her throat. Hesitantly, she raised the magnifying glass again, and turned the dial.
She gasped at the sight of the faces in front of her. She recognized all of the riders. They were from House Thorneshaw. It was Everard who she'd met at Ryden's house who was talking to the farmer, but the man he was speaking to had been beaten at some point. His mouth was full of blood, his face bruised, and all he could do was watch what was happening with despair. The men who were raping those women and children were married men—they were well respected in court. Thick dark blood ran down the back of the thighs of the young girl on her knees. The younger boy who was being whipped, was screaming. Even though she couldn't hear him, she could tell he was yelling at the top of his lungs. And it was a woman who was whipping him. A woman who had congratulated Ana on her tour only a few days ago. It looked as though she might be laughing.
Ana swung the lens over to the horses, to the men who had not dismounted, and the nausea hit her harder when she realized they were knights—trained knights who belonged to the house and they held weapons, including bows and arrows, presumably to stop the commoners from fighting back.
Ana lowered the magnifying lens. She was going to be sick.
"This land belongs to House Thorneshaw," Maddoc said. "They acquired it legally."
Ana took a halting breath and shook her head, unable to speak, even if she wanted to. It cannot be legal to obtain land in that way; Allandis Law prevented it.
"They obtained it after petitioning the king in court six months ago." Maddoc paused. "During that hearing, he gave the house the right to declare the farmers nameless if they did not uphold the crop schedule. You may have been in attendance."
Ana squeezed her eyes shut, unable to deal with the horror of it. Her father had allowed this to happen? She had to remember if she’d been in court that day, to try to remember his reasoning for it, but she couldn't think right now, people were being abused and destroyed in front of her eyes, and it was agitating her to the point of tears.
"Analisa," Maddoc said. "We came here to intervene. Normally we would have intervened already, but I wanted you to see what would happen. It is the same every time, no matter how many times we try to stop them, or give them chances to stop, all they do is bring more knights to fight us, and sometimes they kill the commoners. So we usually intervene before it gets to this stage. We cannot do nothing." Ana looked at him, searching his eyes. They were fierce, black and soulless. He was going to kill them.
She had been raised to believe that everyone should have a fair chance to defend themselves using Allandis Law. But the court was the one who gave these men the license to behave like this, so they were not acting unlawfully in the eyes of the court, they were not acting illegally. The crime of rape and whipping were still illegal, but it was difficult even for nobles to be punished for those crimes, let alone members of a royal house.
So she said nothing, and Maddoc nodded at his men.
She jumped at the whipping noises from the arrows shooting from the bows of the highcloaks next to her, and the ones who had been crouching on the outer parts of the structure, charged onto the field.
Maddoc turned Ana from the window and pushed her toward a highcloak waiting behind them. “Raine will take you back to Moonvale. I will be back soon.”
Ana was too numb to respond, her mind still trying to grapple with what she had seen. The woman he pushed her toward smiled uneasily as she took Ana's hand and led her out of the structure and back to the horses.
Although Raine was on the small side, she was strong enough to push Ana up onto her horse.
She climbed up behind her and rode back the way they came. Ana's mind whirled trying to make sense of any reason why a royal house would behave that way and do those things to commoners. Why would they rape when they have wives? Why would they inflict so much pain on children? Why would they even seek permission to make commoners nameless on ridiculous demands?
She took a sharp breath. If that was how they made people nameless… Was that what happened to Conrad? And Joe? And Trea’s family? The thought made her shudder and the nausea almost overwhelmed her.
She had never had any reason not to hold the houses in high regard, each of them had their strengths as a house, and each have had a strong and honorable history. All kings held the houses in high regard in terms of their integrity. Her father couldn't have known that this was going to happen.
Her skin crawled at the idea that she’d been in the same room as Everard only a few days ago, discussing giving him her children. She would have sentenced her child to a marriage with a house that had highly corrupt individuals, and it could never have been reversed. Yes, it had to be just these individuals, she finally decided. It wasn’t possible for everyone in House Thorneshaw to behave this way.
And yet, it was unsettling that Maddoc knew it was going to happen. He had been so sure that he arrived early enough to make her watch.
By the time they reached the dense part of the forest, the horror had settled deep in her bones.
The female highcloak took her hand and led her through the bushes and trees and shrubbery, navigating back to the base and Maddoc’s pavilion. Ana let her mind go blank, unwilling to think about it anymore until she was able to make sense of it.
"Maddoc would prefer if you stayed in the pavilion today," the woman said, somewhat nervously. "He will be back just after sundown."
Ana nodded and trudged inside, once again alone with her troublesome thoughts.
Ana debated for the rest of the afternoon whether she should break her silence to speak to Maddoc about this issue. Although she had made her vow in honor of her father and Ryden, she also made a promise that she would not abandon the people—that she would still be Princess Ana, who would uphold everything that the crown stood for—even in this environment. She wanted to know how often this happened, if all the attacks were this bad, what happened to the land after the family was made nameless. Had any royal house member been caught doing what they were doing, had this been reported to the crown? All of these very relevant questions would help her understand how serious the problem was, but even if she asked Maddoc, could she trust what he said? Yes, he had shown her an atrocity that happened in front of her own eyes, but she didn't have any further information and she didn't want to be manipulated again. She said she would take all the steps she could to find information out for herself, and that was what she had to try to do. Besides, how did she know that this would have happened if her father were alive and in power? Maybe it only happened because he was dead.
So, she changed out of her clothing and paced the pavilion, the thoughts revolving in her mind as she resolved that she would try to find out more once she escaped this place, but she would not speak to Maddoc, at least for now.
At sundown, a meal was brought to her by the same guard who led her back to Maddoc's pavilion the day before, and just as she finished it, Maddoc entered.
He looked wild, that darkness in his eyes, splashes of blood over him, and gashes scoring his arms. He strode straight to her and pulled her into a hard kiss, his fingers digging into the back of her head, his mouth claiming hers in that eager and desperate way he always did, and instantly she was alive.
Kissing him back, Ana drifted into the sweet cloud of arousal that always surrounded them, needing to be comforted by him, and now knowing he needed to be comforted too. For the first time, Ana could almost understand his need for her when his eyes were so dark.
As their kiss softened, Maddoc sucked on her bottom lip and nipped at her top as he pulled away. "Are we fucking today?" he asked bluntly.
Ana almost scowled at the coarseness of his words. He could have simply asked if she was speaking to him, but then she realized there was amusement in his eyes, and his beard twitched as he took in her expression.
She smiled and he kissed her again before turning away, chuckling. He left the tent, and much to Ana’s disappointment, did not return for the rest of the night.
* * *
Unfortunately for Ana's theory, the same thing happened for the next three days.
Maddoc dressed her like a commoner, and then they traveled into the Kingdom of Allandis to different districts to watch the abuse of commoners by members of royal houses. The first day she watched members of Goldfrost gleefully set fire to a house of a family who could not pay the increased tax; the family was still inside.
Maddoc showed her the family's request to the court to lower the tax, but their petition came back denied, signed by the king three months ago.
The next day she watched House Villemore tie two very young children to the back of a horse because they had been picking and eating fruit growing in the garden of a house that no one lived in. They couldn't have been much older than Trea, and their parents were begging on their knees. Ana hadn't been able to bear it and screamed that Maddoc do something immediately. Thankfully, he already had men intervene before anything happened, but it shook her to her core that anyone could do that. That was the first time she cried herself to sleep, angry and upset that these were people she knew committing these crimes, people she had sat across from in the court, people whose homes she’s visited, who she made small talk with, and who she’d studied and looked up to.
The third day, it was House Redcrest. A number of men and women arrived in a town to stone five men to death for getting into a brawl in the local tavern. Ana was shocked. Maddoc explained that the knights who reported to the crown had “sold” House Redcrest the opportunity to punish them. The Redcrest members turned up in their finest wear, as if it were some sort of entertainment event, and had brought their own hand-picked, jewel-encrusted stones to throw. Looking at their faces as they lined the commoner men up against the wall, it was clear the Redcrest nobles were excited about it. One of the men even had an erection. It was disgusting. Ana actually vomited on the way back to the camp this time.
There was no more reasoning or defending any of it, even the fact that her father had approved some of what was happening was extremely suspect, but she was still reluctant to believe it. Her father had been an upstanding man. How could he have approved this knowing what was happening, both him and her mother? It couldn't be possible that the kingdom was so grossly corrupt after everything her parents and Milly had taught her.
She clung to the fact that her father was now dead and she couldn't ask him, and that it was possible that all of this was a result of them having no king—the houses taking advantage of the lack of structure. This was what the monarchy was supposed to prevent, after all. She wondered if this was what her parents had been hiding from her, and if so, how they intended to keep it hidden? If the monarch was truly giving the royal houses opportunities to break the law and commit such crimes, she would have found out eventually. Both she and Ryden would have. Or, maybe Ryden had known? Maybe that was why he was insisting her father was unfit.
Each night, Maddoc came to the pavilion with his dark eyes and bloodied and scratched body, then kissed her like his life depended on it, and she started to look forward to that time each day. Even though the days were horrific, she wanted him near her, the strange comfort he brought, and she found herself agitated until he arrived. Part of her wished that he returned with her back to the base, but she was confused by her desire for him to be safe, as well as her deepening attraction to him. On the third night, after he left, she desperately wished that he hadn't been the one to kill her father. Or that he had been able to explain everything he was now showing her. She knew she wouldn't have believed him, but she wished things had gone differently, because with the way things stood, she couldn't let herself feel anything for him—his arrow in her father’s neck denied her the chance to ever confront her father.
She woke in a gloomy mood on the fourth day, and as Maddoc dressed her, he must have sensed it. He grabbed her chin and tilted her eyes up to his, searching them. "These horrors are hard to see, Analisa. You have done well. I only have two more things to show you, today and tomorrow, and then you don’t have to watch them again."
She nodded, but what use was that? Ana wanted to say. Not seeing them didn’t mean they weren’t happening.
He pressed his lips on hers, and she sighed with great relief and pleasure that she didn't have to wait until evening for his kiss. She kissed him back, eager for his tongue and the way it dominated her mouth, sending sparks of pleasure all around her body. Since he’d stopped touching her, the smallest things about him affected her greatly, and she took whatever she could.
She whimpered as he pulled away and pressed his mouth against her ear. "Talk to me, Analisa."
Swallowing, Ana battled with herself at the sudden request, but ended up saying nothing. Maddoc growled and lifted her into his arms.
Today they went to the central city.
Because of the quality of the gown that Maddoc dressed her in, Ana had already guessed they would be heading toward the nobles’ residences.
For some reason, being among the nobles again, especially now after what she’d seen some of the royal house members do, made her nervous. Everything in the central city was much closer together. It was harder for Maddoc and his men to navigate and if they were caught, it would be very difficult to escape. By the same token, if Ana wanted, she could scream and tell everyone who she was and whom she was with, and there was the possibility she could escape. But she had seen too much now, and didn’t know whom she could trust. She didn't even know what was happening between the royal houses and the crown. With her father dead, was she any safer among the royal houses than with Maddoc? He wasn't even touching her anymore, which was becoming bitterly annoying each day.
"The houses have now decided that I am too much of a threat to remain alive," Maddoc said, as they entered the upstairs room in a popular tavern visited by nobles and royals. "They have agreed among them that I must be killed and you must be recovered at all costs, and the house that is successful at doing so will marry you off and he will be the next king."
Ana nodded, her expression glum. That was the kind of plan that the houses would agree amongst themselves.
"They haven’t made any real effort to kill me over the years," Maddoc said. He sat down on one of the couches and pulled her into his lap. "They needed someone to blame for their crimes, and I and my people were the perfect choice—since those who join me are already people they have eliminated from society. They have no problem accusing us all for being outlaws and criminals. I will admit, some of my men are criminals. In the beginning I took whomever I could. But now, I do not abide senseless killing or men and women who only want to commit crimes no matter the cost to others. I gladly will kill any royal and noble who abuses their power, but I have no interest in senseless killing."
Ana watched his eyes as he spoke, his voice determined and low, his expression grave. For the first time, she noticed a sadness embedded in his anger for the situation, and she wondered how long he had been doing this. It had to be heartbreaking to see this happening all the time. When she thought about Moonvale… There were potentially over one hundred families who lived there. On a much larger scale, however, Maddoc had not saved that many. And in the meantime while this was happening, she'd been tucked away in her library reading stories. How right he’d been that first night; she had been so woefully ignorant about everything. And even now the houses treated her like some kind of vessel and shell to bear the next heir… just as he said.
A rough finger under her chin brought her back to the moment; Maddoc's eyes were alive on her. “You cannot take on the horror of this, Analisa. I’m not showing you this for you to be sad. I’m showing you so you understand. This will not be our life.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. He was planning some life with them together, and in the meantime she was just confused.
He leaned in, pressing his mouth against her ear. "I miss your pussy, Analisa."
The gravelly tone of his voice made her breath hitch.
"I think I will have you climax in my mouth tonight. A treat for good behavior." When he pulled away, his eyes were sparkling, and she had to smile. He was so handsome, and she instantly wondered what he was like before he knew about this darkness that plagued the kingdom.
His hand inched up her thigh, and she pressed her knees together, desperate not to become soaking wet while in this room.
Maddoc chuckled, and Ana averted her eyes, only to remember that they weren't alone. His highcloaks stood stationed at the windows and doors, and although most were ignoring them, Raine stared at them with great interest.
"They're not heading to the right room," one of the highcloaks said suddenly.
Maddoc sat up. "What do you mean?"
The man standing by the back door gestured to the window. "I just saw them entering through this door, which means they’re not coming through here.”
"Then where are they going?" Maddoc growled.
"They’re coming to this floor," another highcloak said.
Griff cracked open the door to the room that they came through and peeked through for a long moment and then closed it. "They are next door," he said quietly. "We have to be extremely quiet; the walls are thin. Our contact must have put us here because she wasn’t exactly sure where they’d go. Perhaps she knew they might change venue."
Ana's breath became unsteady as she realized she would be able to hear everything instead of seeing it, and suddenly she wasn't so sure she wanted to listen. Maddoc stood slowly and placed her down, then took her hand and led her to the adjoining wall to listen. All the highcloaks stood listening.
There was a shuffling and closing the door, heavy boots walking around the room.
"This is the fifth we've had," a deep voice said irritably. "It had better lead to some good results."
"Or what," another voice shot back. "Do you have anything better?"
Heat drained from Ana’s face. That was Aldous from Redcrest. Suddenly, she was extremely uneasy about what she was going to hear. Aldious always seemed like a kind and generous man. She braced herself.
"You’re only giving him this amount of leeway because you want something when he becomes king. I don't even know why he is our best chance."
"Who would you have instead?" Aldous asked. "You? Do you know anything about the court or about the people? You'd be run off the throne before you even sat down."
The door opened and a series of shuffling and dragging followed before something hit the wall that they were listening against. Ana almost squealed, a tiny squeak bursting from her throat as she jumped.
Maddoc locked eyes with her, both of them frozen, but it seemed those on the other side heard nothing. Maddoc carefully lifted Ana back into his arms and held her against chest. Immediately, her nerves calmed.
"Where is Maddoc?" a new voice said. It sounded as though there were multiple people in the room now, just by the amount of footsteps.
Whoever was against the wall, shifted. "I don't know," he wheezed. It sounded as though he had trouble breathing, and his voice was thick, as though his mouth was full of blood or his tongue was swollen. "I've told you so many times before," he groaned. "Why won’t you believe me?"
"Because it's impossible for you not to know where he is when he has been sighted by your property so many times," the man growled. "So we're going to ask you over and over again until you tell us what the fuck we want to know!"
"I don't know, I swear to you! I don't know where he is, I don't know where he's been, and I don't know where he's going to be. The sightings must be because he frequently goes past my property. But I don't know him."
Ana glanced at Maddoc. His jaw was rock hard.
"Tell us where he is!"
A loud thud hit the wall, and the man cried out.
"We can do this all day," came Aldous’ low tone. "And now we have the use of the king's guard, we can make it as painful and as crippling as we want."
Ana closed her eyes, willing away the nausea that rose. Why did they have access to the king's guard? The king’s guard were only supposed to protect the king. But then, she didn't know the rules around what happened in this scenario when the king was assassinated and there was no heir.
"I swear," the man wheezed. "I swear I have no information."
A series of thumps and slams hit the wall, a couple with bone crunching sounds accompanying them. The man sobbed and pleaded and begged, and Ana had to curl up in Maddoc's arms, gripping his tunic so she wouldn't cry. She hated listening to all that pain and violence. How could they do it?
Just as Maddoc was placing her down so Raine could take her away, the door opened, and more footsteps came in.
"No!" the prisoner cried out. "Leave him, please!"
"I remember when you didn't pay your taxes a couple of years ago, and your grandchild was invited for the fun. You managed to find the money pretty quickly," one of the men said. "So let's see if he is as effective to get us results this time. After all, Duke Ryden is all about results."
Ana froze, but Maddoc was ushering her out of the room with Raine. Ryden? Was he was alive?
Before she had time to think about it, Raine was leading her down the steps and out onto the side road.
"I need to go back in," she urged. "I need to know if Ryden is still alive."
Raine shook her head. "Impossible."
Ana yanked her hand away. "It may be impossible for you, but I want to go back in."
Raine stared at her. "You want to go back in and see what they do to his grandchild?"
"I need to know if Ryden is still alive."
"What difference does it make if he is?" she said, disgust in her voice. "He is part of that house. He is condoning that behavior."
"You don’t know that," Ana said immediately. "He may not know what they're doing in his name." Even though Aldous was an Alpha Ryden looked up to, it didn’t mean Ryden was aware of this. He wasn’t a representative of the house. He could be kept out of the truly terrible acts. Besides, it was too hard to believe that Ryden would know about this and approve it.
"Look," Raine said, her voice softening. "I cannot take you back in. It's already too late. Maddoc has already entered the room or kicked down the wall or something, and there were king's guard in that room. It's not just fighting knights from the houses or inexperienced men who haven't faced battle before. The king's guard are dangerous to us. They have killed many of us. I cannot take you back up there to be hurt, or taken, or distract Maddoc from what he's doing."
Ana's heart sank. She was right. Glancing back up at the house, she nodded and they both headed down the street.
* * *
That evening Maddoc did not come.
Ana paced the pavilion after sundown, expecting him to enter at any moment, but when an hour passed, she began to worry that he may have really been hurt. What if Aldous had caught him, did that mean that they were coming to the camp to get Ana? What hope did the rest of the people here have without Maddoc?
She shook her head pushing away her fears. Slowing her pace down in the middle of her room, she realized that she was fearful for him. She didn't want anything to happen to him, and she could not go to sleep until she saw him.
Peeking out the entrance of the tent, she looked to see if anyone was nearby. Her guard stood a few feet away, but he seemed to be watching something on the other side of the camp.
She tiptoed over to him. "Do you know where Maddoc is?"
He turned, his eyes glistening in the fire light. "Yes. He will come and see you when he is ready, Princess."
"Where is he?"
The guard was silent for a moment. "He would prefer if you waited for him."
"I don't give a fuck what he prefers," she hissed. "I want to know where he is right now."
The guard eyed her. "He is in the healing tent."
“Where is that?”
The guard pointed.
"Is he all right?"
The guard didn't answer. "That's all I know." The guard's answer was noncommittal, but there was clear worry on his face, and she realized that he had been staring across at the healing tent when she approached.
Without saying another word, she walked in that direction, preparing for him to try to stop her. But he didn't, and when she glanced over her shoulder, he was simply following, escorting her there.
The healing tent was surrounded mostly in darkness, but since Ana had never been there before, she was unsure what she would find. Who was the healer in the camp? Did each camp have one or was it one for the whole base?
She stepped toward the opening and peeked inside to see Maddoc’s huge form lying on a raised platform in the middle. It looked like a mix between a table and a bed, possibly what they might use in treatment rooms to treat patients. Next to the table was… Raine.
What? Ana blinked.
They were talking, and she was pressing something on Maddoc’s shoulder, leaning over him and laughing as she did so.
A flare of anger sparked a growly rumble at the back of her throat. What was she doing?
“Princess, I think you should leave him to—”
“Go back to your station,” Ana hissed at the guard, her anger heightening.
He stilled, then took a few steps back, but went no farther.
Ana turned back to the tent, incensed that Raine was in there. Was this really a healing tent or a fuck tent? She’d always been aware that there were probably a lot of women that Maddoc had slept with, but she’d assumed that they would be whores or disposable liaisons, much like the way he treated her—only interested in sex with her because she was an Omega and a princess, but this woman was a fucking highcloak. She was permanently by his side in battles, and he trusted her to bring the stolen Omega back to camp every day.
She scowled as she watched them. Maddoc was naked from the waist up and they talked to each other comfortably, as if nakedness wasn’t a problem. The woman even brushed her hand over his skin and barely looked at him, as though she had seen him naked plenty of times before.
The more she watched, the more she disliked what was happening, and emotions rose that she didn’t understand. She tried to turn away, but couldn't. She had to know what this woman was doing with her Alpha. Was she who he was with every night after he kissed her and left her?
She leaned in closer, her hands gripping the opening of the tent as the woman went around the table and rinsed a cloth in a basin nearby and then returned to place the cloth over his shoulder. Blood dripped down his arm and onto the ground, but he didn't even wince. Raine looked down at the rest of his body and murmured something, then giggled.
And that was breaking point.
All the rough, ragged feelings building in Ana took hold of her, reaching a scalding tipping point that pushed reason far from her mind. Instincts urging her forward, screaming for her to do something about this threat. And as much as Ana had not wanted to address any feelings for this Alpha, she had no choice now. She had to act.
Embracing the inner haze of fury that swept her, she stepped into the tent.