by Zoey Ellis
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 cou
rt, 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 extremel
y 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?"