A Tainted Claim (Beholden Duet Book 2)

by Zoey Ellis

  She exhaled, the weight of the revelation pressing heavily on her. This was… She thought for a moment. Obvious. It was obvious when looking at the facts. She’d never been attracted to Ryden, not once. The only difference between her and Maddoc and the Alpha and Omega couples from the books were that they were not fated to be together. What went so wrong with her? Could something have gone wrong with her pairing that led her to an Alpha who wasn’t hers? Mother had been so insistent, so had Father. In fact, everyone had.

  “I should go,” Raine said, interrupting her thoughts. “I just wanted to say welcome. It’s so nice to have an Omega here.”

  Ana straightened, something clicking into place. She looked over Raine again. Petite, shapely, and pretty. “Do you mean… nice to have another Omega here?”

  Raine’s eyes widened. “I told you your instincts were great!”

  Ana laughed, but she upturned her palms in surprise. “But you don’t have an Omega scent?”

  Raine lifted her left wrist to show her a thin bracelet secured to it. “This prevents it,” she said. “But you guessed it from that night. I don’t know how.”

  “I don’t know how, either,” Ana admitted. “It was very… I never really thought about it when it was happening, and it came over me so quickly.”

  “It could have been heightened from your arousal or attraction and connection to Maddoc,” Raine explained. “Especially if you hadn’t been together much.”

  Ana squinted at her. “You know about Alphas and Omegas?”

  “I’ve been trying to learn,” she admitted. “But there isn’t anyone I can talk to about it who understands. That’s why I was hoping we could be friends.”

  Ana smiled at her. “Of course we can.”

  Raine let out a heavy breath of relief and finally pushed herself off the wall. “Good,” she breathed. “I have been in some scary fights in my life as a highcloak, but I’ve never been as scared as when you came into that tent. Your scent was…”

  Ana laughed with her, though a little awkwardly. “I’m sorry about that, it really was not intentional.”

  “That’s all right. I suppose you are still learning how to deal with your attraction and assessing all threats. There are bound to be some hiccups. It’s the same with training.”

  “So you are a highcloak and an Omega? I’m surprised Maddoc allowed it.”

  “I didn’t let him tell me what to do,” Raine said firmly. “I won’t let anyone fight on my behalf when I can help. Some women are best at supporting by being back at base. But not me. I cannot twiddle my fingers when I’m best on the field. It took a long time for Maddoc to learn that, but he finally did.”

  There was so much Ana wanted to ask, but as soon as she yawned, Raine took her leave.

  “We have plenty of time to talk another day,” Raine insisted.

  Ana smiled and wished her a good night before climbing into bed, wrestling with a number of thoughts, but too tired to make any more connections.

  The next morning, as she left the library, three highcloaks hurried past her with a sense of urgency, heading to the exit.

  "Raine," Ana called. "What’s happened?"

  "We're going back to Allandis," Raine said.

  The way she said it, Ana knew something was wrong. "Why?"

  "Stay here and wait for us to return, Your Majesty."

  "What has happened, Raine?"

  When Raine stopped in the corridor and hesitated, Ana demanded. “Tell me!”

  "It's Maddoc," Raine said. "He was working to bring all the people from our guild here, the ones who are part of our guild who are still in the mainland, but he’s missing. It is suspected he was caught.”

  Ana gasped. “By who?”

  Raine pressed her lips together. “The current king.” She clenched her fist in frustration. “Maddoc never would have allowed himself to get into that situation, unless he was injured. His shoulder must have worsened."

  "What do you mean, getting worse?” Ana asked, alarmed. “You said you didn’t treat him, but I thought it wasn’t that serious?"

  “No, the wound in his shoulder was poisoned, Your Majesty. He needed further treatment."

  “Poison?” Panic gripped Ana, and she forced herself to remember what Maddoc’s words. "The healer was going to treat him. A Moonvale healer."

  Raine shook her head, almost apologetically. "No, your Majesty. Our healer is with your father. Maddoc sent her to him the day he was shot. He is recovering, but it is a very slow process. She can only use a small amount of magic at a time to treat such a delicate wound. Maddoc knew she would be with him for weeks."

  Ana stepped back as if she'd been struck. All this time she’d been accusing Maddoc of killing her father and he never mentioned that he was alive or that he sent his healer to treat him. Why didn’t he say anything? A niggling thought at the back of her mind prodded her.

  “Raine, what is taking so long.” Griff strode down the corridor toward them, stopping behind Raine. “Apologies, Your Majesty, but we need to go, now.”

  “I’m coming with you," Ana said firmly.

  Both Raine and Griff immediately said no.

  "You must stay here," Griff said. "We will be back as soon as we can. There is nothing to worry about."

  "If Maddoc has been captured, there is plenty to worry about," she snapped back.

  Griff shot Raine a stern look.

  "Don't blame her," Ana said. "I made her tell me. I want to know what is happening. You’ve brought me to this very strange, very different place and I've been here practically on my own when Maddoc said that he would be coming. If he is in danger, I want to help. I want to be there anyway I can."

  "It will be extremely dangerous back in Allandis," Griff warned, "especially if Maddoc has been caught. Everyone will be searching for you, and if they get you, they will seek to use you to gain access to the throne, or to threaten it. It's too much of a risk."

  "Not to mention that Maddoc will murder us for putting you back in danger," Raine added.

  Griff looked at her, his brows raising slightly as he considered what she said. "I'm sure you know that is not an exaggeration," he said to Ana. "If you recall, the last highcloak that disobeyed his orders regarding you was shot in the leg with an arrow."

  Ana clenched her fists, scowling in frustration, but Griff was firm.

  "The best thing you can do is wait here,” Raine said gently. “Knowing you’re here, will give him more reason to fight to come back.”

  Ana almost growled at her. Wasn’t she the one that said she didn't like sitting behind twiddling her thumbs while others risked their lives? Granted, Ana didn’t have training, but she had knowledge of royal court.

  "And you are not alone here, Your Majesty," Griff said. "All the families that were at Moonvale are living in the city nearby. Camp sixteen in particular has been asking to visit you, but I thought you may want some time on your own to get to know your palace and recover from what you've been through."

  "The families are all here?"

  Griff nodded.

  "Did the assembly find Moonvale?"

  "Not yet."

  Ana sighed. "All right. How can I help with the families who are arriving? Are they all arriving at the beach?"

  "Yes," Griff said. "They are coming from different parts of Allandis, but they will all end up at the same beach. They would be thrilled if you would greet them at their arrival. I will ask some guards to escort you."

  Ana nodded. "Thank you."

  Raine stepped forward and grasped Ana's arm. "We will find him," she promised. "And we will bring him back."

  "Nothing can keep him from you, Princess," Griff said. "I have witnessed that myself."

  Ana escorted them to the palace entrance, and watched them as they headed toward the beach, a calm acceptance coming over her.

  She knew what she had to do.

  After changing into one of the dresses in her wardrobe, she called for Milly and her handmaids to do her hair, then asked
the guards to meet her at the front entrance for her visit to the beach.

  However, she slipped out of the side door and headed down the gardens toward the beach alone.

  Unfortunately, she didn't know how to create the raft. That was pure magic and not something she understood. Maddoc hadn’t used any spell or items unique to him. As she walked along the beach, wondering where to find the magic sand, she suddenly realized it was all around her. Picking up a handful, she held her fist over the water and spread it out into the water the way she’d seen Maddoc do, and to her utter surprise and delight, rippling gold waves began to form on the surface, turning into a raft.

  She climbed on tentatively, unsure how to direct it where to go. "Please take me to Maddoc," she whispered.

  The raft began moving, speeding away from the beach, smooth and calm, and Ana sat down in relief. She hoped she ended up in Allandis and not somewhere else. She turned to look at the palace she was leaving, the new home that Maddoc had tried to create for her. But it wasn't a home yet. Nothing was a home without the people she cared for; she needed to be comfortable in order to embrace it.

  Maddoc was a much more complicated man than she’d initially thought. Stubborn and irrational, he insisted on having his way, on having her, but he’d held onto information just like everyone else. She couldn't allow Maddoc to suffer for trying to help the people she was supposed to protect, the people her father was supposed to protect, and some answers she needed, only he could give. There was so much Maddoc hadn’t said and so much she still didn't know. What was he hiding and why?

  There were also some hard questions for her father and mother, including why she was so sheltered from the truth about the royal assembly and why she was deeply attracted to a man who wasn't her fated mate.

  She turned to stare at the direction that she was going, and a fierce determination gripped her. She wouldn’t stop until she got the answers she needed. It was time for her to grow up.

  Within half an hour, the raft slowed at a lake near the honey marshlands, close to the palace. She climbed off and watched it melt back into sand, floating on top of the waves. On instinct she crouched and dipped her hand in the water to see if she could preserve any. The sand converged to the center of her palm, and when she lifted her hand out of the water the sand was dry. She grinned. So that was how they did it. Pouring the sand into a small pouch attached to her dress, she hid it among her skirts, then marched to the nearest town.

  A royal sentry on the outskirts of the town stared at her as she approached, his mouth dropped open. “Princess Ana?”

  "Yes," she said firmly. "Take me to the palace."

  10

  MADDOC

  Maddoc held still as he leaned against the wall in a tiny closed-off corridor between the kitchens and the storerooms in the palace.

  The pain in his shoulder had been getting worse, aching so badly he couldn’t sleep. The previous day the pain started thudding through his body, and that was a bad sign. He had no choice but to continue on; his healer wasn’t available and he couldn’t risk anyone reporting where he was to the royal assembly.

  It had been much easier to navigate the kingdom when no one knew what he looked like. Since his appearance in court to claim the Royal Promise, and his subsequent public visits to the castle, he was too easily identifiable. He couldn’t risk traveling for too long out in the open or going to any of the healers who might have helped him when his healer was unavailable—just in case they reported him. Luckily, all the secret passages and spaces of the palace were still available to him and that was what he needed right now, even at the expense of cutting all communication with his highcloaks.

  He had spent the last few days locating all the remaining members of his guild who hid in plain sight and helped him around Allandis. Some of them had already suffered, and a few had died, but that just drove him to push harder to get them all out.

  The days he spent showing Ana who the houses truly were, other members of his guild worked to protect the ones suspected of being sympathetic to him and his cause. That was where the real danger was, because the royal assembly were doing whatever they could to force people to talk.

  And it wasn’t people like his highcloaks, who had the training to withstand interrogation. The people who helped him were just normal commoners, trying to live their lives peacefully and avoid being targeted by the assembly. They were usually grateful for Maddoc’s interference with the royal houses’ actions, having seen or experienced their devastation firsthand. Some of them were people he’d helped get back into society, some felt compelled to to join after seeing him step in. Others just didn’t like the power the houses had and how they used it.

  Regardless of their reasons, all of them had been loyal to him over the years and now they were dying, or having to watch their families and friends die if they didn’t give up their knowledge about Maddoc and his highcloaks. He couldn’t blame them. Allandis had a delicate balance, and his attack on the king had upset it. Some of those targeted weren’t even his supporters, but got punished anyway—applying intense pressure to everyone was how the assembly finally managed to find out where Moonvale was. They were closing in.

  Since the families had moved home, it had been quiet at the base. Memories lingered of the people he’d met, the families who’d grown and expanded, and everything that growth signified. It was the end of a long period of time in his life, and now he could move on. With Analisa.

  Footsteps clunked past, only pausing when two sharp raps sounded against the wall. That was his signal. The last family he’d been looking for were in the palace prison, like he suspected.

  Maddoc shuffled along the corridor, trying to determine the best way to get to the prisons without alerting the king's guard. In his current condition, he could possibly handle two or three of them, but with his injury, any combat was a risk. It was a struggle to even use a bow and arrow.

  When he reached the end of the corridor, he pulled himself up into the overhead panel in the ceiling and crawled along the space to get to the other end of the palace.

  His size and weight slowed him down. He couldn’t risk alerting anyone to his presence, realizing there was someone above who could see and hear what they said and did.

  It was when he was crawling over the entrance hall that he heard a voice that made him go cold.

  “I want to see Duke Ryden immediately.”

  Analisa. Maddoc froze. What the fuck was she doing in the palace? She shouldn’t even be back on Allandis mainland! Shifting himself so he could look through the panel, Maddoc’s annoyance spiraled. Maybe what he’d said to her hadn’t sunk in. Maybe she thought it would be easier to challenge the crown from the inside? But either way it meant that she had left the protection of their home. Fury gripped him hard, but he couldn’t do or say anything from where he was. If Ana was back in the clutches of the palace and the Royal Court, it would be hell trying to get her out again.

  But he would do it. He didn’t care how often he had to try or how long it took; Analisa would be with him. And this time, he would take the opportunity to kill that fucking Duke.

  Overhead, he followed Ana as she went to the throne room where Ryden sat. Maddoc navigated to his normal space behind the lattice wall at the very top of the room, watching from his obscured view as Ana approached. As usual, she looked stunning. He grit his teeth hard, annoyed that she was wearing one of the dresses he had provided, and she’d styled her hair in the typical elaborate way of the court. The last few nights had been almost impossible without her, but he’d been looking forward to going home to her.

  “Ana.” Ryden had the decency to at least sound relieved. “We have been so worried about you, being captured by that savage, yet again. I’m so sorry I didn’t take your warning seriously. But no one could have guessed what he was going to do at the wedding, nor what he did to your father.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Who? Your father? He is in his chambers.”

  “I me
an Maddoc.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Ryden,” Ana snapped. “Where is Maddoc.”

  Ryden was silent for a moment. “We have spoken before about your tone with me, Ana.”

  Maddoc tensed. He couldn’t wait to kill this bastard.

  “Those rules are not for me,” Ana said. “They are for your Omega.”

  Ryden shifted in his chair. “You are my Omega or have you forgotten that? Has he fucked you so hard that you’ve lost sight of who you are?”

  “Actually, yes,” Ana said, a smirk in her voice. “But that is not my point.”

  Maddoc’s brow rose. Did Ana just admit enjoying fucking him to the duke?

  “We have been lied to, Ryden. We are not fated mates.”

  Maddoc gripped the wall, his muscle tensing as pleasure, satisfaction, and relief bounded through him. She knew. She finally knew.

  “What do you mean?” Ryden asked evenly. “We have been betrothed for years.”

  “But we do not have the attraction that fated mates should have.”

  Ryden was still in his chair for a moment and then leaned forward. “You are not exactly the most experienced woman, Ana. How do you know?”

  “Because nothing and no one else should feel more powerful or as intense,” Ana said. “I may not be very experienced, but you are. When you were with me, when you kissed me, did it feel that way to you?”

  “I’m not sure how I see that that matters at this current time,” Ryden said curtly.

  Ana peered at him. “What?”

  “What difference does it make?” Ryden stressed. “I enjoy sex, you clearly enjoy sex, it makes no difference if we are fated or not. That’s just an added bonus to help couples rule equally.”

  “So you don’t care about it?” she asked, puzzled amazement in her voice.

  Ryden leaned forward. “I don’t care about ruling equally, Ana. I never have. Your parents did a good job. They raised you to be gullible and ignorant and reliant on myths and legends about Alphas and Omegas so you would be bendable to my will—they made it easy for me.”