A Savage Debt (The Beholden Duet #1) - Zoey Ellis Page 0,30

the water. But don’t touch anything else in there.”

Ana nodded, but remembered when he was eating. “When he first went over to the table, he did something strange.”

“Like what?” the king asked.

“He took something out of his pocket and held it over the food. He did it before he ate anything, and then he ate like he was starved.”

“Did you see what he held?” the queen asked.

“No. It was something small that fit in the palm of his hand. He put it back into his pocket after—I didn’t see what it was.”

“Did you check his pockets.”

Ana stared at her mother. “No.”

“Did you have a chance to?”

Ana opened her mouth to say no, but remembered that she left the bed to drink water while he slept; she could have checked his pockets then.

“Oh Ana,” her mother said, annoyed.

“Atara,” the king murmured, placing a hand on the queen’s shoulder to calm her. To Ana he said, “Next time see if you can catch a glimpse of what he used. It would really help us.”

Ana nodded. “I will try, Father, but he is not an easy person to monitor. He does whatever he likes, and he is very… distracting. He doesn’t leave me alone in there….” Her voice petered out. She couldn’t say anything more, not her parents. “It’s difficult for me to talk about it.”

Her mother’s eyes softened. “You are safe now, Ana.” She leaned forward to squeeze her hand. “I know it would have been difficult—we can talk about what you experienced later after you’ve rested so I can explain things to you or help you to understand.”

“I’d prefer not to talk about it,” Ana said. There was no benefit to her talking about her shame or being uncontrollably emotional in front of her parents. It was understood that overly emotional displays did not fit with the expectations they had of her, and she wasn’t willing to disappoint just yet. With this situation, she couldn’t ignore or bottle up her feelings completely, but she didn’t want to do it in front of anyone, least of all them.

“I know, Ana,” the queen said. “But later we will send in a medic to examine you and make sure you are healthy. You are not permitted to refuse him entry.”

Ana said nothing. She just wanted to be left alone. “Where is Maddoc now?”

After a moment of silence both of them readied to leave.

“There are only two more nights, Ana,” the king said, drawing her into another hug. “It won’t last much longer.”

Two nights felt like it would be an eternity, but there was no point in saying that to Father. It’s not like he was the one who had to suffer it, so she just nodded and smiled. Both of them fussed over her a little more with words of encouragement, and then left.

It was impossible to sleep. Not only did it feel unnatural to be in bed while the sun streamed in through her window, but the more Ana tried, the more her time with Maddoc revolved in her mind. When Mother and Father questioned her, the memories had already started to blur together—she’d spent all that time after Maddoc left trying to force herself to forget them—yet when she lay down to sleep, her mind crammed them back into her awareness.

It was extremely likely that nothing Maddoc said during his time with her was true. He was known to be a liar and to manipulate situations to his benefit—exactly what he was doing now. But there was something about what he said that struck her. Something about the library.

As the hours passed, and the day stretched into midmorning, Ana knew she was not going to sleep.

Dressing in a simple gown, and fixing herself modestly, she headed to the royal library, surrounded by her guards and the extra king’s guard that were part of her regular protection now.

One of the reasons she’d been reluctant to leave the library when Milly came to collect her the day before was because it was typically cleared for her to use privately for her studies. The king and queen preferred that she have complete privacy whenever she was in the library, since they knew she loved reading, but it wasn’t always possible to clear the library for her and it only usually happened two or three times a month. This time she didn’t care, she just wanted to sink into the familiarity of her favorite place in the palace.

When she arrived, her guards insisted on clearing the