A Savage Debt (The Beholden Duet #1) - Zoey Ellis Page 0,34

a village or town as a distraction to rob a building on the other side, similar to what he did with the crowd last night. Or he created some kind of diversion to cause an entire noble family to leave their house so he could rob them twice—their household, and while they were on the road. It seemed he managed to have plans for each of the buildings he targeted because no one ever saw him when he entered, indicating he knew the staff’s routines. Everything about the way he operated suggested he had intimate knowledge of the upper nobility and potentially the royal houses too. He had never directly attacked the palace, so there was no way of knowing how acquainted he was with it or with the ruling family, but he clearly knew the rumors about Ana.

By the time dusk was approaching, Ana had built a more accurate picture of him. And regardless of what Mother said, it was somewhat frightening.

The man was a heinous criminal. His reputation preceded him, as an exceptional archer and swordsman who’d kill anyone who got in his way, or anyone who’d seen his face, which was why no one knew what he looked like. His victims included women and children of both royal and common blood. He burned down villages and towns to steal gold and other precious items held in their treasuries, and his men used the destruction to rape women and steal boys of fifteen and up who would become part of their “fellowship,” twisting their minds by promising them riches and women.

It was reported that he had thousands of men in his guild—not all of them were known, and some hid in plain sight as men of respectable stature. Apart from the children, he also recruited from those made nameless from failing to pay taxes on their land or those who were outright criminals. Most of the men wore masks when taking part in his criminal activities, but some of them didn’t. As such, there were a number of sketches in the files, but never a sketch of the man himself. It was suggested in one document that he had spies in either the royal assembly or the royal court, which made him a powerful threat. But the notion had been discarded after further analysis.

Ana tried to objectively analyze what she read, but it was difficult. Maddoc was the most destructive man in Allandis, and what stood out to her the most was his utter lack of concern for civilized life. He didn’t care who he hurt in his crusade. Everything he did was for his own gain, and he took pleasure in hurting innocent commoners in the process. It was sickening, and she detested that she’d had him inside her.

She remained confused about his approach to the Royal Promise; it didn’t make sense he used it for sex with her when he could have taken more direct steps to tear down the kingdom. He could have acquired much with that promise; a pardon, land, gold, anything of significant value to the traditions and history of the royals. Something wasn’t right about his request for her, but she couldn’t figure it out.

Thoughts whirled in her mind as she prepared for dusk, bathing and braiding her hair, and dressing in another elaborate gown.

By the time the guards collected her, she had decided on the second thing she would withhold; her anger. Maddoc was the only person who had managed to somehow burrow down deep into her being, skipping all of her careful training, and made her react instinctively, even sometimes causing her to bypass sensible thinking. It had to be because he was an Alpha. She didn’t like it. Maybe that was his plan?

One thing Maddoc had been right about was that she wasn’t a child anymore, and she needed to act like it. Although the legal age of adulthood in Allandis was eighteen, many didn’t assert themselves as adults until twenty-two. Ridiculous as it was, Allandis mythology had always revered double numbers, and twenty-two was when most people married, bought land, and asserted themselves to confirm their status as an adult. Ana was twenty-two in three weeks—the day before her wedding, but she wasn’t a child. She should be doing whatever she could in this situation to help not only her parents, but the kingdom as well. It was her duty.

So as she walked down the empty corridors of the palace, she affirmed her decisions; no purring, no emotional