always looked calm and mild-mannered, even when she wasn’t. That was something Ana had always admired about her, which was also the reason she was able to fool her.
“There is a story in there about a woman called Atara from another kingdom,” she began. “A kingdom that had no system of arranged marriages.”
Her mother turned paler than normal. “In the library?”
“Yes,” Ana said nodding. “And it details how she met an Alpha from Allandis, and then traveled here and inserted herself into a royal house so that she could marry him.”
The queen rose from her seat and paced across the floor, her composure gone.
“Is it you?” Ana asked, evenly.
“No,” her mother breathed, distracted by her thoughts, her hand on her forehead as she came to a stop by the bed.
Ana looked at her closely, and it was clear she was disturbed. She was pale and slightly sweaty, and the hand on her forehead shook.
“I need you to find me that book and bring it to me,” her mother said after a moment.
“No,” Ana said simply. She rose from her seat. “When you stop lying to me, I’ll give it to you.”
“Ana.” The anguish in her mother’s voice tore at her resolve, but she was too angry she’d been lied to, even now. “Please understand,” her mother said. “There is more going on here—”
“You said that before!” Ana shouted in annoyance. “There is always more going on than me just getting the answers I want. I’m not a child anymore, Mother!”
“All right,” her mother said, sighing heavily. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand, and then sat back down next Ana. “It’s not my story,” she began. “But it is my great, great grandmother’s story. She came from another kingdom after having met her fated mate who was from here. As far as I know, she did not bribe her way into being paired with him; she joined one of the houses, and then submitted herself to the pairing process to see if it would work, and it did. It paired her with the Alpha she had fallen for. It was proof that the arranged marriage process works. I don’t know if she bribed her way to be with him, but that’s not the way I heard it.”
“Which house did she join?”
“Redcrest,” her mother said. “We have had a long-standing history of allegiance with Redcrest.”
“Why would they accept a random Omega from a far-away kingdom?”
“Why wouldn’t they?” her mother shrugged. “She was an Omega princess who could give them access to the crown.”
Ana nodded. Everything was always about the crown. “Why did you lie to me about stories about Alphas and Omegas. Is it because of this? Do you think people wouldn’t understand about your grandmother being from another kingdom?”
“No, it’s not because of this, although this could potentially ruin us as well. My grandmother would have been heavily influenced to specifically seek out Redcrest to join, probably by her Alpha. It was done secretly without any of the other houses having the option to persuade her to join them, which gave Redcrest a significant advantage. That kind of discrepancy, if discovered, could throw our whole claim to the crown into question. The other houses would not take too kindly to that kind of deception.” She paused. “Is this something that Maddoc told you about? Is this his plan?”
Ana shook her head. “No, he didn’t tell me about your grandmother’s story. He didn’t tell me why he was doing this, Mother. He keeps implying that I must find things out for myself. I don’t think this story has anything to do with him, but it is making me aware that I have been lied to, and I want to know why.”
“I’m sorry about lying, but it was for a good reason.” Her mother’s brows came together slowly, as her whole face changed to one of sorrow. “And I cannot tell you, Ana.”
Ana blinked, staring at her in disbelief. “What? Why not?”
“It’s for your own good,” Amara explained. “To help you have a happy and long life.”
“How can I be happy if I know I’m being deceived?” Ana said sharply.
“You were never supposed to question any of this,” her mother said, tears glistening in her eyes. “But even though you are, it is better you know you are being deceived into action than knowing the truth.”
A nervousness crept into Ana. How could anything be that bad? She huffed out a breath, shaking her head in disbelief