though she wasn’t the only Omega in the kingdom, she was expected to set the standard in everything she did since her family was currently the ruling royalty. She’d met only two other Omegas born to two of the royal houses when they joined her lessons on the Omega dynamic. It had been nice to meet other girls her age who were also considered unique, but she hadn’t seen them again. As Milly explained in her lessons after, neither of them were truly in her position, since she was the only Omega who was part of the ruling family. And that made her more important.
“Then we break the Royal Promise?” a woman said from the other side of the hall; it looked like she sat with House Villemore. “Is that what you’re suggesting? Do you know what kind of problem that would cause for us?”
“Tell me,” the king said, but the tone in his voice suggested he was well aware.
The woman rose to her feet. Ana tried to remember her name as she spoke—she had studied all the royal houses and members of the families within them, but this woman didn’t speak often at court events. “The commoners do not think of Maddoc as we do,” she began. “Some of them agree with his intentions, even if they don’t agree with his actions. If they know he saved your life and you didn’t honor the Royal Promise, it will destroy their belief in the crown.”
“So we let him fuck his way around the royal family to appease them?” Aldous shot out sharply. “Is that what you are saying? Who will he ask for next? My daughter? Yours? The quee—”
“May I ask that my daughter be excused before we continue to discuss this any further,” the queen said stiffly, rising to her feet.
Ana’s face burned hotter at the various expressions that turned her way; pity, curiosity, indifference, muted glee… She rejected all of them. All she wanted to know was if her father was going to allow it. She stopped fidgeting and sat up straighter.
The duke nodded, his eyebrows raised as he looked at Ana “Of c-course, m-my apologies, Princess Ana.”
Ana forced herself not to shrink into her chair and inclined her head. “No need to apologize, Aldous. I have no intention of leaving.”
The queen shot her a look. “Ana, it is not appropriate for you to be here while we discuss—”
“My virginity?” she interrupted. “I am the only person here who is appropriate to discuss it, Your Majesty.”
“Ana,” her mother said sharply, the warning imbued in her tone and the flash of her eyes made Ana even more resolute to stay. But then the king spoke.
“Wait in your chambers, Ana,” he rumbled. “You will be addressed separately.”
Ana wanted to scream at him, to demand that he tell her she would not be given up, but the sudden tears that threatened clogged her throat. They were going to make this decision about her and she didn’t even have a say. The injustice of it was too much, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to speak without sobbing. So she pressed her lips together and rose, avoiding everyone’s eyes as she made her way out of the hall.
3
Ana paced in her bedroom, waiting for her father to come and speak to her. Hours had passed but she hadn’t undressed since the court assembly. Milly had arrived to assist her, but Ana sent her away. She’d tried hard to ignore the looks of pity she’d seen on her way back to her quarters—everyone was clearly talking about the hearing, and although Milly didn’t act differently, she would have heard it all. It had been drilled into Ana that royalty didn’t bow to scrutiny or pressure. The monarch had to be dependable and unflinching in times of distress. So she held her chin up and avoided as much eye contact as possible in the corridors, but in the privacy of her own quarters, she didn’t want to pretend.
Her mind replayed everything said at the hearing, thinking through all possible arguments and options that would save her from the outlaw. She’d studied a wide range of topics, even the modern history of Allandis, and read almost every book in the royal library, which was the most extensive in the kingdom. Ana spent as much time there as she could, sometimes to research for her studies, other times, like this morning, it was for the pure pleasure of reading and getting lost in the excitement