The Prince's Gift

Chapter 68.

Ehren's POV

Seeing Ana walk into the room made my stomach drop. Every time I saw her she was more beautiful than the time before. It was as if she was still transitioning into her true form.

She hesitated for a moment before sitting down next to Zane in the chair previously occupied by the Queen. I could see that she was struggling with her future. She hadn't accepted it yet, but her destiny was leading her to that very role.

Even though Zane was mated, he could very well decide to claim Ana as his Queen now that Lilith was on the run with Maddox as a traitor. Ana would never be able to truly become the rightful crowned monarch with Lilith still out there, and she could never become Zane's mate, but they could still rule side by side if they chose to.

I could see the concern and painful memory in her eyes as she met mine, and it was too much to bear. It stirred the same aching concern within me and I couldn't dwell on that right now. I had to focus on the task at hand. I forced myself to break away from that emerald green gaze that captured me so intensely.

Zane was preparing to go after Maddox and I knew he'd need my help to get to them. How could I leave on a mission that could possibly be my last if I allowed myself to be consumed by the agonizing emotions swirling within me every time I saw her or even thought of her. Now was not the time to wallow or sort through the pain. Now was the time to put one foot in front of the other until this whole mess was finished.

"We have a lock on where Maddox and Lilith were last spotted and we need a plan to get to them as quietly and safely as possible." Zane said smoothly.

Even though it had only just begun, he was holding himself well. He appeared as kingly as his father and I had to respect him for taking everything he had endured in stride. A weaker man might have crumbled after what he'd seen in the last two days.

"How do you know where they are?" One of the older councilmen asked.

I think his name was Casimir. He'd been the hand to Kyran, but now he was seemingly just another member of the council, or what was left of them.

"Thanks to Ana's vision, we know exactly where they are." He said without hesitation.

Her eyes fluttered up to meet Zane's gaze before instantly looking around the table.

"And how are we supposed to trust that?" Casimir responded, his voice holding a visible edge beneath his words.

Zane's jaw clenched slightly at the implication that Ana couldn't be trusted wholeheartedly, and I could see he was preparing to reprimand his councilman, but I knew how Ana knew. Zane had already told me about the vision and where she said they were hiding.

I interceded and responded directly to Casimir, keeping my voice smooth and even. "Because she's been there. She knows exactly what she saw, and she and I both know exactly where to go based on her vision. And that's enough for the rest of us at this table to trust without a shadow of a doubt."

I finally allowed my gaze to float across the table to see a pair of emerald eyes staring back at me. She was remembering our last time in that terrible room just as I was. Finding her the way he'd left her was something I'll never forget. As if everything else he'd put her through wasn't bad enough, that night had been so horrific for her that I was prepared to hunt him down and kill him myself right then, but she begged me not to.

She'd plead with me to do nothing. She didn't want me to leave her side. More than anything she just wanted help out of that awful place, and to forget that disgusting night. She knew if I'd killed him that we'd all be doomed with no way out. There was no way to escape with an entire King's army hunting after us and she knew we'd be going back to Zane's kingdom soon. She asked me to wait until the time was right and she and Braelyn were back in the safety of their home.