The silence that followed Bartholomew's words was heavy and Ann sat very still, her fingers drumming lightly against the arm of her chair mulling over everything that Bartholomew had learned until finally, she exhaled and broke the silence.
"So let me get this straight," she said slowly. "Greyson was torn away from his mother as a child and you allowed him to grow up believing that she'd died in the wilderness. And all this time..." she gestured toward the glowing file on the screen "...she's been tucked away in some little human village with his brother, alive and well?"
Bartholomew didn't flinch.
"Yes."
Ann's eyes narrowed.
"And he still has no idea?"
"No," Bartholomew admitted. "Even when he hit adulthood and shifted for the first time…he was never told."
"That's a dangerous secret to sit on," Adam answered as his eyes narrowed in disapproval.
Bartholomew's face was calm, but his hands tightened against his knees.
"It really was the only way to keep them all safe. If Greyson had known, if he'd tried to visit, he would have led the assassins straight to their door, trailing the scent of wolves from the Enclave behind him every time. Even a slip of the tongue in the barracks...or to his friends…any of it could have given them away. I wasn't willing to take that chance."
Ann shook her head in disbelief as a sharp sound escaped her throat.
"So he thinks he's alone. He thinks the only family that he cared about was destroyed by his father's rage. Do you have any idea what that does to someone?"
"Of course I do," Bartholomew said sharply, then softened his tone. "I saw it in him every day. But a living mother and brother mean nothing if they're butchered because he couldn't hold his tongue at twelve years old. He hated the king enough already. Imagine if he'd known they were alive. He would have marched into the court himself just to seek revenge and ensure their safety before he was ever ready. At least this way he spent his years training, content to bide his time until the right opportunity presented itself."
"He still might retaliate," Maeve muttered. "Especially when LExi finds all this out. The whole situation will most definitely go nuclear...that's without even taking into account anything that might happen between him and his estranged family while he's stuck in Brad's pack."
Ann chewed her lip for a moment as she weighed the scenarios in her head.
"What about now?" She said carefully, "He's not twelve anymore. He's grown, trained harder than most and has given us his trust, even more so as Lexi's mate. Wouldn't it be worse for him to learn later that everyone he trusted kept this from him?"
Bartholomew's jaw tightened.
"I weighed that risk too and perhaps I miscalculated but until I was certain that he could think like a disciplined soldier and not just a vengeful son, I thought that the truth would have destroyed more than it saved."
Adam leaned forward, his voice low.
"You've built his life on a lie though. If he finds out from someone else, from anyone but you, he won't just feel betrayed. He'll decide which side of the lie he prefers, and you might not like the answer."
Bartholomew sighed as he met his eyes.
"I am aware of this, but I trust that he will make the right decision. He always does." He finished with a faint smile.
Ann's fingers stilled. She glanced between them, her mind moving fast.
"You do realise that any of this information could be used against him even now...against us if any of it is discovered. It didn't take long for us to break the wall of silence as soon as we had stumbled upon some inconsistencies."
"The secrets have held for this many years, my Queen. I don't see why now…"
Ann exhaled in frustration.
"I'm surprised that you don't see Bartholomew," she hissed in frustration, "How can you be sure that people don't already know and just haven't chosen to move on the information yet? This court has been compromised for decades, by dark witches led by a Daemon Lord…do you really think that there is zero possibility none of this has been discovered?!"
She could feel her anger rising on Greysons behalf and also at the major flaw that Bartholomew had failed to take into consideration, especially considering the events since she had ascended the throne.
Sure, nobody knew about the issues at court when this was happening but it didn't change the possibilities of problems that existed now.
"Whether you like it or not, all of our lives are tangled up in this. You made that choice when you hid them in an Enclave safehouse under the protection of the Crown itself. How you could ever think that even in the future there wouldn't be consequences to face baffles me. Now, I need to think seriously about whether or not Greyson is going to see this as a betrayal too deep to forgive when he finds out, or if it will cement his relationship as a close ally."
Adam gave her a wary look. "Ann..."
"No," she cut him off. "Think about it. If things go south, which they undoubtedly will, we're asking him to stand against the remnants of a Lycan court that still bows to his father's legacy. To do that, he needs more than anger and a desire for revenge. He needs roots in a place that he can return to and solid proof that not everything he lost is gone forever."
"Even with Lexi and Allen, it could go one of two ways. It could steady him or it could make him reckless. It would be better to know sooner rather than later." Adam nodded thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Ann agreed. Her eyes settled back on Bartholomew. "So, When were you planning on telling him?"
Bartholomew's mouth pressed into a thin line.
"When I thought he was ready."
"And you still don't think he is?"
Bartholomew hesitated, then shook his head.
"He has the strength, yes. The discipline too. But the anger… that fire is still there. And once he knows, he will want to see them. He will want to protect them and if that leads him to break his cover, then everything I built to keep them alive unravels."
Ann leaned back slowly, her expression unreadable.
"Then it looks like the decision is out of your hands now."
Bartholomew's eyes snapped to hers.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Ann said calmly, "if Greyson is going to continue to be part of my future plans, I won't have him kept in the dark about his own blood. The truth is going to come out, Bartholomew. The only choice left is whether he hears it from you...or from me."