His eyes flashed with frustration. “When I tried, he killed my family. My friends, my tutors…” He gestured at Naari. “She knows; they all know. I let him poison me, so he won’t kill their children. But I never knew it would go on for so long.”
His eyes were wells of dark despair. I lifted my hand and stroked the side of his face, and he closed them, relaxing into my touch.
I felt like I would do anything to make this man smile. To give him back his life. How could this be the first day we had met? Everything about him felt right, inevitable.
“Altair, your uncle has no idea who he’s invited into his home. We will kill him for you, and then you will be free to rule, or hold an election, or whatever you decide.”
I could tell he didn’t believe me, but his hand came up, cupping mine. “Please. Don’t stop.” Continuing to stroke his face and hair was no hardship. We both ignored the honeyed scent of orange blossoms that bloomed around us, and I kept petting him, giving him the human touch he had been denied, until his water turned cold.
I stood to leave when Naari approached to help him from the bath. He promised to act as if he were sleeping when the guards came to check on him, and Naari agreed to bring him more food in secret. I left some of the anti-sedative powder for his water, and the charcoal, after I instructed him on when to take it—not with food or the other medicine, as it would soak up the cure as well as the poison.
By the time I went to find Thorn and tell him what we needed to do, I found myself almost smiling. Finally, I could use the skills I had learned. I could help right a great wrong, free a people who were being kept imprisoned by an evil man. It was the whole reason I’d trained in the Guild, my deepest desire: to be more than a useless Omega. To be a protector, to overthrow abusive men in power.
It felt like I was striking back at Milian.
I followed Naari’s secret path to the main palace building, carefully sliding in the shadows down the hallways to the wing that held the guest bedrooms. I decided to go to Thorn’s room first, then slip back into mine. None of the guards noticed me, though there seemed to be fewer of them at their stations than usual. I found myself relaxing as I rounded the last corner to our hall, only a few paces from my goal.
But when I turned the corner, I saw his room was empty, the door listing wide, half off its hinges. My heart pounded, and I held my breath, listening and looking for clues.
Just down the hall, my bedroom door was open as well. Shit. Time to run.
But before I could take a step, the regent, along with a dozen guards, stepped out of my room. I also heard the metallic clank of guards behind me.
“Where have you been, Omega?” Gullen hissed, shaking a piece of cloth I recognized instantly.
It was Thorn’s cloak, stained with blood from the collar to the hem.
ROYA
“What have you done?” I gasped as the regent gloated, his dark, beady eyes glimmering with a sick delight, his fingers rubbing the blood into the fabric of Thorn’s cloak. My hands itched to grasp my knives, but I waited. I needed more information, and me against twelve guards and Gullen was a bit much.
“It seems youruncleis a rather famous man, Roya. Did you know that?” His smile was an uncoiling snake as he approached in the darkened hall. “Such a nondescript fellow, so innocuous looking, but in truth a rather famous assassin. Unlike your suitor, who does seem to be the fool he portrays—he ate and drank so much of tonight’s meal, I was concerned he might die from an overdose.”
“An overdose?” What had happened at dinner? I forced my eyes to stay vacant, hoping he hadn’t seen through my act. “Do you mean he got drunk? I hear if drunk people eat bread, it can soak up the wine.”
“Ah, he’s sleeping it off.” Gullen tilted his head. “In one of our nicer pits.” That didn’t sound good. Pits on an island would mean salt water and tidal currents. But at least Kavin was alive.
Judging by the blood on Thorn’s cloak, I wasn’t certain he could say the same. “What did you do with… with Thorn?”
“No question about what we plan to do with you, Roya ta Milian?” He squinted like he was trying to see something hidden. “Who is Thorn to you, really?”
I had no idea how much he knew. He knew my name, so he might have learned my whole story. The tale of King Milian’s captive broken Omegas was well-known, but I wasn’t certain if he’d heard of the one Omega who’d been spirited away to join the Guild.
“He rescued us all from King Milian,” I said, forcing my eyes to well with tears. “So we thought he was a good man. He… he made me stay with him. He said he needed a servant. He wanted an Omega of his own.”
“What do you do for him?” The lust in his gaze made my skin feel dirty. “Did you service him?”
I fought back a snarl. “I’m an Omega, my lord. You must know Omegas can’t be forced in that way.”
His leer intensified. “Ah, what a delightful girl! There’s so much that can be done with an Omega that doesn’t require her to accept a man.” He licked his lips, his thick red tongue leaving a trail of saliva that made his mouth glisten. “Now answer me, what did you do?”
“I cooked for him, my lord.” I sniffled, praying this worked. “Mostly cooked and cleaned, and pretended I was his niece when he needed to seem respectable.” I shuddered slightly. “He was taking me to Mirren on a spy mission, I think, when we met Kavin. Kavin’s so sweet, don’t you think? He would never hurt me, not like….” I sniffled again.
“Come into my study, child,” the regent said, and when I let out a whimper, he lifted an eyebrow. “I won’t hurt you. I only need to hear more about this Thorn.”
“Of course. I’m so glad I can finally tell someone what a monster he is.” I followed him, guards flanking me on both sides until we reached his study, paying attention to everything I saw. I learned in training that one small detail could kill you, or save you.
The regent sat me in a chair before his desk, and hammered me with questions about Thorn’s missions, his skills, and what we had done for the past six years. I made up ridiculous stories about formal meals he had required me to prepare and made certain Gullen saw me as the vapid miss I had played thus far.
