I knew Talia would never have wanted me to relent.
Of course, as the thought flicked through my mind, he knew it, too.
Ah, perhaps one of the younger ones.Inexplicably, the sound of a baby screaming filled the maw. I knew they were kept farther away, in a protected part of the island, but he could have one of them here in minutes.
No!I cried out in my mind.Not the babies.
Then speak for me. Bring my bride to me.
I didn’t weep as he broke me. It was too dry for tears, and I’d learned long before that Edan loved the taste of them almost as much as the sacrifice of one of the Omegas bred for that purpose.
“Rada.” I poured all my regret and desperation into that word before he took over, striking a bargain across an ocean, and a continent.
Calling her to him.
ALEXIOS
Desperation had an odor stronger than horseshit, and I was covered in it.
Not the shit—not yet, anyway. But I was only a few paces away from steaming piles of that and already hip-deep in desperation.
“Just one horse then,” I begged the barrel-chested stable hand, whose hairy nostrils flared as he stared at me. “Even a pony will do. How much would you charge for a pony?” I glanced desperately around the stable again, specifically at the dappled gray pony in the back stall. It was swaybacked and gray-whiskered, and if it hadn’t moved its tail to sweep away a fly, I might’ve thought it was dead. But it was the only mount left, besides an enormous coal-black warhorse standing by the back gate, obviously belonging to some warrior or nobleman.
It had to be the pony I was meant to buy. This stable was the only one that hadn’t shut its doors for the impromptu celebration in the palace square. More importantly, this was the place that had drawn me like a lodestone when I rose from my prayers that morning, seeking a way out of the unfolding nightmare.
A way to save my mistress. The only one I would serve, other than the Goddess, to the end of my days. Or possibly hers. From the sound of the crowd and scent of the smoke, she was moments from death.
I had no idea how she would get free. All I had was an unshakable faith that the Goddess would provide and a divine message that this was the place I needed to be.
Unfortunately, the fellow running the stable was an Alpha with a familiar attitude. He sneered at my narrow Beta frame and flexed his own muscles in a silent show of aggression, then spat out a wad of chewing herb.
I jumped back, so it wouldn’t stain the hem of the gray cloak I had on. My boots were already ruined from all the running I’d done to find and pack up our supplies, get the women we’d left in charge of the secret apothecary settled with enough funds to keep them going for at least a few years, and find this stable.
I sniffed the air, uneasy at the smell of smoke that wafted down the alley, cutting through all the other odors. “How much, please? I’m in a hurry.”
“So I see. You’d fit on a pony, Beta. Little fella, ain’t ya?” The Alpha puffed up his chest. “As to what a fine pony like little Betsy over there would cost, what with her bein’ your only hope of a mount on a feast day like today, I’ll have to think on it. Seems like a little Beta like you don’t need all those things you’ve got on you, if you’re traveling fast.” His eyes moved to the saddlebags I’d dropped by the gate post, then back to me. “Nice cloak you got there. Bit long on you.” He reached out with one hand to grab the edge of it, and I almost didn’t duck back in time. His brows lowered. “Maybe I’ll just take it.”
“It would be very dangerous for you if you did.” Of course, he didn’t give me time to explain that this particular cloak was filled with vials and packets of deadly poisons. I was only safe because I knew which ones were which. Well, and because my mistresshad been feeding me small quantities of quite a few of them for the past few years, along with antidotes, to help me build up an immunity.
I pressed a hand to my stomach, my gut clenching as the memory of how sick I’d been the week before came roaring back. She’d been protecting me from Starlakian poisons before our journey north.
“Give it,” the stable hand demanded as he reached for me, his meaty hand swinging over my head as I ducked smoothly and spun.
“I can’t. It’s not mine to give.” I twisted away again.
“Fast little shit, ain’t ya? Gimme that cloak, Beta, and I’ll forgive ya for threatenin’ me.”
“I wasn’t,” I gasped out, ducking under another swinging fist, my heel slipping on a pile of horseshit as I backed away. My other shoe nudged the saddlebags filled with our supplies. I leaned to pick them up. “I’ll leave peacefully, if you let me. I’ll find another stable.”
He snarled. “Funny. You look like a man, but you act like a scared little girl, dancin’ around.”
Brutes like him always said something like that. “I’ve taken a vow of peace. I’ve sworn to the Goddess not to bring harm to any of Her creations.”
His lip curled up, revealing red gums above his yellowed teeth. “A priest?”
“A valet,” I answered. He didn’t need to know anything about me.
“A pussy.” He spat again, then barked out, using his Alpha command, “Give me that damned cloak!”
