Mairwen was not what I expected of another alpha's omega. She was shy, suddenly quiet at the departure of the others, but not so much so as to leave things awkward between us. She let me lead for the most part, asking just enough questions to keep me busy as I led her first through the keep and then out to the grounds, more interested in the farming and grazing lands than in the silly little castle folly and rose garden.
And when she accidentally stepped in a bit of sheep dung, she just let out a low laugh and shrugged, scraping her boot off on a rock.
"I'm surprised there is so much land to farm, when it seems like everywhere else is so rocky," Mairwen said, busy petting a young lamb who'd decided to use her to prop itself up.
"Only because the rocks were dug up, likely used for building border walls or even outbuildings," I said. "Every so often, the hills will spit another little boulder up through a field. It gets set aside until there's a use for it. I'm sure there's a pile around somewhere."
Mairwen finally relented, lifting the lamb up, ignoring the smears of mud it left on her fine gown as she cradled it to herchest. "I know they're for eating, but as long as this one's not my dinner, I'm going to coddle it," she said, smiling.
"I'm waiting for Torion to notice, but he's been settling for mutton over lamb since I arrived," I said, wrapping my arms around myself, turning back toward the keep's herb garden. "How was the flight of the alphas?"
Mairwen hummed, taking her time in answering. "Interesting. I wasn't there for any of the alphas’ real conversations, of course, but just watching interactions was enough information."
I watched her wet her lips, stare into the distance. She stopped as the lamb squirmed, realizing it'd wandered as far from its herd as it might want to. She let it down again with a pat and then glanced briefly at me, eyes dropping to watch her step over the craggy ground.
"I think Ronson and Torion might be the start of a…tide turning, so to speak."
My eyebrows rose. "Really?"
She shrugged, as if to make her words carry less weight. But Mairwen struck me as a woman whowatchedthings, and most people in my experience tended to underestimate how much they really allowed themselves to be seen. It had taken me too long to learn to look.
"There are some betas who seem on the brink of rising, I think," she said softly. "I can't speak to their nature, of course."
I hummed, and we carried on in a companionable quiet. It'd been so long since I'd spent time in this way with another omega, and even this was different. When I'd been a girl, other omegas had been both confidants and competition. I was raised to understand that a good match with a powerful beta was my most important duty, my sole goal. After Malcolm,duringmy years with him, I'd spent far too much time blaming the other women. And then, when I'd finally freed myself, I'd taken to thewoods, taken to a role where I was still only one thing to anyone but myself—helpful, but isolated.
I scowled at the horizon, at the patterns of my life.
"I sometimes wonder if men can really be the answer to the challenges we face," I said, without thinking about who I stood with.
Mairwen made a soft sound of agreement, and I found her smiling. "Ronson is always so surprised when a new injustice occurs to him," she said fondly. She looked down at the edge of the herb beds we reached, her lips parted to speak, when her eyes widened. "I know this plant."
She knelt in front of a thick patch of blue sorley, fingers stroking the fine leaves between her fingers. Her brief glance up at my eyes, a searching look, told me we were both familiar with its properties. It had taken me far too long poring over my mother's notes to understand the clues she'd left, to understand theneedomegas had for this herb. I wondered now, with Torion on the brink of his rut, if there were women in Grave Hills drinking the tea already.
"My mother was an herbalist—her notes on the flower…"
Mairwen rose slowly, nodding to fill in my words. She knew. Blue sorely flowers could be dried and brewed in a tea to help prevent a pregnancy, even during a rut.
"Many women come to me looking to promote a son. And many of the women who've survived giving birth to a son come for blue sorely," I said, and we fell into step together.
Mairwen sighed. "There has to be another way."
I grunted my agreement. Not that it mattered. I did want a child. I wanted to keep my vow to Torion. I wanted to prove to Malcolm that he was wrong about me being worthless now. I accepted the risks.
Chapter Seventeen
TORION
Ipanted and thrashed against the blaze that burned over my limbs and up my throat like fire surrounding me, about to burst from my lips. Sharp blades scratched over my chest and down my back, stabbing my heels and fingertips. I groaned, trapped in a dark shroud of flames. I searched around me, groping desperately, certain there'd been shelter here at one point, a safe haven, soft and full and scented like?—
A cool shiver doused the scorch marks on my chest.
"Shh, it's all right. I'm here now."
My eyes opened to a gray view of rising linen sheets. "Brigid?" I rasped out.
Another cool touch soothed away the sting and ache of my right hand, and I watched my omega lift my hand to her mouth, kissing the center.
"You're feverish," she murmured, stroking her cheek against my palm, a strange tension leaving my fingers as if they'd found what they'd been searching for.
