“And what a fine alpha he is, so healthy and in his prime—”
Rourke flinched. His lip curled slightly in disdain, revealing a particularly long canine tooth, an evolutionary leftover from our ancestors. The sight of Rourke’s fang spooked the omegas even more. They bowed to me and uttered some excuses before scurrying off.
“Charming,” Rourke muttered.
I smirked despite his comment being rude and, frankly, socially unacceptable given his rank. Still, it took me off guard to hear such a blunt remark coming from an alpha who had been living in a literal marketplace for the past year.
“Yes, you’ll find the upper quarter omegas are quite charming,” I said. “I take it you’ve never been so far up the city.”
“No.”
Rourke’s eyes still had that vaguely distant quality that came from visiting an overwhelming area for the first time. It would take him a while to soak it all in.
“What is the highest quarter you’ve seen, not counting our travels today?” I asked.
He faced me but didn’t quite look me in the eye. “Lower ring.”
That much was clear from his wording. Nobody used the termringexcept for those in the lower quarter, and some dissatisfied people in the middle quarter.
“Your birthplace,” I said.
Rourke met my gaze properly now, his eyes flickering with quiet defiance. “No. I wasn’t born in the lower ring.”
I slightly raised a brow. “Is that right?”
“I was born in the outskirts.”
My brow raised a little higher before I got it back under control. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that he could’ve originated in the outskirts. This was the first time in my life I’d ever heard anyone admit that. In all honesty, I frequently forgot the outskirts even existed, aside from its contribution of materials and products to the city. But of course, it made sense that people lived there. They were the workers, after all. As my knowledge realigned, I felt a bit disappointed in myself. How could I have forgotten such a large part of our territory? The outskirts workers were our subjects the same as the rest of the quarters.
“You’ve never been there,” Rourke said. It wasn’t a question, but a statement with conviction. Not that I needed to lie, but if I had, he would have known right away.
“No,” I confirmed.
And why should I? The outskirts were a swathe of wilderness, farms and forest and mines, a place no civilized person should ever live. There were rumors that people from the Albian Republic bled into the outskirts—it legally belonged to us, along with everything it produced, but in practice it sort of functioned as a sort of “no man’s land.” Since our government couldn’t be bothered to keep tabs on every single person in the outskirts, a lot of things were handwaved aside. It was of no concern to us as long as they coughed up the materials.
I’d also heard rumors that out in the outskirts, alphas were sometimes even treated as equals to omegas. The mere thought was foul. Maybe that was why Rourke had shown no subservience to those omegas earlier. I added that of the list of things I had to teach him.
Rourke shrugged and looked away. It irritated me that he somehow felt smug about this.
“You are aware that I am your prince, yes?” I said.
“I am aware.” He said it as neutrally as possible, carefully taking the sarcasm out of his voice.
“Then you are also aware that I have no time to go gallivanting in the wilderness, getting hay and coal and other filth stuck to my boots.”
That defiance flashed across Rourke’s face again. His body tensed. I knew he wanted to lash out, but he was smart enough not to, especially not in the middle of the street in broad daylight.
“Yes, of course not,” he muttered.
That strand of angry tension was back, sizzling between us. My amusement at his rude antics was gone, and he glared back at me like a dog with raised hackles.
I gave the leash an unnecessarily sharp tug. “Come.”
A growl rumbled in Rourke’s throat but he didn’t disobey. There were no other interruptions on the way to the royal palace—people must have sensed the furious aura around both of us and got out of the way. Even the gatekeepers paused after opening their mouths at the shock of seeing Rourke.
“Welcome back, Your Highness,” they said.
The massive gates groaned open. Apparently, Rourke couldn’t hold his tongue. “You livehere?” he said under his breath.
