So, that was a lie.
After excusing myself from breakfast, I stormed silently back to my room. I was seething. It wasn’t a complete shock, but to be thrust into this situation so suddenly and without warning was utterly jarring. It felt like I’d been dunked into icy waters without a chance to grab anything that could float.
I paced around, scowling. A few half-hearted schemes came to mind. I could fake illness the day of the viewing, or disrupt the carriage the alphas were to arrive on, or conveniently get lost in the royal forest…
All the ideas were childish. I dismissed them. There was no feasible way to avoid the inevitable. The pedigreed alphas would be displayed before me and I’d have my pick of the litter, whether I wanted it or not.
The problem wasn’t that I never intended on bearing a child. It was on my to-do list. But to have a finalized date coming up within the week was too much, too fast. I needed time to think, to process. Unfortunately, I no longer had that luxury.
I felt like a trapped animal whose only means of escape was chewing off its own leg.
Letting out a breath of frustration, I stopped pacing. This mental back and forth was getting me nowhere. I needed to act, but first, I needed to think. Properly.
My room and the palace suddenly felt stifling. Desiring fresh air, I picked my way outside to the gardens. It was a pleasant morning, like the world was apathetic to my struggles. The world didn’t care if I wasknocked upor not, to use Elian’s unpleasant terminology.
“Good day, Master Sebastian.”
One of the groundskeeping servants was speaking to me. I didn’t remember his name. He bowed slightly, smiling.
“Yes,” I said.
“Master Elian told me the news,” he said. “It’s quite exciting to know the Lacehavens will have an heir.”
Why was I not surprised Elian had already run around telling everyone? It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.
I let out a noncommittal sound, hoping the servant would take the hint to leave me alone. Unfortunately, his apparent enthusiasm for more Lacehavens populating the world had turned him rather chatty.
“Wonderful weather we’re having, isn’t it?” He gestured to the sunny sky. “The God of Fertility must be smiling upon you.”
“Yes.” Feeling restless, I said, “A good day for a walk.”
A flicker of hesitation from the servant. “Inside the palace grounds, of course.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He’d better not have been implying what the Prince could and could not do.
“And why is that?” I asked.
The servant fidgeted with his grip on the broom. “Ah, I only meant that with the viewing coming up so soon, it would please me to see His Highness remain close to the palace.”
I wondered if that was my father’s suggestion, or if the servants’ orders to keep Cecil safe were bleeding over to me. In any case, it was none of their business what I did or where I went. It was practically an insult to imply that the Prince couldn’t take care of himself. If I was in any more of a sour mood, I might have punished this beta for it.
“What I do on my own time is none of your concern,” I said in a clipped tone.
“Of course, Your Highness.” That topic was over, but since I hadn’t dismissed him, he took it as an invitation to keep talking. “It would be delightful if another omega resulted from the bond.”
I faced him sharply. “Excuse me?”
The beta’s face paled. He knew he had said something he shouldn’t have. He stammered, “I only meant that—”
“If you think I won’t have you torn from the palace grounds, you’re sorely mistaken,” I warned. “Don’t you dare speak to me that way ever again.”
His face blanched. He bent low at the waist, practically prostrating himself. “Yes, Your Highness, I am deeply sorry for suggesting—”
“Donotsay it.”
“My deepest apologies—”
“Get out of my sight.”
