“He came from the alpha market, Your Highness.”
3
Sebastian
After telling him I would deal with Woods myself, I dismissed the knight. He bowed and left, probably pleased I had saved him from a great deal of work. The good deeds of a prince were never finished.
“Get up,” I ordered.
Woods got to his feet. His eyes were sunken from crying, but he was silent now. He looked terrible. I’d never seen an upper quarter omega in such a state.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Mr. Woods,” I said. “We are going inside your home, and you are going to tell me the truth about everything that transpired between you and that alpha.”
Woods went pale. The slow realization of who I was and what I was saying finally came to him. He lowered his head. He might have been flushing in embarrassment, but I couldn’t tell since his face was red from crying.
“Your Highness,” he mumbled. “Are you going to have me executed?”
I tried not to smile. It deeply amused me when our subjects jumped to dramatic conclusions.
“No,” I said. “But in exchange for my good grace, you will tell me what I want to know. And if you lie to me, Mr. Woods, I won’t be very happy with you.”
He cleared his throat and smoothed back his hair in a small attempt to seem presentable, like he was finally coming out of his daze. He opened the door to his home and said, “Please come in.”
I stepped inside with Marianne. I noticed Woods eyeing her uncomfortably.
“Speak freely,” I ordered.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, it’s just that… I don’t like dogs.”
I narrowed my eyes. If this blubbering mess of a man was actively trying to get on my bad side, he was doing a very good job of it.
“Marianne is not a dog. She is a Gracehound.”
“Of course, yes, but that’s still—”
“Her life is worth more than yours, Mr. Woods,” I said calmly. “Keep that in mind before you keep talking.”
Woods intelligently decided to shut up. He offered me a seat at his table. I sat. Marianne laid primly at my feet. Woods took the opposite seat.
“You have a nice home, Mr. Woods,” I said. I was exaggerating for his benefit. It was nothing special.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Now tell me the truth.”
Woods lowered his eyes to the table, gazing into the woodgrain with a distant expression. He slumped like the wind had been knocked out of him.
“They took Bjorn away,” he muttered.
“I assume that’s the name of the alpha. He’s not from around here, is he?”
“He is from the Kingdom of Lacehaven,” Woods replied, almost defensively.
I withheld a sigh. It was obvious I needed to be gentle with Woods, like one might treat a defiant child hiding the key to the treasury.
“What I meant, Mr. Woods, is that he was not an alpha of noble blood. He was not from the upper quarter, correct?”
“No.”
