When Phee didn’t answer it, the door opened. Phee really needed new locks. Mother had a key for everything.
In bed, facing the wall, Phee counted the footsteps of two people—her mother, and the drone Oncca, by the meek sound of her footfalls. Someone turned on a lamp. Oncca lifted the untouched tray of food from that morning and replaced it with one for the evening. Dishes clattered during the exchange. The noise hurt Phee’s ears and made her long for Menollie, who always did things quietly. Mother refused to let the younger girl up on the family floor, saying she must protect her family—one couldn’t be too careful with strange drones.
Oncca, Mother’s shadow, was a different matter. She was new to the home and strange to Phee, hired after Phee moved out. Her blank face made left Phee with an uncomfortable feeling, as if she was looking at an empty canvas. Having earned a promotion after Naya’s disappearance, Oncca helped Mother when the stress of that ordeal resulted in heart flutters. Anticipating all her employer’s needs, Oncca was always at Mother’s elbow, ready to pour tea or hand her the right color for her embroidery.
The woman lurked, a pale, gray-eyed specter, in corners. Like a spy. Although Phee had never heard her speak, she knew Onnca acted as a second set of eyes and ears for Mother in a way that didn’t endear her to the rest of the household. All the other servants were cautious around her.
Phee didn’t like her. She smelled bad.
But now they all smelled bad. Every woman in the house, every female whose body had opened up to receive seed and birth a child—they filled up Phee’s head with the coppery scent of blood and moist fecundity—the scent of what she would never have. Maybe it was her imagination, but the metallic scent kept her from eating more than mouthfuls. It burned her nasal passages and filled her head. She couldn’t stand it.
The tray delivered, Phee held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next. Mother always sensed the exact moment Phee woke. But since Phee was just pretending to be asleep, the older omega expected acknowledgment.
Phee wanted to be left alone. She had nothing to say. Not one thing. It had all been said.
After a moment of growing impatience, Mother paced her footfalls moving back and forth along the length of Phee’s bed. She made little noises in the back of her throat before finally deciding what she would say. “Phee, dear, there is a new tonic to drink today. Tastier than that last one. You should at least try it. You are starting to look quite pallid. It’s enough of this nonsense now, don’t you think? We are better than this.”
Phee wasn’t sure about that anymore.
Mother cleared her throat with the overwrought dignity of a woman about to say something important. “Phee, I have some news.”
She paused, giving Phee space to ask questions.
Phee said nothing.
Mother spoke anyway. “There is a doctor over in Sector 10 who thinks there is a new disease being spread by beta women to alphas they have sexual contact with. When transmitted to omegas by their alphas, it can weaken their ability to produce children. Since Swift has thought to end your contract, we can’t be sure, but you told me yourself what a philanderer he was.”
“You told me they were all philanderers, Mother. You said Father took a beta, and it was a relief. You said all your friends’ mates had beta women tucked away in corners.”
“Yes, well. That’s a universal truth. But your philanderer gave you something, and maybe there is a cure. Isn’t that good news?” Mother couldn’t let Phee’s diagnosis go. She was sure there was a cure.
Phee had nothing to say to that. She knew the truth.
“And I have other news from Naya. She and her alpha will come to our sector for a visit.”
The pacing stopped. The warmth of her mother’s shadow leaned over her. “Phee, are you listening? Naya is with child, and she is coming for a visit with her alpha. There is going to be a meeting. In my house, Phee. I can’t even imagine how many people are going to be here.”
She paused, as if waiting for Phee to say something. What should she say?
Naya’s alpha was a direct relation to the acting king, and a fully robed Administrator. Despite a poor reputation, the male still had power and influence. Mother was beside herself with flutterings.
“And the king himself, Constantine Kane, will be coming here to meet Naya and her husband-mate—to our house, Phee. Right here to meet me. Perhaps the retired king as well. In my home. Two generations, and my Naya carrying a third!” Her mother could not hold back her urgent, conflicted excitement.
This was an obvious honor that out shone Naya’s kidnapping and Phee’s situation. Everyone Mother knew, and everyone she did not, would hear that a very popular alpha king had come to the house of Ratmhir Zell and his omega wife and sat at her table. It would be a crowning achievement that no omega breeder in Sector 5 could compete with.
Perhaps it would earn her social redemption among her former friends.
With hardly any energy for anything but sleep, Phee had still been following information posted about the king on her data pad. Constantine Kane’s infamously far-reaching and merciless breeder protection laws might discover more than a few mean beta nurses to punish. She didn’t know if there was a corruption connection involving several clinics—if someone instructed the women’s cruelty behind the scenes like a puppet master—but she knew this King kept his word about protecting omegas and followed through on his actions. If there were more plots out there to torment omega breeders, the king would find out and punish those responsible.
Mother’s mind was on another track. A visit from the king was a chance to redeem her family. She had no idea how to talk about Naya, only that some good was going to come out of the upcoming visit.
“You will have to drink your tonic. Get up. No more of this. You have lost too much weight. I know you have nothing to wear, so I sent Oncca shopping for you. Dear woman brought me back two new dresses. Oh, you should see the new fabrics this season, Phee. The cotton-linen blends get better every year. Someone developed a new foot pedal embroidery machine that does the most incredible work. I had yours done in white, like mine. The machine doesn’t drain resources like the old, banned kind. It is a marvel. The work is like some of the fabrics from stories—and I don’t mean that mass-produced stuff.”
Mother sounded animated.
“The house is going to be full of alphas, Phee. I think I will invite Crispin. The dear boy has been so helpful and understanding, and this is such a big event. He deserves to be here.”
Phee remembered meeting Crispin here at the house. Young for a mate, he was the prettiest male she had ever seen. She did not know if it was his eyelashes, or his long, elegant fingers. He had a nice, soft way of speaking. Phee’s limited experience with alphas gave her little room for informed opinions. The only opinion she held was that if Crispin came, there would be some entertaining and awkward moments to enjoy, given he’d been Naya’s intended before she was bonded to another.
