“Seriously?” River laughed, making the entire bed shake.
“It wasn’t on purpose!” I defended, smiling a little as I recalled the time I’d “accidentally” burned one of my alpha brothers. “He’d deserved it, though.”
My alpha and I had spent the day in bed—the now clean bed—and had slept and eaten, slowly gaining our strength back. We were just chatting now, the morning sun glowing in from the balcony.
“I bet he did,” River continued to chuckle, hugging me around my middle. “I love that you’re feisty like that.”
“Like what?” I laughed, feeling lighter the more we’d rested.
“Not all omegas stand up for themselves, you know this, but still, you keep doing it. I love that about you.”
I smiled weakly at that, remembering how Rita had sneered at me for not being happy about being sold. I simply couldn’t fathom how she thought what had happened to me was okay. I guessed with our upbringing she was too far gone to see reason, to not see how wrong everything about our family had been. We weren’t allowed friends, the only time we met up with others our age was when we were forced to attend school. We only had to attend for the three years it was required, unless my parents wanted to end up in the kingdom’s dungeon.
“I always felt we omegas had to just accept things as they were and if we weren’t grateful, we would be punished for it.” It was weird talking to River about this, my alpha, but he needed to know this about me. “I’d never been able to feel satisfied with my life at home, always picturing finding love one day. I thought that was normal, but my sister showed me it wasn’t. She was happy to just stay well fed for the rest of her life. I simply couldn’t find happiness in that alone. I wanted more. For a few days, I felt selfish for wanting more for myself, for wanting happiness.”
“I hate that you felt like that,” River whispered. “Like you were selfish for wanting to be happy.”
I shrugged, suddenly feeling silly for admitting it. My family struggled to feed all of us each winter, and I’d been wishing for more.
“Ember,” my alpha’s voice was imploring, making me look at him. “You know that isn’t how it is everywhere, right? In our kingdom, for example, the omegas are treated equally to alphas and are protected during their heats if they need it. They don’t have to just accept whatever life they’re being handed, but are able to reach whatever goal they set for themselves.”
I scoffed, the thought so absurd to me, but his feelings conveyed no lie. “What about schools? How can an omega be compared to an alpha without the proper training?” I questioned.
“Easy, it’s mandatory for all omegas and alphas to spend six years in school before they reach eighteen.” The easy way Riverhad said it made my head spin. If only my home kingdom had been so kind to omegas.
“What about work?” I dared ask.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” I began, testing the words. “How are omegas employed here?”
River’s brows furrowed. “They either answer a hiring request or ask directly if they can be hired. It all depends on the job really. For example here in the palace, we allow alphas and omegas to seek out work, but we also put up notes in town whenever we have a new position open.”
My mouth was hanging open. “In my kingdom you weren’t allowed to seek out work, only work for your family or alpha.”
“Seriously?!” It was River’s turn to gape. “How could any omega be okay with that?”
“We didn’t really have a choice,” I reminded him. “I certainly didn’t enjoy farming.”
“If you could’ve chosen, what would you have worked with instead?” His question felt easier to answer, like we were closing the difficult conversation and moving over to a more carefree one.
“I would’ve been a horse tamer,” I replied instantly. “I’ve always loved horses, but never been allowed to be around ours. Only my father was allowed to ride and touch her.”
“Come,” my alpha said, taking my hand in his. I didn’t question him as he offered me another shirt to wear, just followed his lead as he led me outside of our rooms and down what seemed tobe a private staircase. We passed two landings before we reached the bottom where a tiny window showed we were on the ground floor.
“Is this where you ravish me against a wall as we hide from the servants?” I teased, making him laugh.
“No, but that’s for sure something we’ll be doing at one point.”
I shook my head as I grinned at my adorable alpha.
River opened a small wooden door, greeting two guards who stood just outside, keeping watch. I held onto River’s arm, still a little fearful another alpha would dare attack me.
“We’re going there,” he said, pointing to what I was certain had to be the royal stables. It was huge, likely able to hold over thirty horses, maybe more.
“Horses,” I whispered, following eagerly. I felt like a kid again seeing snow for the first time, or when spring came around and the first flowers began to bloom.
“There’s someone special I want you to meet,” River grinned and the happiness and excitement that poured out of him was so strong, it almost made me cry with happiness.
