“What on earth am I wearing?” I asked.
“That is the royal omega nightdress,” she said, her voice cutting. We met eyes. She was frowning at me. I did not know her problem, but I could understand her response. Here I was, an outsider, in the sovereign's bedroom, insulting some expensive royal frock from her kingdom. One she might have seen rise and fall.
“I see,” I started. “Although it is exceptionally beautiful, is it not better suited to a woman?” I asked, hoping to remain respectful. She huffed.
“Eat breakfast first,” she said. “The bath is still hot.” I nodded dumbly. I walked towards the rocking chair. It was the same one that was in the tower I was held in when I first arrived. I sat down and nibbled on some berries, so as not to offend the woman.
“The healer’s garb is over there,” she pointed to the stone chair, where my clothes for the day were laid out. “Although it is highly improper for the king’s omega to be working.”
I swallowed another bite of food. The fish was making me homesick. I pushed the feeling down. “Axel is not a king,” I said.
“He is as good as!” she said. I looked at her properly. Long grey hair, a beautiful face, painted with time. Red fur robes, and a golden chain with a large wolf pendant on it hanging from her neck. She was no ordinary woman. She was adding wood to the fire. She was not a servant, nor a noble chambermaid.
“I meant no disrespect,” I said. She turned towards me. I bit my lip. “I feel like I am still dreaming sometimes, even when awake,” I said. “Perhaps I am not all there.” She held my gaze for a while.
“I don’t know what he’s thinking,” she said. She walked over to me. An ornate silver and sapphire comb in hand. I was rooted to my seat when she started combing my hair. “You are pretty, anyone can see that.” I yelped as she undid a knot in my hair. “If not a bit too small to bear children. But that can’t behelped with druids,” she tugged my hair a bit too tightly. “But he has never taken interest in beautiful omegas before.” She started plaiting my hair the same way Inge did for me before. “Yet here you are.” I was starting to get offended. What was wrong with him choosing me? He was half magic, half wolf. Was it truly such a surprise he would fancy an outsider? “And then he does not even mate with you!” she said.
“What?” I asked.
“You have no idea, do you?” She touched the mark on my collarbone lightly. I flinched. “He marked you as his own, without proper mating,” she said. Is that what was bothering her? “The alpha I raised should never treat omegas that way,” she said. I did not move. What could I say? It was something I had considered, the reason he was so quick to take me to bed without mating. It bothered this woman. It bothered Inge too. But I was from the empire. Humans did not mate. I had very little knowledge on the etiquette of courtship in the Oaklands.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “What is your name?”
“Astrid,” she said. I bit my lip.
“And who are you, exactly? How do you know the General?”
“I raised Axel, alongside my Inge, when he first came to the Oaklands,” she said. I nodded. She tied my braid up with a bit of chiffon. “Now go bathe,” she ordered. I could not get out of there fast enough.
I practically ran to start my shift after getting dressed, hoping to be on time. I knew I reeked of Axel. Astrid had alluded to it before I left his chambers. There was nothing I could do about it. He marked me in more ways than one. I arrived at the infirmary in the late afternoon. The soldier from yesterday was awake, sipping water, trying his best to remain alert. Inge was with him, checking his vitals. Inge’s hand was on the patient’swrist. The soldier was blushing, clearly enjoying the attention of a handsome omega, despite his condition.
At the opposite end of the room, a new patient was tied to his bed with ropes. I met his eyes first, before I noticed his scent. Taller than me, but smaller than the wolves. A human.
“What did he do to you?” A voice behind me. Inge. Several patients and a healer’s apprentice were staring. Of course they would, Inge had to announce the obvious in front of an audience.
“Keep it down!” I said. I smacked his arm before whispering. “It was nothing,” I said. “Let’s get to work.”
“Nothing? You reek of him! The entire castle will know by nightfall that he scented you before mating. Your reputation will be in shambles, Gabriel!” He was whispering too loudly. I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. Scenting? Is that what Inge thinks they did? Is that what everyone thought was happening between them? I caught Inge’s frown when he took me by my arms and shook me a bit. “Gabriel, this is a serious matter. You can’t scent before mating. And where were you last night? If you disappear at night, they might think even worse things are going on and-” I put my hand over his mouth.
“Shhh!” If most of the people in the castle underestimated the situation that much, it meant his personal guards weren’t talking, and neither was Astrid. “We can talk about this later,” I said. I pulled up my healer’s tunic, to be certain the mark was covered. Inge huffed. “Who is that?” I asked. I pointed at the human. It successfully distracted Inge.
“One of Victor’s spies. They found him at the military camp near the forest edge,” he explained. The human stared right at me.
“Why are we treating him?” I asked.
“If we play nice, maybe he’ll talk.”
I walked up to the man. He looked like any other human. No uniform to speak of. I noticed he had only one arm. Thestump at his shoulder was bandaged up. If I was there when it happened, I could have healed him. I could have saved his arm. Axel had commanded me not to use my magic, but what would he do if I did? When I healed Axel, he did not stop me.
“You’re not from here,” the man said. I sat on the chair next to his bed.
“Neither are you,” I said. “Where is home to you?”
For a while, it seemed as though he would not speak. We sat there in silence. “The fields outside Tellevine,” he said.
“I passed them on my way up here,” I said. “From Auriyonne.” This caught his attention. He looked me up and down.
“You are not human,” he said.
