Zielle
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I am walking past the infirmary when I hear it.
It is a whisper, barely coherent, but it's unmistakable who that voice belonged to. It is Arieth. What is she doing in the infirmary? Is she plotting something new?
I press myself against the cold stone wall, holding my breath, straining to catch her voice.
"Mom, please. I'm not lying! It wasn't just some nightmare I had last night." Arieth's whisper is strained, almost breaking. "Do you really think I'd get a fever from a mere dream?"
Her mother exhales sharply, anger laced with weary frustration. "First, you sneak into the library at some ungodly hour without telling anyone. And now you insist there's a spirit haunting it?" Her voice hardens. "I'll let this slide for now, but don't you dare spread this nonsense to anyone else, the way you just did with me."
I stifle a laugh behind my palm. Gods, did Arieth really catch a fever from fear? How interesting. Perhaps it is finally time she pays for everything she has put me through.
I bite my lower lip, torn between staying hidden and stepping inside. At last, I chose to enter.
Both Arieth and her mother's eyes snap to me the moment I cross the threshold. I bow politely, masking my intent with a look of surprise.
"Oh, Luna," I say smoothly. "Is everything all right?"
Luna Linda gives me a barely there nod. "Arieth is having a fever."
"Oh, really? What would have caused that." I ask, feigning innocence. They both sweat under my gaze. Arieth looks pale as a ghost while her mother gives her a warning glare not to spill any stupid truth.
"I catch fever easily. Yesterday I drank a lot of cold juice."
I forced myself not to scoff. Cold juice, my ass.
"Oh, I thought you got scared by something." I say, just to see her squirm under my question.
"What?" Her eyes widen, mouth opening and closing like she can't form a single coherent word. "W—what do you mean?"
"I mean, you don't sound like you have a cold or anything. A fever that came out of nowhere kind of gave me that idea."
Seeing Arieth uncomfortable like this fills me with a weird kind of satisfaction. "Don't spew bullshit." She snaps, yet doesn't meet my eyes as if she is afraid. Afraid that I will see through her lies. If only she knew who was in that library that night.
"My apologies. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable." The lie slips easily from my tongue. In truth, it is all I want, to unsettle her, to see her shift uneasily beneath my gaze.
"Well, why are you here, Omega?" Luna Linda asks, her gaze narrowing. "Shouldn't you be at the taming quarters right now?"
Her sharp tone is enough to intimidate me, but I refuse to let it show on my face. "I am feeling a little unwell," I reply evenly even though it's far from the truth. "I thought it's best to call it a day and begin the taming session tomorrow. I came to see the healer."
""How unwell must you be to stop a taming session without informing any of the high authority?" Her cold tone sends a shiver down my spine.
"Apologies, Luna. But I cannot tame today. It requires a certain strength that I lack right now." A part of what I say is true, yet it is not the real reason I left the taming quarters. I did not want to force the Alpha. That in itself is strange for me. Never before have I felt guilt for an Alpha. But this one… his words cut through me deeper than I care to admit.
"And you didn't think about informing any of us first?" She presses, the frustration is very evident in both her face and tone. I try not to squirm under its intensity. Just how fast the tables have turned.
"Thought about doing it after seeing the healer." I lied, I haven't thought about it at all. I was about to go and sleep off my exhaustion and to never wake up before the sunset.
"Go back to the taming quarters after this. You are not allowed to take leave today. The first day of taming is today, not tomorrow," Arieth says, her mouth pressed into a thin line. I cannot understand why she is getting so worked up.
"Sorry, Omega Arieth, but I cannot do it today." I bow politely. "I should see the healer." My only thought is to leave this room as quickly as possible.
"No." Arieth's reply is curt, sharp with authority. She speaks as if she owns me. In a way, she does. I am a servant, a worker of the palace. Yet the way she addresses me makes my blood boil.
"You will do as we command. And as the High Omega, I am ordering you. You will obey."
My fists clench so tightly that my nails dig into my palms. The sting burns, but not nearly as much as her words.
"okay—"
"Arieth. You are being unreasonable now." Luna Linda speaks up, giving her daughter a scolding look. "What she said is right. She won't be able to work well if she doesn't have enough strength."
Anyone would think the Luna is so caring for that, but I won't. I know her well enough for that. And her next words prove me right.
"Imagine her dying in his hands? We not only lose our tamer, but also the most powerful alpha we ever had the opportunity to make one of us."
"Imagine her dying in his hands. We would not only lose our tamer, but also the most powerful Alpha we have ever had the chance to make one of us."
Her words are harsh, but they do not make me flinch. This is not the first time the High Omegas have treated me as nothing more than a tool. Something to be used at their convenience, without value, without dignity.
Every Alpha mate they have claimed, every heir they have been permitted to keep instead of banish, exists because of me. Already there are more than ten Alpha children growing up within the palace walls, a new chapter for the kingdom.
And all of it happened because of me. I am the reason the history of Lyssomire has been rewritten.
Yet the way they treat me? No better than the dirt beneath their shoes.
It's moments like this that makes me want to lash out, to flee this palace and never return. To build a new life even if it means risking being alive.