Page 30 of The King's Omega
I smirked. One of my spies had already informed me of his activities with the girl; she had been loud enough to be heard throughout the east wing, apparently. “Precisely. Tell Asher to bring Rigol there, and to have restraints.”
“For the girl? Planning to teach her a lesson?”
“No.” I hummed lightly as I considered all I would need for the evening’s lesson. Vali would protest if she knew what I planned. But Rigol had to be shown what a treasure he had missed. “I’m planning to teach Rigol one.”
He hesitated and did something he had never done: he questioned my judgment. “Are you sure, Vilkurn? She’s very innocent and worries about being considered a whore.”
I bristled, feeling my Alpha nature rise, ready to attack. “She’s not a prostitute,” I growled, as Lorn’s eyes darkened with aggression as well. “She may very well end up—” I paused, wondering why the next words that nearly tumbled from my lips wereas our mate, and quickly amended, “—as our queen.”
Our mate. I had meant mine, his… and our brothers’ as well. Where had that wild thought come from?
“Remember that,” he returned, his own voice low. “Treat her well.”
I dismissed him and thought of sending for the spies who were still in the castle. Most of my men were moles in Verdan or occupied covert positions in Turino and outer Rimholt. At least one had failed to see Selene’s plot, and another had helped her to escape—though whether that one was a turncoat or a double agent was anyone’s guess. The only way she could have escaped undetected was with knowledgeable help.
I had a snake or two in my ranks, and that knowledge burned me. No, I couldn’t send a spy to find the girl. I would have to do it myself.
It took longer than I thought. She was clever and had taken a position in the laundry. Her presence there might solve a few problems. Rumors of an unmated Omega would incite every Alpha king and warlord to invade Rimholt. So her presence, as well as her scent, had to be well disguised until she took a mate.
Assuming she matured and Rigol mated her, she would immediately become a target for every assassin in the country. Selene was already a liability in that regard, and I feared the king would fall upon her death. As his second mate—though that thought rankled and her acceptance was far from assured—Vali would have to stay hidden.
Eventually, of course, the girl would be discovered. Even now, her scent was filtering in from the courtyard door where she sat with her kitten. I had an idea and went to the laundry mistress with it.
The sturdy woman recognized me, of course; Sorcha had been the head of the laundry for decades and had boxed my ears a few times when I was a lad running roughshod through her domain. “What do you mean, let her touch all the clean linens?” she snapped. “Is she a spy, then? I’ll have none of your skullduggery in my laundry.” Her eyes narrowed when I assured her Vali was not a spy. “A whore then? That’s not as bad, but I’ll still not have it. There’ll be no rutting around my linens.”
“She’s not that either, Sorcha.” I hesitated. “She has a scent and it would be dangerous if she were found. If every room in the castle smells of her, rather than just one or two small spaces, she’ll be safer.” I waited until she nodded. “She’ll need to come and go, but can do her work when she’s here.” I leaned in. “We need to protect her. She’s all alone, and enemies will come for her.”
The woman bristled. “Aye, well, she’s a cute wee thing, and a fair hand at gettin’ out a stain, though she near dumped red dye into the last washing of your uniforms. I’ll let her stay for now. But remember, you! No skullduggerers or whores in my laundry.”
I agreed and slipped into the small room where Sorcha had set up a cot. “Vali.” My voice was a whip crack, and she jumped up.
“V-Vilkurn? What are you doing? I was… um, I was…”
“Hiding?” Her face was red and puffy. “Has someone hurt you? Did Lorn harm you?” I knew at least a dozen ways to kill him in his sleep, and no one would suspect anything but natural causes.
“No! Lorn was… Lorn was…” She melted a little. “He was lovely.” A tiny frown crossed her face. “Even if he did have some other lady’s clothing in his drawers.”
Those would have been Lady Evelyn’s, Lorn’s current mistress. Unlike his twin Tarn, who fucked his way through Turino at least twice a year, Lorn took one woman at a time. Would he keep Evelyn now? I hadn’t been able to think of any other woman since meeting the little Omega.
A softly cleared throat interrupted my musing. “Vilkurn, do you think Lorn likes to dress in ladies’ clothing? I saw that in the Sow, now and again. I may have stolen his, um, costume for his special times. Should I return it?”
“Yes, Lorn does like to dress as a woman from time to time,” I lied. “He’ll be upset you stole his special things.”
“Stole?” Her jaw dropped, and I closed it with one finger.
“No harm done, little one. I will return them to his room for you. For now, I need you to come with me.”
“Ugh!” She kicked at the doorframe, tucking the kitten back into her pocket. I made a mental note to order the seamstress to stitch more dresses with pockets, in less hideous shades. “I’m sure you want me to talk to the king. The maid said he wants me to be his secret mate, even though he already mated that hag, Selene.” Her eyes blazed. “I thought you were greedy, wanting two dungeons. He’s worse!”
I ground my teeth, wondering how a simple maid had known so much already. We had more problems than spies in this castle. “Well, you know, he needs you to help save our kingdom.”
“But how can I do that? I’m just a girl with a funny aroma,” she grumbled. “He hated me and he wanted me to be tortured, Vil. How am I supposed to forget that? Now I bet he smells like her.”
The mournful way she spoke of his changed scent intrigued me. “What does she smell like?”
Her answer was instant. “Rancid oil.”
“And the king?”
