Omega’s Gamble by Claire Cullen
Chapter Twelve
Raine couldn’t be upsetabout Darien leaving him alone outside. Not when he was covered head to toe in warm clothes and given the freedom to roam the castle’s gardens. Not to mention the tantalizing possibility Darien had raised of him talking to Milo. Darien had been kind and considerate, far more than Raine had been expecting after their previous interactions. In truth, he was disappointed that the alpha had been called away. It felt like they would finally have the chance to spend some time together and truly to get to know one another. Even if their marriage ended up as nothing more than a friendship, he’d prefer that to cold indifference or animosity.
Still, the present situation couldn’t be helped, so he decided he had better make the most of it. He was outside, suitably dressed for the cold, with lots of new places to explore. Grinning to himself, he set off eagerly through a stone archway that led from the courtyard into the gardens. He paused as he stepped through, taking a moment to get his bearings. The gardens seemed to be divided into two levels—a lower one which contained what he guessed were the kitchen gardens, and a walled area set apart, reached by stone steps. He headed upward, keen to see the gardens Darien had wanted to show him. A guard stood at a gate set into the wall. He came to attention as Raine approached and looked him up and down.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“I’m just out for a walk,” Raine explained, looking past the guard, where he spied a tantalizing path through the gate. “Are they the royal gardens?”
“Yes, Prince Raine.”
Raine took a step forward, expecting the guard to open the gate and let him through, but he didn’t move.
“Are the gardens closed off for some reason?”
Maybe the gardeners were working on them? Though it seemed a strange time of year for that.
“These gardens are reserved for the royal family, Prince Raine.”
It took Raine a moment to realize what the guard was saying. That the gardens were reserved for the family, and he was something other, something apart from them.
He was shocked into speechlessness, staring at the guard for a moment as he tried to formulate a response.
“The gardens on the lower levels are free for anyone to wander,” the guard added, growing uncomfortable under Raine’s bewildered stare.
Raine didn’t say anything, the humiliation hot and heavy inside him. He simply turned and walked down the steps, keeping his face carefully angled as he took the nearest path so the guard couldn’t see his tears.
* * *
After the garden incident,all Raine wanted to do was hide in his rooms and read. He’d swapped his first books for another history book and a captivating romance written by an omega. Having never read something written by one of his own kind, he found it both refreshing and inspiring. What else had he missed out on with his sheltered upbringing?
It was Etta who convinced him to attend the great hall that Friday. She had all but insisted, saying it was a night for the younger people of the castle, with music and dancing. At home, there were frequent social engagements, and when he wasn’t suffering his father’s wrath, he usually attended all of them. Reluctantly, he washed up, put on a dressy outfit that wasn’t too flashy, and made his way to the hall. Since his last meeting with Darien hadn’t gone too badly, maybe he’d have a good time and make some friends at last. The others couldn’t exclude him forever, could they? Especially not if Darien accepted him.
He didn’t see the alpha when he stepped into the hall and was a little confused at first when he saw all the tables had been rearranged around the edge of the room to make space for the musicians and the dancing that was to come. Spying Etta, he made his way to her table to join her and a few of the more distant cousins. They were deep in conversation about some upcoming event, so Raine turned his attention to the room at large. There weren’t many people in attendance just yet, and most of the tables were empty.
The doors opened and a big group spilled in. He spotted Darien’s brothers and first cousins, and the omegas who wouldn’t give Raine the time of day. A little behind the group, looking tired but cheerful, was Darien himself. Raine didn’t want to admit that he was seeking him out, that the alpha was the reason he’d attended at all, but he couldn’t deny the way his attention leaped right to Darien. The alpha stopped just inside the door, talking to another omega as he looked around the room. He saw Raine and paused for a moment. Was it Raine’s imagination, or was there a tension in Darien that hadn’t been there a moment before? Before he could wonder further, the alpha was looking elsewhere.
Raine hoped that Darien would come and join his table. It was only proper, really, at a small event like this. They were married, and everyone knew it. His heart sank as seconds later Darien turned and made his way to another table, the one that his brothers and the others had taken. Raine considered getting up and joining them, but it would be both impolite to Etta and his table, and—well, he hadn’t been invited, had he? Because he wasn’t family. He was as likely to be snubbed as he was to be welcomed.
Sighing, he waved a passing servant down and took a drink from his tray, his stomach churning before he’d even taken a sip. The music started up shortly after, but Raine was in no humor to dance. Besides, he was an omega, and if there was one thing he knew well, it was omega etiquette. You didn’t stand up unless someone invited you to, no matter what kingdom you were in. And with his husband practically ignoring him, and the royal family following Darien’s lead, he knew no one would dare ask him to dance.
The first hour passed quickly as, while he couldn’t dance, he could at least amuse himself watching the others. The style was different here—a little less polished with more folksy-type dances and less of the refined stuff he’d grown up on. Darien’s table was slow to join in the dancing, and Raine was relieved that at least he’d be spared the humiliation of his husband dancing with someone else.
A tap on his shoulder drew his attention to Etta.
“How did you find the library?” she wondered.
Relieved, he seized the distraction with both hands, telling her an abbreviated version of his encounter with Tennant and about the books he’d chosen. The others joined in, offering some recommendations. The fiction novels weren’t a surprise, but he was taken aback to be recommended some books on politics, the modern history of royal families, and a few others that were far from appropriate topics for an omega. He committed the names to memory and was unsurprised when the conversation went off on a tangent within minutes. They lost his attention again around the time they’d delved deeply into some kind of art form that seemed to consist of living sculptures, and Raine glanced up at the dance floor just in time to see Darien in an embrace with another omega.
For a moment, the world seemed to shudder to a stop. A buzz started up in his ears, the party forgotten as he stared in horror at the two. It wasn’t just that they were dancing, which would have been bad enough. It was that they were… close. Hand in hand, practically chest to chest, staring into each other’s eyes. Oh, god.
His stomach lurched, and he turned his gaze to the table and took deep breaths. When he chanced a glance up again, he found a few eyes in the room darting from him to the couple, obviously amused by his discomfort. No, discomfort was too tame a word. Humiliation. Deep and abject, a well he’d fallen into and would never climb out of. Did Darien have no shame? No compassion for Raine’s dignity?
The song came to an end, and Darien and his companion made their way back to his table. They sat together, too close to be mere friends or acquaintances. Raine should have left then, he knew he should have, but he couldn’t make himself move. He had to stay, had to see how far it would go, how bad it truly was. Maybe they’d been together long before he’d set eyes on Darien. Maybe it was true love, and he’d interrupted all that. But then… why did Darien marry him? Why not marry whoever that omega was?
His thoughts were going a mile a minute, so much so that it took Etta three attempts to get his attention as she offered to top up his drink. He waved her off but managed to get himself under control enough to ask an important question.
“Who is that omega? The one in the red jacket sitting with Darien.”
Etta glanced over, her eyes widening slightly when she saw what he’d seen.
“That is Lord Gentry’s son, Fian.”
“Lord Gentry?”
“One of the king’s closest advisers on matters of island security. The family has practically been living in the castle since the pirate attacks escalated last year.”
“So they’re an important family?”
“One of the most prominent families in the kingdom. They trace their roots back right alongside ours.”
Which meant Fian wasn’t an ineligible match for Darien unless the king had insisted that his eldest son marry another royal. Raine had known their marriage of convenience was just that—convenient. But he’d never suspected he’d be subjected to… to this.
Etta’s gaze was confused but sympathetic as she looked from Darien back to him.
“You don’t have to stay if you’d had enough for the night.”
But Raine couldn’t leave. Not until he knew how far Darien would take this, how deep it went.
He shook his head and took another swallow of his drink, letting Etta turn her attention back to the others. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. At long last, the hall started to empty out as people left in groups. Most of Darien’s table left together, except for Darien and Fian, who started on another round of drinks. Raine was left to look helplessly on as they finished them, the candles burning low, the room becoming a more intimate setting.
They got up from the table together, turning toward the door. Raine couldn’t take his eyes from them, from the way the omega clung to Darien and whispered in his ear, the two of them sharing secrets. The doors closed behind them, and Raine sat there alone. Gradually, as the minutes passed, his humiliation gave way to fury, a deep anger that threatened to swallow him whole. He stood up abruptly and stormed to the door, finally free to escape the hellish night.
The corridors were mostly empty, with only a few stragglers about. Halfway to his rooms, fueled by his anger, he changed direction and headed to the library. The lights were off, so he borrowed a lamp from the corridor outside and made his way to the alcove he’d been at pains to avoid since that first day.
If this was the life he’d chosen, the kind of marriage he was going to have to survive, then he’d be damned if he was going to care about embarrassing Darien.
The alchemy book was right where he’d left it. His fingers closed around it, tugging it from the shelf. He’d never had the power to change his circumstances, never had any choice but to do as he was bidden. Until now.