Omega’s Gamble by Claire Cullen

Chapter Fourteen

After the library,Raine’s next stop was the old storeroom, the silver slipped into his pocket without a moment’s hesitation before he hurried back to his rooms.

He stayed up all night, devouring every word of the alchemy book in his thirst for knowledge. It opened up a world he’d only ever been able to skirt the edges of. His forays into alchemy were limited just as much by his lack of instruction as by his lack of materials. But now he had a fist-size ball of celestial silver to work with and more knowledge than he’d ever been granted. For the first time, he could pursue the skills he so deeply desired to learn.

He slept a few hours before the sun came up, waking full of enthusiasm. Before breakfast, he hurried to the library, getting there before even Tennant had arrived. He was in and out in less than a minute with another alchemy book smuggled out under his sweater.

He took breakfast in his rooms and finished the second book as quickly as the first. It wasn’t enough to satisfy him, but he was slowly gaining a firm grounding in the basics. Things that he’d learned by trial and error were laid out for him in black and white.

That afternoon, he stole into the library once more, making a show of returning his romance novel and taking another two while slipping a third alchemy book between them. He was pretty sure no one noticed, though he was getting a lot of unwanted attention as he walked through the corridors. He didn’t have to guess why. Anyone who hadn’t seen the events of the night before would have heard of them by now. He’d expected a visit from someone to smooth things over—maybe Darien, maybe Lord Alton—but the afternoon came and went, the sun sank below the horizon, and evening set in. No one came; no one disturbed his sanctuary. As he paged through the third book, he pulled out a pen and paper and started a list. He had the silver, but if he wanted to work with it, he’d need a lot more. Jumping from book to book, he made notes, compared information, and added to his growing list.

It was almost midnight when he finally surfaced and realized he’d never touched his supper, which was now stone-cold. Groaning, he stood and stretched. The fire had long gone out, the chill settling deep in his bones. But he felt a warm sense of satisfaction with his progress. Tomorrow, he would start searching for what he needed, beginning with a workshop.

* * *

Raine’s neckscreamed at him the next morning, protesting the hours spent bent over his desk, pen scratching on paper. He did his best to stretch out the kinks while he ate breakfast, knowing that today would be a very different day. He had to start rounding up supplies, which meant that he needed to get out and about around the castle. It wouldn’t be easy to find everything on his list. But the harder part was finding a place to work. Or it would have been, if he wasn’t alone in an abandoned wing of the house with a pile of empty, dust-filled rooms.

Once the servants had come and gone with his breakfast dishes, he got to work. Ferno came with him, of course, just as curious to explore the empty rooms. The first few weren’t suitable for lots of reasons. One had a cracked window pane, the wind howling into the room with every gust. Another had a fireplace but no source of water, so it wouldn’t do much good. He found what seemed to be a study next. It looked perfect, with a large table he could work on, but again there was no way to get water unless he was going to cart it in bucket by bucket. And wouldn’t that look odd?

It was the last room, right at the end of the wing, where he struck gold. There was a covered skylight above his head. Heavy curtains hid double doors that led outside, and the room itself had been some sort of potting room, perhaps? A place where an avid gardener had potted plants and grown seedlings during the cold weather. It had a big fireplace, water on tap, and some sort of complicated system of pipes to carry heat around the room.

“It’s perfect, Ferno.”

The cat, who’d found a patch of sunlight on one table and was busy sunning himself, meowed in agreement. The room was in dire need of a deep clean, so Raine rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

The midday gong pulled him away from his work a while later, reminding him that it was Sunday. Sunday meant dinner in the great hall. After what had occurred on Friday night, Raine did not want to show his face only to be laughed at, but his presence was expected. And the more normal he acted, the less attention people would pay him. That, and he desperately needed some direction if he was going to find all the tools he required to get started on a project. He hadn’t decided what he was making yet; too many ideas swirled around in his head. He needed focus for that, and he definitely wouldn’t find it in the great hall. Still, his absence would raise questions. He did not want that.

With reluctance, he went and got cleaned up, hiding his dusty clothes. He’d need to find some way to clean them himself or he’d raise suspicions among the servants.

He dressed, making sure nothing was out of place, and then schooled his expression carefully. No matter what anyone said, he wouldn’t let it get to him. He had exactly what he wanted—freedom and knowledge. With the two would come power. The power to make his own destiny and not be reduced to a mere footnote in some alpha prince’s life.

When he entered the great hall, he was met with giggles from a bunch of omegas huddled near the entrance. Waiting, or so it seemed, for him. He swept past them, paying them no mind, and made his way to the high table, slipping into a seat next to Etta.

“You don’t look out of sorts after Friday night,” she said. “There are still a lot of sore heads around the castle today.”

Raine was careful not to look around. He didn’t want to spot Darien or his brothers or any of his friends. Didn’t want to see the smirks or knowing looks or raised eyebrows. He would not be an object of ridicule because his husband didn’t have an ounce of decorum.

“I’ve started another novel,” he told Etta. “The one Caroline recommended.”

“The sailor one? I heard it’s very good. Send it my way when you’re finished, won’t you?”

“Sure thing. Oh, hey, so I was thinking of taking up a hobby I had back home. But I need some stuff. Glass vials, a burner, that sort of thing. Where would I get that?”

Etta gave him a bemused look. “What sort of hobby is this?”

“Perfume making.”

When he’d first started playing around with his tiny supply of celestial silver, he’d needed a cover story to get his hands on the right equipment. Perfume making had been the perfect choice. If he played this right, it would be again.

“Hmm, an interesting choice. You’ll be a favorite around here if you can come up with anything decent that doesn’t smell like lavender. That’s pretty much the only scent the locals make.”

She pondered for a moment, and Raine tried to be patient.

“If I’m not mistaken, you’ll find that kind of equipment in the storage closet near the schoolroom. The tutors use it for teaching science. Any other hidden talents?” she asked with a smile.

“I do have a weakness for jewelry making,” he admitted quickly, given the opening. “Mostly cheap metals rather than precious ones. I’m still getting a handle on the basics.”

If Etta was surprised by that, she didn’t show it. “Well, that one’s easy. Metalworking is Jebb’s domain. You’ll find him in the forge, out past the dressmakers. Tell him I sent you. He’ll show you where to find anything you need.”

“Thanks, Etta. You’re a star.”

“I have my uses.” She frowned then, as if something had belatedly occurred to her. “You should be careful, though, working with fire and metal. Can’t have you losing a finger or an eye, can we? What would your father say?”

“Serves me right?” Raine suggested under his breath, relieved when someone else caught Etta’s attention and he could think in peace while he ate.

His plans were coming together, faster than he’d expected. If he could get everything he needed, he’d be able to start practicing within days. All he had to do then was choose a project to work on.

“Another one?” Etta said loudly. “That’s the fifth this month.”

“Fifth what?” Raine asked, tuning back into the conversation. Etta was talking to her younger brother Simon, who was part of the castle guard.

Simon leaned closer and lowered his voice.

“Pirate attack.”

“Oh.” They seemed to be commonplace on Stormshield, so he wasn’t sure why the surprise.

“Pirate attack using spelled ships,” Etta corrected. “Where on earth are they getting all that spelled wood from? That’s what I want to know.”

“They must have a talented scribe among them,” Simon said. “And an alchemist of some skill.”

“Well, they didn’t have either a month ago,” Etta said knowingly.

“Maybe they stole one. Or maybe they paid one off. That’s not our problem.”

“What is our problem?” Raine wondered.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Simon said. “We don’t have scribes or alchemists here. So how do we sink a spelled ship? They’re practically impervious to rocks and weapons. We’ve taken out one or two, with a huge effort, and confiscated a few more, but most of the time they get away only to come back a day later. We’re fighting a losing battle unless we find a better way than brute strength.”

Raine wasn’t sure what that meant or what brute strength had to do with scuttling a spelled ship. But the conversation sparked an idea for his first project. Something that would have a real use, unlike his little trinkets. And more importantly, something he could test out in the real world. His mind already spinning with plans and calculations, he made his excuses and left the table.

Too deep in thought, he wasn’t watching where he was going, and almost ran full tilt into Darien just outside the great hall. He froze, staring at the alpha who stared back at him.

“Prince Raine, I… I was hoping to catch you,” the alpha said.

“I’m just leaving,” he replied, moving to sidestep the prince.

“Wait, please. I wanted to explain…” Darien trailed off, and Raine found that he didn’t want to hear whatever the prince had to say.

“I don’t require an explanation,” he said shortly, fixing his gaze past the alpha. “If you’ll excuse me, I have things to attend to.”

There was an awkward silence.

“Of course,” Darien said, moving out of his way. “Perhaps another time.”

Raine ignored that and walked on, hurrying back to his rooms. He had work to do.