Chapter 14: The Favorite’s Smile

“Cora,” I said carefully, my voice barely above a whisper. “Do you have a death wish for both of us, or are you just trying to see how many ways we can be executed before dinner?”

Cora’s confidence disappeared so quickly that I almost felt sorry for her.

Almost.

Her shoulders dropped, and she finally seemed to remember that the woman standing in front of us was Lady Morgana, the Alpha’s longtime favorite, the daughter of the Minister of Defense, and someone who had enough influence in this palace to make a servant disappear without anyone asking questions.

“I was only—”

“Quiet.”

Morgana’s voice was soft.

Too soft.

She wasn’t shouting or threatening. She didn’t even look particularly angry.

That was what frightened me.

She stepped farther into the room, her eyes moving slowly over everything—the expensive furniture, the open wardrobe, the guards outside, and finally me.

Her gaze stopped on my face.

I lowered my eyes instinctively.

“I came to welcome you,” she said.

Welcome me?

After she had ordered me whipped forty times?

After her punishment had nearly killed me?

I forced a polite smile.

“That is very kind of you.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“It must be quite an adjustment. Going from the servants’ quarters to the Inner Residence.”

She was reminding me where I had come from.

A kitchen slave.

A servant.

An Omega who should have been invisible.

I kept my face calm.

“It is.”

Morgana smiled, but the warmth didn’t reach her eyes.

“I heard you were given personal guards. And five maids. Very generous.”

She glanced toward the doorway.

“His generosity has always been… remarkable.”

There was something bitter in her voice when she said it.

She wasn’t simply angry that I had been promoted—she was afraid.

Afraid that she was losing her place.

She looked back at me.

“I hope you understand your position, Lady Evelina.”

“I am learning.”

“Good.”

Her smile returned.

“Because titles can be given very quickly in this palace. And taken away just as quickly.”

My fingers tightened around my dress.

“I understand.”

“Do you?”

Her voice was almost gentle.

“Then perhaps you also understand that being favored by the Alpha does not make you untouchable.”

She turned toward the door, then stopped.

“Oh, and Lady Evelina?”

“Yes?”

She looked over her shoulder.

“Welcome to the Inner Residence. I hope you enjoy your new home.”

Then she walked out.

I shut the door and immediately exhaled, my forehead falling against the cool wood.

“That woman,” Cora breathed behind me, “is going to be a problem.”

“That woman could have us both thrown into the dungeons before sunset.”

I pushed away from the door and crossed to the bed, every step sending fire across my back.

The physician’s herbs had helped, but forty lashes didn’t heal in a day.

Cora followed me, her earlier bravado returning in a rush of whispered excitement.

“But did you see her face, My Lady? She was terrified!”

“She was calculating.”

I sank onto the edge of the massive bed, the silk sheets cool against my palms.

“There’s a difference.”

“She should be worried.”

Cora sat beside me, her eyes bright.

“You’re an Honored Lady now. You have standing. Servants. Guards.”

She dropped her voice.

“And the Alpha himself promoted you. Personally.”

I pulled a pillow against my chest.

“He was being thorough.”

“Thorough?”

Cora laughed.

“My Lady, he spent hours in that chair by your bed. The guards said he never left. Never slept. Just watched over you while the fever broke.”

She leaned closer, her voice dropping to an awed whisper.

“And he fed you his blood. His own blood. Do you know what that means?”

I looked away, my face heating.

“It means he didn’t want his curiosity to die before he solved it.”

“Curiosity?”

Cora shook her head.

“He had the Royal Physician himself attend you. Not an assistant or a trainee. The Royal Physician, who only treats the Supreme Alpha and his Beta.”

I lay back, staring at the canopy above.

“Cora, please. Don’t make this bigger than it is. I’m tired. Can we discuss my inevitable rise to power tomorrow?”

She opened her mouth to argue, then stopped.

Really looked at me.

My pale face.

The shadows under my eyes.

The way I was barely holding myself upright.

“You’re right,” she said softly. “You’re not healed yet. You need rest.”

“I need sleep,” I admitted. “Real sleep. Not fever dreams and pain.”

Cora was quiet for a moment, then she stood and moved to the other side of the bed.

She pulled back the covers and plumped the pillows with efficient motions.

Then she climbed onto the mattress and settled behind me.

“What are you doing?”

“Hush.”

Her hands found my shoulders, her fingers digging gently into the knots of tension there.

“You saved my life in that courtyard. You stood between me and Lady Morgana when you could have let me take the blame. Let me do this.”

Her thumbs pressed into the base of my neck, and I couldn’t stop the groan that escaped my throat.

It hurt—everything hurt—but beneath the pain was something else.

Release.

Care.

“Cora, you don’t have to—”

“I want to.”

Her hands moved lower, carefully avoiding the bandages on my back, working the tension from my shoulders, my arms, the places where fear had coiled like wire.

“Close your eyes, My Lady. Just for a little while.”

I should have protested.

She was my maid, not my nurse.

Not my friend.

But her hands were warm, and the bed was soft, and for the first time since the whipping, I felt something close to safe.

“You’re going to be alright,” Cora whispered, her voice coming from far away. “You’re stronger than you think. Stronger than any of them realize.”

My eyes grew heavy.

The room blurred at the edges.

“Sleep,” she murmured, her hands still moving in slow, soothing circles. “I’ll watch over you.”

I wanted to argue.

I wanted to stay awake, stay alert, stay ready for the next blow.

But the silk was soft, and Cora’s hands were steady, and the darkness was pulling me under with gentle hands.

The last thing I felt was her adjusting the blanket around my shoulders, her whisper barely reaching me as I drifted away.

“I’ve got you, My Lady. Sleep.”

And then there was only darkness, and the distant hope that when I woke, this would all have been a dream.

⸻

I woke to someone gently shaking my shoulder.

“My Lady.”

I groaned and turned my face into the pillow, barely willing to open my eyes.

“My Lady, wake up.”

I finally opened my eyes and found Cora standing beside the bed, looking far too cheerful for someone who had just dragged me out of sleep.

“What time is it?” I mumbled.

“You slept all the way into the evening.”

I blinked, trying to make sense of that.

“Evening?”

“Yes.”

She smiled.

“It’s time for dinner. Come on before everything gets cold.”

I slowly pushed myself upright, my body protesting immediately.

The soreness across my back was still there, but the fever was gone, and at least I no longer felt as though I was about to collapse.

Cora helped me out of bed and waited patiently while I steadied myself before leading me through the suite and toward the dining room.

The moment I stepped inside, I stopped.

There was food everywhere.

Not just one or two dishes, but enough food to feed an entire family.

There were roasted meats, vegetables, rice, bread, soups, fruits, pastries, and several dishes I couldn’t even identify.

Everything had been arranged beautifully across the long dining table, and I stared at it for a moment before looking at Cora.

“Is all of this for me?”

Cora laughed.

“Apparently.”

I stared at the table again.

“They expect me to eat all this?”

“No, My Lady. I think they expect you to choose what you want.”

“Well, that’s more reasonable.”

I sat down and reached for one of the dishes, still feeling slightly overwhelmed by how different everything was.

Only yesterday, I had been kneeling in the sun with blood running down my back.

Now I was sitting in a dining room that probably cost more than the entire village I came from.

It was difficult to understand how quickly my life had changed.

I looked at Cora, who was still standing beside me.

“Sit.”

She hesitated.

“My Lady?”

“Sit and eat with me.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“I’m not supposed to eat with you.”

“I know.”

She looked toward the doorway as though someone might appear and punish her for it.

I sighed.

“Cora, if they wanted you to starve while I ate, they wouldn’t have put enough food on this table to feed twenty people. Sit.”

She smiled and finally pulled out the chair beside mine.

“Thank you, My Lady.”

We had barely started eating when there was a soft knock at the door.

Cora immediately straightened.

“I’ll get it.”

She went to the door and opened it, revealing a man dressed in the dark formal uniform of the palace stewards.

He bowed deeply.

“Good evening, My Lady.”

I swallowed my food and nodded.

“Good evening.”

He stepped inside with two servants carrying several neatly wrapped packages.

“The Supreme Alpha has ordered these delivered to you personally.”

I looked at the packages, then back at him.

“For me?”

“Yes, My Lady. They were selected and ordered according to the Alpha’s instructions.”

I frowned slightly.

I hadn’t asked for anything.

“What are they?”

The steward gestured toward the packages.

“A mobile phone, clothing, personal items, and a few other necessities for your new residence.”

I stared at them for a moment before looking back at him.

“Why?”

The steward seemed surprised by the question.

“Because you are now an Honored Lady of the Inner Residence, My Lady.”

Of course.

The title came with everything.

Except freedom.

I looked away, suddenly losing my appetite.

Then the steward cleared his throat.

“There is one more matter.”

I looked back at him.

“The Supreme Alpha has sent for you.”

My stomach tightened.