Hooves sounded behind him and Ryedir came level with him almost immediately, rising to his challenge. Kari shot him a wild grin and then they were off, hooves pounding into the road as they galloped ahead.
He laughed with unrestrained joy at the feeling of freedom. The wind rushed in his face and the horse underneath him gave the impression they could go anywhere he chose.
It was like the weight of the travel and the impending worry over their upcoming visit to the capital slid off his shoulders. It wasn’t long before they slowed to a walk again. It wouldn’t do to tire the horses too much as they still had a way to travel and Kari laughed breathlessly in exhilaration.
“Feel better?”
“Yeah.” He flashed his alpha a beaming smile and received a soft look of affection in return. Embarrassed and a little shy over the openness being displayed, Kari turned his gaze back
Finally, they entered Disani’s city proper. Twelve days of travel and here they were. Thankfully Kari’s heat had yet to arrive but he was aware of the alpha watching him more than usual, no doubt looking for signs of it. He estimated that he had one to two weeks left at most before he hit three months since he had been given to Ryedir. That was roughly when he had healed enough to be functional, so prior to that,his heat must have been pushed aside due to his injuries. He was cutting it fine to tell Ryedir his choice but he refused to be pushed into it. The man could damn well wait until Kariwas ready. The omega had been eager to see the city he had heard so much about, so he had gone to sit at the front of the carriage with the driver but Ryedir had pulled him onto his horse and sat him in front of him, large arm wrapped around his waistsecurely while the other wasonthe
“Well, I can see why you like this one, Rye. So fiery.” Millicentswept into a large entertaining room in front of Kari. The women had bullied him into the bath with her, dosed him with scented oils, and dressed him up in a white short-sleevetunic ornamented with gold and yellow patterns.He was in a red breech with knee-high boots. A fabric was tied on his waist as always but now, a sash accompanied it from his left shoulder across his chest. Sparkling silver chains decorated both his arms placed just above his elbow. There were even two tiny silver bells attached to it so he tinkled as he moved. It was super embarrassing. Worse still, she had put something oily through his hair and painted around his eyes with a dark, almost charcoal-like stick. He was feeling ridiculously self-conscious when the crazy woman had dragged him from her quarters and through the palace. That had changed
The alpha turned off the main corridor and a smaller one. It wasn’t long before they passed what appeared to be rooms before finally entering one. It was lavish, the opulence even more grand than the rest of the palace. A huge four-poster bed surrounded by light drapes dominated the room but it wasn’t there that Ryedircarried him. They entered a room with an even larger pool set in the middle than the one in Mishal. Karicould only gape at the steam-filled room. How on earth did they manage to keep the water warm enough to steam? There was so much water. Ryedirset him down but still kept a tight hold on his form. He stripped Karicarefully, removing the delicate chains first then the sash, belt, tunic and breech before manhandling him into the bath. Kariopened his mouth to say something snarky about the treatment but the words died in his throat at the look on his alpha’s
“Well, you certainly are thorough, aren’t you, Rye?” The man in question growled at Millicentas she waltzed through the door without knocking. Kariflushed. He knew exactly what she referred to. Ryedirhad been overzealous in scent marking him last night and removing all traces of the perfume that lingered on him. He had certainly put Karithrough his paces. He practically came dry at the end just from the man’s fingers and had been too exhausted to react to the cum that splattered on his face to then be rubbed into his neck. It was embarrassing to think about now but there had been something thrilling about seeing such a wild-eyed look on the normally restrained alpha. He had honestly thought the man might finally lose to instincts and go back on his word to only claim Karionce he agreed. But by some great feat of will, Kariremains unbonded and unmated, just very tho
“It was a stupid move, but it was nothing to start a war over. It’s been two years.Jueanshould call an end to it. It’s nothing but a waste of resources at this point. No, even right from the beginning.”“We are all well aware of your stance on the war, Rye. But it was father’s last wish and decree as king. Jueancan’t very well call it to an end without seeing it through.”“Seeing it through how?” Ryedirwas starting to snarl at this point.Karihad never seen him so animated in conversation before. “We have taken enough land now that we could claim it as a fifth NiamreanVesnice and have that as reparation. Then send you across to set up and run the area. You are more than capable of managing such an undertaking, including the construction of additional infrastructure to link it to the capital.”&ld
The wedding was a truly beautiful affair. Karihad never seen such an elaborate celebration before but then, this was for a king of a powerful nation. People were dressed in their best, everyone glittering in shimmering fabrics and adorned with precious metals and stones. Even the servants and slaves were done up. Karihimself had a new tunic that was intricately patterned with swirls of blue, and small sparking silver chains that had tiny sparkling jewels hanging off them. His breech was made from beautiful shimmering blue fabric and he veritably dripped in silver chains adorned with more sparkling jewelswhile his knee-length boots shined with silver swirls on each side. Millicenthad painted black around his eyes again and when he glimpsed himself in a mirror, he looked almost otherworldly. His skin was as pale as snow, almost unearthly, and his eyes, hai
It was the day of the coronation. The wedding had taken place the day before and the newlywed omega bore her bonding mark proudly for the world to see. She wore another stunning gown for her coronation as queen and the entire court sat in attendance. The royal family still seemed a little on edge, but less so than yesterday. The throne room was done up in beautiful red and gold draped fabric, the royal colorsapparently, and Ryedirwas back in his military style outfit while Kariwas adorned in yet another fanciful tunic-breech outfit. He could feel the tenseness of his alpha.The entire line of succession was in one place and he was wary of something happening. Jaidhad been organizingextra guards who were outside of the capital’s influence, but the omega could see just how concerned both alphas were. Ryedirhad muttered something about it being too easy with no a
Screams of pain echoed off the walls to be matched by yells of panic. The soldiers surrounding Hanzenleapt forward at his command to be met by the few loyal guards that had remained inside the throne room.The nobles at the edges of the room shrank back even more, not a single one stepping forward to defend their king or new queen. It was odd to him that they watched such a conflict yet did not step forward to help in any way, but he had no time to ponder the reasons.Armored bodies surged together in the center of the room and Karihad difficulty making out who was friend or foe from this distance. A small knife whizzed past his ear and lodged itself firmly in an enemy’s throat with a meaty thunk. Millicentstepped past him armed with a dozen more knives twirling around her hands as she let them loose with deadly accuracy. Ryedirstepped around Karias well, drawing the sword at his hip and leap