Chapter 5 Everything has Changed
Elowyn
I wake up before the alarm with a racing heart and sweat clinging to my skin. It feels like something is wrong with me and I really don’t have time to be feeling like this. I don’t necessarily feel sick, but it definitely feels like my body and I are not on the same page. The room is dim as I sit in my bed, the curtains just barely letting morning light seep in. For a moment, I forget where I am, but then everything rushes back to me. Elaris. The palace. Mara. The Crown Prince. Everything rushes back to me all at once.
The pressure in my chest is worse today than it was yesterday. It’s not painful, but it is heavy. I press my hand over my sternum and take a slow breath, but nothing happens. No relief. No increase in intensity. It just sits there just the same. That should be reassuring, but it isn’t.
“Morning,” Mara murmurs from her bed, rubbing her eyes.
“Morning,” I reply with a scratchy voice causing Mara to look over and study me.
“You look flushed? Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I feel fine,” I lie easily. I’ve had to tell that same lie so many times in my life that it almost comes natural now.
Neither one of us are really morning people so we get ready for the day in silence before reporting to the head Omega. Mara and I are assigned to corridor duty on the main floor today. That’s a high traffic area with nobles, visitors, and other important people. The thought makes my stomach twist. I don’t want to be near important people, but this isn’t something I get to choose. I take my cleaning supplies and move where I’m told to move, Mara right beside me.
The main corridor is bright, with tall windows and pale marble floors that show every single speck of dirt. I kneel near one of the large pillars and start wiping down the baseboards, listening to the chaos happening around me. It isn’t long before whispers start, but they’re not about me. They’re about him. The Crown Prince.
“The Crown Prince sparred with FIVE warriors this morning,” one of the omegas says.
“I heard he broke one of them,” someone else follows up.
“Yeah, well I heard he’s been turning down all the noblewomen. He hasn’t taken a lover in days,” a third person chimes in and the other two collectively gasp.
“That can’t be true,” one of them says, but I don’t engage. I keep my eyes down, focusing on the baseboards. I don’t want to hear about him and I don’t want to think about him, but it doesn’t work because the pressure in my chest pulsates faintly every time.
One of the noblewomen passes by me a little too close, her skirt brushing my shoulder and sending a shiver through me. I flinch at the touch, but I’m not sure why. Something is off with me today. Everything feels so much sharper. Every scent in this hallway is stronger. Perfume, soap, polish, metal, and underneath it all…. Him. I freeze in place even though he’s nowhere in sight. My chest aches like it’s aware of his presence in the palace. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to focus on the baseboards I’m scrubbing. I am an Omega servant. I am a nobody and I certainly don’t have the right to react this way to the Crown Prince. Suddenly a shadow falls over me and when I look up, the young woman is standing in front of me holding a cup of something in front of her pale blue gown. Her hair, nails, and make up are done to perfection. Her eyes are sharp as she stares at me.
“Watch where you’re working,” she snaps. “You almost made me spill this on my dress.”
“I’m sorry, my lady,” I say immediately and she scoffs.
“You servants are always in the damn way.”
“I’ll move,” I tell her, shifting my cleaning supplies over a little bit to get out of her way. She doesn’t step back. Instead she fakes a stumble and dumps scalding hot tea all over my arms. I jump at the contact, knocking my bucket of water all over the front of my uniform.
“Clumsy and stupid. Typical,” she says, laughing with her group of friends.
“I’m sorry, my lady,” I whisper, even though I didn’t do anything wrong. She grabs my arm hard, her nails digging into my skin.
“Clean it up and don’t you ever look at me again,” she snarls.
I don’t know what comes over me, but something inside of me snaps. It doesn’t feel like anger or power, but a rush of heat surges through me. My vision blurs and the pressure in my chest that I’ve been trying to ignore gets more intense. I yank my arm back out of her hand, causing her to truly stumble this time and gasps ripple through the corridor.
“You touched me,” she shouts, her eyes wide with fury.
“I didn’t…” I start, but she cuts me off.
“You shoved me!” she yells a little louder and I stand to meet her eyes.
“I’m sorry if that’s the way you see it, my lady, but that is not what happened. I think the burns on my arms and bloodied nail marks in my arm prove that,” I say, more gasps echoing through the hall. Did I really just say that to this woman?
She raises her hand to hit me and I flinch, squeezing my eyes shut. The slap never lands though and the entire corridor goes silent. I open my eyes and the noblewoman is staring over my shoulder, a joyful smile on her face and she straightens up the front of her gown. I turn slowly to see The Crown Prince standing just a few feet away. Kael Elaris. His expression is blank. He’s not angry. He’s not shouting, but his presence and demeanor are cold.
The pressure in my chest explodes, a small whisper echoing in my head as it says the word I fear most. Mate. My knees threaten to buckle. I don’t know what’s happening to me right now and I don’t know what I did, but something deep inside tells me that everything has just changed.
