“I still don’t understand it,” I confess, wiping away a tear. “We had gone from loving and intimate to…. I don’t know. He hates me.”
Mila gasps. “My lady, don’t say that. I am sure the prince doesn’t hate you. He might be mad but he certainly doesn’t hate you.”
My scratchy eyes are fixed on the door. Sia had left me, and I broke down. Mila came in a moment later with my dress for the Claiming and when she saw me, she threw it in a corner and gathered all the tissues she could find.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” I say sniffling.
His words had destroyed me. Sia had called me stupid, insatiable, and insane. He had said it in a more complex term but I understood it all the same. The realization makes me start crying. Mila hands me the tissues, patting my back awkwardly. I don’t blame her for being so uncomfortable. She is being forced to make me feel better.
“You don’t have to lie to me Mila. He does hate me. Oh Mila, what am I to do now?”
“Stop crying.”
I just stared at her. “Look, I know that you’re hurt but crying over him is definitely not going to solve the problem. The Claiming doesn’t start until four and we can still make it if we hurry up now.”
I blink. “Have you not been listening to me?”, I scream in her face. “He canceled the Claiming and I would be kissing the palace goodbye, and you…you won’t have to wipe tears anymore because I won’t be around to shed them.”
Mila looks pained. “I’m sorry my lady. I thought you were joking. My sincere apologies my lady.”
“You know what? That’s enough. I don’t want to hear anymore. Get me a bottle of wine with lots of alcohol.”
“My…my lady, the royal concubines are not allowed to have wine unless there is a special occasion.”
“Well, this is a special occasion! Me, having my heart broken is a special occasion! I’m no royalty either am I a baby-making machine. I’m just a lowly omega and you must address me as such! Now go get me my fucking drink before I lose my goddamned mind!”
….
“Who would have thought that Sia’s lover is a fucking drunk?”
I wipe away the snot from my nose, lifting my head to glare at Thane standing in the doorway. What the fuck is he doing here? And where are Mila and the bottle I asked her to bring?
“I’m not drunk, just a little tipsy. And I am not Sia’s lover.”
Thane scoffs, and I frown when he takes my glass of bourbon from me, downing it in one swift gulp. “Hey! That was mine!”
“The last time I checked, you didn’t own any wine bottles around here. And why didn’t you take my permission before taking it?”
“Mila gave it to me,” I mumbled. “What would I need your permission for?”
“The royal cellar is mine and so is the vineyard. Each prince has a part of the kingdom they govern.”
“And let me guess, yours is the land of the drunks.”
He glares at me. “I didn’t come here to listen to all this rubbish. Now put on your dress, the one for the Claiming.”
“No.”
“What?”
“You heard me right. I am not doing shit because there is no Claiming.”
“I don’t know what transpired between you and my brother, but you get ready to be claimed.”
“There is no Claiming,” I yell, fighting back tears. Mentioning the Claiming only reminds me of my argument with Sia. And the last thing I want to remember is the look of pain in his eyes when I refused him.
“Sia mentioned that and I want to know why.”
“I’m sure he told you the reason.”
“You have to give me something better than that. Your dislike for tattoos isn’t enough reason to cancel the Claiming.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. Sia doesn’t have the heart to cancel the Claiming, not when he is madly in love with you.”
I blink. Madly in what? “He…he is not in love with me. He doesn’t love me. Sia hates me.”
But what if he does love me? What if a part of him does love me? I shake my head to get rid of those thoughts. He doesn’t love me. Period.
Thane snorts. “As I was saying, Sia doesn’t have the heart to cancel the Claiming so that led me to you. Why did you do it Crinka?”
“Why does it matter if I canceled it? Why do you care if it’s canceled or not? You don’t even like me.”
“I don’t, but Waxlyn does. She got sad when she heard the Claiming got canceled. To her, it means that you and Sia won’t be together again. She has refused to speak to me ever since,” he says with a hint of sadness.
“You care about her.”
“You’re right, I do. I don’t like seeing my little girl sad, so you and Sia better make up. Plus, the Fae Queen and the Vampire King have announced that they would be coming tomorrow. So, the earlier you get claimed, the better for you.”
“I remember Ruarc saying that the Claiming normally takes place after the ceremony, so how about we just wait until then? Sia and I would have cleared up any misunderstanding between us.”
“You don’t just understand it do you? Crinka, you’re hated here! Nobody likes your guts.”
“You’re lying,” I butt in. “You like me enough to be talking to me.”
“Can you be any dumber? I’m not talking individually, I mean collectively! The council hates you; my mother hates you; the twins hate you and so do the people. The other concubines envy you and…”
I cut in. “Why would they envy me? There is nothing relatively special about me. I have not even been made a concubine yet.”
“You still don’t understand your worth do you?”
“I don’t think I’ve got worth.”
“It’s unladylike to degrade yourself Crinka. Leave it to the haters.”
I sniff, wiping away a stray tear. “You’re not supposed to be nice to me. I’m such a horrible person and…”
“Shit Crinka, don’t cry. Here take,” he says handing me his handkerchief. “Use it to wipe those tears of yours.”
I take it from him, wiping away my tears. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And you have worth Crinka. We all do. It just depends on what we do, and how we achieve such worth.”
“I am still trying to comprehend this.”
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Sia happens to be the most compassionate royal around here. He doesn’t have a whore and neither does he have a concubine. So, you being the first woman in his life after Anita means that you are very special to him. Most women would kill to be in your place. Some may even set booby traps around the palace. They did that shit for mine. Sia has made a lot of enemies in his lifetime, and he will still make more. Those enemies of his want him destroyed, and they are going to use you to do that.”
“Well tell them to stop trying,” I say stretching my limbs. “The lad hates my guts now.”
“Don’t be stupid Crinka. The lad doesn’t hate you. If he did, he would have let you be shamed.”
“So how does any of what you have just said concern the Claiming?”
“After the priest blesses the ink, Sia tattoos an eye on your palm and you would do the same.”
“I don’t know the first thing about giving someone a tattoo.”
“It doesn’t matter. Those tattoos symbolize this: When you’re in trouble, you will tap the tattooed eye on your palm. The eye will be closed of course, don’t want to scare you or anything, and the eye on Sia’s palm will move underneath the lid, and Sia would be able to locate you and save you.”
“Now that’s what I want to know. How the fuck will he know?”
“After the tattoos, a bond would be formed between you both, and Sia would be able to know where you are.”
“Thanks for clearing that up, but I don’t care. I will be leaving on the 25th, and Sia would be free to choose someone else.”
“So, what about my daughter huh? Are you just going to crush her hopes?”
“She is your daughter, not mine. Don’t force me to do something I don’t want. If I can be claimed without having some needle pierce my skin, then we don’t have a problem. But if not, forget about it.”
Thane exhales deeply. “I have never been the type to beg, but if I have to do it for my daughter, then so be it.”
My eyes widen in shock when he falls to his knees before me. Me! The omega! Wow! He would go to any lengths just for Waxlyn. The realization makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. Is this what it means to love someone? To go to any lengths just to make her happy?
“Crinka, don’t leave. I am begging you. My daughter wants you to stay, so please do, for her sake. I am sure you and Sia can work something out regarding the claim, but don’t leave. Please.”
“Fine I won’t leave. But bear it in mind that I am only doing this for your daughter.”
He gets up. “Thanks.”
I sigh. “I’ll let him claim me, but would he still be interested? I said a lot of things to him and…”
“We will work something out,” he said turning to leave. “And let your hair down.”
“Why?”
“You look better with your hair down.”
I smile. “I know you did like me.”
He raises his middle finger at me before leaving.