Chapter 28 Emotions

The entertainment room had been all set up and Nevis had been helping Kari practice pouring when Ryedir, Trois, and a large, round bellied man Kari didn’t know came in. Nevis left with Trois and the other two sat at a small round table.

Kari stepped forward and set to carefully pouring both men a glass of the expensive alcohol before folding himself up at Ryedir’s lap. It made Kari become conscious of what it means as he recalled his talk with Nevis earlier but he pushed it away from his thoughts. This was far better than sitting on the floor anyway.

The omega huffed and had to fight a scowl from his face when Ryedir ran his fingers through his hair as though he was petting a favored animal.

The talk was all business and bored Kari to no end as he idly listened in. They seemed to be bartering over a shipment of silks in exchange for a mix of alcohols. The merchant seemed determined to get his hands on some of the Salantra, the special type of alcohol that was only produced in Mishal at Ryedir’s own personal distillery.

It was what Kari served to the two men and he wasn’t entirely sure what was so special about it. Especially what made it so premium that Ryedir resisted giving this man even a single bottle.

Kari stood and refilled the glasses, hand on the bottom of the jug. He was feeling rather satisfied when he successfully managed to not only not spill a drop, but actually made the movements almost as graceful as Nevis’s.

Ryedir indicated for Kari to pass him his glass as well instead of reaching for it himself and the omega had to bite back another scowl. Lazy man. The alpha shot him a small smirk before instantly wiping his face back to a neutral expression.

The longer their negotiations went, the more desperate the merchant appeared. He was wildly gesturing and offering things that even Kari thought sounded far-fetched. Ryedir was just as cool and composed as he was at the beginning, giving even less now than at the start if Kari remembered correctly.

The omega had to marvel at Ryedir’s apparent business prowess. It was the first time he had focused enough to take note of what they were saying during a negotiation and how expertly Ryedir weaved his way through conversation. Sometimes he managed to speak without saying a single thing of substance. It really personified the ‘words as weapons’ phrase. Their entire conversation was a battlefield and Ryedir had the man surrounded with his back against the wall.

Kari leaned forward to refill Ryedir’s glass for the third time and was startled to see the normally clear liquid turn an awful, murky yellow.

The room was suddenly cloaked in a thick silence as both Kari and the merchant stared at the disgusting looking liquid in alarm. Turning to look at the alpha, he noticed the sudden change in Ryedir’s demeanour.

He stared at the merchant with narrowed eyes and suddenly seemed to ooze danger. The omega turned to look at the merchant and could see how much the man was sweating, eyes flittering nervously around the room.

“Salantra,” Ryedir’s deep voice sliced through the tension with such sudden, quiet force that Kari jumped in surprise. “Is a specially distilled alcohol that reacts to any contamination, even saliva. It is a very long, arduous process that wastes a great deal of otherwise perfectly consumable alcohol to create such a product. But the end result is very much worth the effort, wouldn’t you agree?”

The fat bellied man’s mouth opened and closed a few times but no sound escaped. Ryedir continued in the same quietly menacing tone as before, “This particularly disgusting looking yellow colour is associated with a number of poisons.” He leaned forward and pushed the glass to sit in front of the merchant. “Drink up if you want to make a deal with me.”

The man suddenly lunged forward with a yell and Kari ducked the hand that reached for him, moving away as Ryedir had taught him. He sprang to his feet, grinning at successfully putting the gruelling training into practice. The fat man had nothing on Ryedir.

Kari turned to see Ryedir already behind the man with a small dagger digging into his throat.

Familiar golden eyes burned with a feral light and a thin trail of blood oozed down the knife’s blade. A low, threatening growl rumbled out from Ryedir’s chest and the fat beta pissed himself in fear.

It took a few seconds for Kari to work out what had happened. By going for Kari, the man had inadvertently kicked Ryedir’s alpha protective instincts into overdrive and Ryedir had almost gone completely feral.

The door came flying open and an armed Trois and Jaid leaped into the room, quickly removing the merchant from Ryedir’s grip.

They pulled him from the room, leaving the alpha standing with dagger in hand and chest heaving. He seemed to be having trouble coming back into full control and Kari approached cautiously.

Ryedir’s eyes caught the movement and he strode forward, dropping the dagger and picking the omega up, causing him to yelp in surprise, before Ryedir sat back down on his chair with Kari in his lap.

The omega sat still, waiting for the man to calm down before even attempting to speak. He pressed his ear against Ryedir’s chest and listened as his heartbeat slowed, steel arms keeping him trapped in place like usual.

“Are you okay?” Ryedir’s voice was strained, like he was still trying to gain full control of himself.

Kari nodded, snuggling to the alpha to help further calm him down. After a few moments, he felt the alpha’s heartbeat slow down. Trying to lighten up the atmosphere, he spoke.

“I’m not your little cuddle toy, you know.”

“Oh?”

Kari pulled away and scowled up at the alpha. “Seriously, don’t you ever tire of just sitting and cuddling me?”

“No.” The man actually sounded amused! “I doubt I’ll ever tire of such things.”

“You can at least grab your own drink! Do you like watching me do things for you so much?”

“Ah, that.” Ryedir leaned over to pick up the discarded jug of Salantra that Kari had been using to serve them earlier. He turned it over, showing the bottom of the jug which was laced in a very familiar pattern. It was covered in frost. “It’s not very often one gets a cold drink in this climate. I was quite enjoying the treat.”

“I didn’t even realize I was doing that.”

“Can you sculpt with it?”

“I used to when I was little.”

At Ryedir’s curious look, Kari raised his hands and visualized his power pool. The lush green grass swayed in a gentle breeze and a small amount of water covered the rocks at the bottom of the pool. Enough power for what he wanted.

Carefully, Kari fashioned a long, thin stem and slowly added sparkling petals to the top. Under his cautious manipulations a rose took shape. It was something he had practiced a lot while growing up, as it was his mother’s favorite flower and he had often left her little bouquets around the house to make her day.

Grinning in success, he proudly handed the rose over to Ryedir. As thick fingers brushed across his own to take the glittering flower, Kari suddenly realized just what he had done. He stared in wide-eyed embarrassment as the alpha smiled at the rose as he inspected it.

Kari had just given Ryedir a rose. Made from ice but the underlying meaning was the same, if not more meaningful, considering.

“Thank you, Kari.”

A large hand nudged his chin up and Kari’s breath was stolen from his lungs as warm lips brushed against his own. Kari couldn’t resist leaning into the embrace and Ryedir took that as consent to deepen the kiss. Yhieris, it felt so good.

This was bad.

This was very bad.