Chapter 39 Welcome To Disani

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 Kari was 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 waist securely while the other was on the reins. It was a little uncomfortable back in his trouser and tunic, and he was miffed about being bodily picked up again, but he did get a good view of the city.

It was huge.

Massive stone walls surrounded the city with slums around outside of that and large paved roads rang with the sound of horse hooves and wagon wheels. The houses inside the walls were tall and mostly well-kept with large banners and signs brightly indicating shops and inns. The mix of people was staggering. Much like in Mishal, there were several different skin colors and a variety of clothing.

Slaves clearly marked by their different color leather collars moved about in varying states of dress but Kari saw no one wearing a white collar like his own until they passed by what could only be a brothel with scantily clad men and women lounging on the upper story railings and calling seductively down to those traversing below.

As they moved closer into the city, Kari finally noticed what loomed above them.

“Is that…?”

“Welcome to Disani, the seat of Niamrean power and my childhood home.”

The palace was a breathtaking feat of architecture with many spiraling towers and sweeping archways. Even from a distance, the stonework looked elaborate and the space it occupied must be immense. Its looming presence only intensified as they got closer and Kari had never felt like more of a country bumpkin as he did at that moment.

They slowly entered the palace grounds after passing through another stone gateway set in a large wall that encircled the palace. It was almost as busy here as it was in the city itself.

Ryedir walked his horse right up to the steps at the entrance of the palace where a young girl waited. As she walked down to greet them, Kari realized that he was sorely mistaken about her age. She was small in stature, her entire countenance screaming fragility, but something about her eyes belied her weak appearance.

Large golden eyes caught his own and he gasped. They were Lezzker’s eyes set in a different face. He took a moment to scan over her form and noticed the matching dark hair pinned elaborately on top of her head before spilling down in loose curls past her shoulders and the quiet aura of confidence with a hint of command.

This had to be Ryedir’s omegan sister.

The alpha swung down from Addis before pulling Kari down as well. He had just straightened when the woman approached with a small smile.

“Welcome home, brother.”

Ryedir snorted but moved to embrace her. “Home is back in the other direction. This is just a reluctant vacation,” he said as he pulled away.

“Well, I can see why you were hiding yourself away for so long. How exquisite.” She watched Kari with eyes bright and full of intelligence. Remembering what Ryedir had said about people underestimating her, Kari had to wonder how they missed the sharp cunning in those liquid gold eyes. “And unbonded. I’m surprised, Ryedir. Surely that should have been taken care of before your visit?”

“His heat has yet to arrive.”

“Heats are not required for such things. Never mind,” she waved her hand at him and giggled. “I much prefer to find out on my own, anyway. Far more interesting that way. Now, are you not going to introduce him to his new family?”

Ryedir sighed and wrapped his arm around Kari’s waist possessively, pulling him right up against his hard body and wringing a flush from his cheeks in response.

“Kari, this is my youngest sister Millicent. Millicent, this is Kari,” Ryedir said with a bored drawl.

“Welcome to the family, Kari.” With a grin, she bounded forward and grabbed his free arm, tugging him from the alpha’s grip and earning a growl of warning from her brother.

“Oh, shush, Rye. You’ve picked him as your mate so I’m sure we will get along just fine. Now you need to go and organize your staff and greet the others, so I will take care of your precious lover. I’m sure we will have much fun getting him all prettied up for your evening’s pleasure.”

With one last wicked grin, she tugged Kari fully from his alpha’s grip and pulled him up the stairs towards the large entrance doors. He shot an alarmed look over his shoulder but Ryedir’s expression was blank as he watched them leave.

“So pretty. I’m surprised my brother managed to keep his hands off you for so long.” She giggled as she led him past servants and visitors alike. “I hope he hasn’t been completely neglecting you though. The last thing you want is to be stuck with a bull-headed alpha trying to be ‘nice’ while you waste away in sheer sexual frustration. You do smell faintly of him, so hopefully he has been taking care of his duties somewhat.”

Kari gaped at the other omega as his cheeks flushed a darker red than before.

“The blush looks good on you. Now, while we are walking at such a pace through the halls is the safest way to talk. It’s hard to catch more than a few words while we pass by as long as our voices are low. I’m sure Rye gave you a warning about this place.”

Kari nodded mutely.

“Good. With the coronation of our new queen coming up, everyone is vying for political power more than usual. Hoping to get in her favour or the favour of the royal line, seeing as our entire family is here- which is highly unusual. The last time we were all in one place was for our dearest father’s funeral two years back near the start of the war.”

“However, right now is a rather dangerous time to be close to someone important. So we must keep up appearances of you being a cute little omegan pleasure slave nearing their long-awaited heat.”

“How did you…?”

She flashed him a knowing glance. “Observation. It’s why Rye growled at me before. Don’t worry. As your family, I will take good care of you.”

“Family? That’s not how he implied it...” Kari trailed off, realizing that he had said loudly.

“Ah. Did my dear big brother do the stupid alpha ‘you are mine’ thing? Honestly, all the aristocratic alphas are horrendous when it comes to feelings. They always act like their mates are property and get so very confused when their partners rebel. I like you, though. So easy to read, which is a breath of fresh air where smiles hide poison. Because you are so easy to read, you will actually throw people off. They won’t know whether to trust you or not.”

They strode through a maze of corridors that had Kari hopelessly lost. He barely even registered the opulence of the building or the many people they passed by.

“But we’ll pretty you up, make you the perfect ornament and before you know it, the next few weeks will be over. You’ll be happily fucked and bonded and be on your way back home to Rye’s comfy little coastal paradise to have many little babies.” Millicent burst into laughter at the horrified look on Kari’s face. “No? Somehow it makes me happy that I’m not the only omega to not be fond of that particular fate. You’ll have more freedom than that suggests, don’t worry. But are you truly horrified by the idea of children that much?”

“I’ve never really given it that much thought. Only briefly…”

“You are a funny one. Well, male omegas have difficulty falling pregnant anyway. So you won’t have to worry about it for a while yet.”

“Or ever,” he pointed out. “I don’t know if I’m a bearer or not.”

“You are,” Millicent said with absolute certainty. She elaborated when he shot her a sceptical look. “Alpha’s have a sense for it, not consciously, but they do. There’s something different in the pheromones between a bearer and non-bearer omega. So, if my normally restrained, cold, and logical brother, who has denied courting numerous times by many omegas, suddenly went all ‘mine’ on you, then you are most likely a bearer. But no. It isn’t just that too since he had been offered bearers before and he never budged. Something else must have caught his attention, something that sets you apart from the rest of this dreadfully dull lot of omegas.”

Millicent stared at him thoughtfully. “I bet he fell in love with you at first sight. And not just because you are pretty. No. My brother is someone who looks past appearances.”

Kari was bewildered. He never really thought of that. He got no more time to question or even think more on that topic as they finally reached their intended destination and Millicent turned to him with a decidedly evil light in her eyes.

“Now, let’s have some fun, shall we?”