Chapter 17 – KNIGHT
KNIGHT
alphas are loud.
too loud.
too early.
Nikolai strutting around inn room like peacock with tail fanned.
thinks he has won something.
he has won nothing.
"She said I smell like blood and steel," he says.
again.
and again.
and again.
has been bragging since morning came.
cannot kill him.
want to kill him.
Moon would not like.
Raven rolls eyes.
makes face.
slumps on cushions with white cloth around shoulders.
"So you smell like rust?" he asks. "Congratulations."
"Sounds like a robot on its period," Geo mutters. Doesn't look up from book.
Nikolai freezes.
face changes.
"No!" he growls. "That's not what she fucking said."
pause.
uncertainty creeps into voice.
"Blood and steel isn't the same as rust."
"If you say so," Raven says.
smirk on his mouth.
making Nikolai angry.
good.
but angry alphas are loud alphas.
maybe not so good.
"Jealous fucking asshole," Nikolai snarls.
"Oh, absolutely," Raven says. "I'm devastated she hasn't told me I reek of tetanus."
hand on heart.
mock hurt on face.
Geo laughs.
"She wouldn't know what tetanus is," Nikolai snaps.
Raven sits up straight. "She's an omega raised by one of the most powerful men in Reinmich, not an uneducated savage. Unlike some alphas in this room."
endless noise.
endless bickering.
alphas should learn to be quiet for once.
need Moon.
where is Moon?
in bedroom.
getting ready.
taking too long.
want to check.
make sure safe.
but she asked for privacy.
must wait, then.
"What do you think she thinks you smell like?" Nikolai asks Raven, curved smile on his face, voice mocking. "Like a box of kittens?"
"My scent is objectively delightful," Raven says, chin high, pride in voice, preening all the time. "Everyone says so."
Nikolai snorts. "Everyone you fuck for money, you mean."
Geo stands.
fast.
growls.
"Watch your fucking mouth, Vlakov."
tension fills room.
like air before storm.
fight coming.
should I stop?
should I watch?
should I kill one?
would Moon be angry?
yes.
Moon would be very angry.
so I wait.
stay still.
maybe they will kill each other.
save me time.
Raven laughs.
loud.
false.
stands and walks to Geo.
puts hand on arm to calm him.
"It's fine, Daddy. He's just bitter he still hasn't gotten any."
Raven leans close to Geo.
sniffs.
makes show of breathing deep.
"The hell are you doing?" Geo growls.
but he isn't really angry.
never angry with Raven.
or Moon.
only Nikolai.
"You smell like cigars and whiskey and rocks," Raven announces, smiling. "I wonder how our goddess would describe that?"
Geo pushes him away.
gentle.
"Fuck off."
Raven turns.
looks at me, tilts head, wondering.
growl rises from my chest.
warning.
stay away from me.
Raven holds hands up.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he says, voice quick and light.
Nikolai laughs like jackal.
can't help but wonder.
thinking now.
what do I smell like?
to Moon?
do I have a scent?
maybe blood and death.
but Moon touches me.
kisses mask.
lets me inside her.
must smell like something.
something not bad.
bickering starts again.
"I wonder what Azarel smells like."
Raven.
always too many questions.
always thinking too much.
"Probably like an ostrich or whatever the fuck that bird is they have everywhere," Nikolai answers, bitter.
always bitter about Azarel.
that I understand.
Raven cackles.
"Probably smells like a fucking bakery if she's hung up enough to have us gallivanting all over the earth on his account," Geo mutters.
more bickering.
more theories.
can't take it anymore.
rise from spot on floor.
walk over to stone wall.
metal claw digs into stone.
three zigzag lines.
one circle, like moon.
know word from sign outside old cage.
screeching sound hurts ears.
but not as much as alpha bickering.
bickering stops for once.
all three alphas stare at word on wall.
NO.
"Oh." Raven's voice cracks.
Geo's mouth drops open.
Nikolai stares.
"Holy shit," Geo breathes. "You can write?"
"No what?" Nikolai demands.
stupid fucking alphas.
point at them.
let out a growl.
"I think he wants us to shut up," Raven croaks.
and so they do.
all silent.
staring, but silent.
finally.
bedroom door opens.
Moon steps out.
all alphas stare at her.
even me.
she glows.
silver hair braided with white flowers.
white silks flowing around her body.
like water.
like clouds.
like moonlight made solid.
transparent veil over lower face.
violet eyes shining above.
Geo's mouth open wider.
Raven looks dizzy.
Nikolai is somehow more silent.
want to kill them all for staring.
but how can they not?
she is perfect.
she is beautiful.
she is moonlight.
but not mine.
not theirs.
not anyone's.
moon belongs to sky.
cannot be captured.
cannot be owned.
only allows us to look and worship.
"I'm ready," she says.
music in her voice.
sounds like she's trying to be happy.
"You look absolutely divine, goddess," Raven says.
whisper in voice.
awe in eyes.
"Surhiiran silks suit you perfectly."
she smiles.
can tell from her eyes.
from way they crinkle at corners.
"They're certainly comfortable," she says.
runs hands down fabric.
over breasts, stomach, hips.
eyes travel over us to NO on the wall.
moonlight eyes widen.
"What the fuck is that?"
she points at wall.
"It was him." Nikolai points at me.
I growl.
traitor.
she blinks, looks back at me. "Knight, you wrote that?"
stare at her.
don't know why she is surprised.
have hands.
have claws.
"I didn't know you could write."
her face brightens.
floats over to me with silks rustling.
reaches up to take mask in hands.
"You should have told me, Knight."
don't know how to respond.
she is happy?
why does this make her so happy?
"Oh, so I breathe the wrong way and it's the end of the world, but he destroys the fucking hotel room and you pet him?" Nikolai snaps, throws hands in hair.
"Oh, stop bitching." Raven rolls eyes. "It's stone, it'll buff out."
Geo walks closer. "Alright, enough. Now that we're here and we've all gotten some rest, it's time to make a game plan. How exactly are we gonna get Plague alone?"
Moon tilts head.
thinking.
eyes narrow.
"He kidnapped me," she says, voice cold. "Maybe it's time to return the favor."
she moves to table.
fingers trailing over items there.
"I'm quite good at making poisons, actually. I once spiked Monty's tea and he slept for a week."
voice is casual.
like talking about weather.
not like poisoning dangerous alpha.
Raven's eyes widen. "Nightshade?"
he sounds excited.
"No," she says, shaking head. "A root from the eastern mountains of Vrissia. My mother taught me. The dosage is tricky—too much causes convulsions and death, too little just gives them pleasant dreams."
Raven nods, eyes bright. "Surhiiran night rose might be a suitable alternative. The hallucinations can be a bit troublesome, but I'm sure with a bit of tweaking, we could get the formulation right."
"We could mix it with a sedative," she suggests.
"Or with alcohol," Raven adds. "It amplifies the effect."
Geo puts hand on face.
drags it down.
sighs.
loud.
"Are you both insane?" he snarls. "No one is poisoning the crown fucking prince of Surhiira!"
Moon pouts. "Only a little. You're being dramatic."
Geo stares at her. "Aren't omegas supposed to be the moral compass of a pack?"
"I'll moral your compass," she mutters.
Raven scowls. "Honestly, Daddy, how old-fashioned can you be?"
"Yeah, old man. Don't be backwards," Nikolai sneers.
can tell he secretly agrees with Geo.
Geo throws hands up, surrendering. "All I'm saying is maybe we shouldn't start our diplomatic mission with a poisoning."
"Is he always like this?" Moon asks.
"You have no idea." Raven sighs. "He's allergic to fun."
"No, I'm just surrounded by psychopaths!"
"How dare you. If anything, I'm a sociopath," Raven counters.
"I have a better idea," Nikolai says, smug, ignoring them.
all turn to him.
even I didn't see him move.
he holds small paper.
colorful.
pictures on it.
pictures of smiling happy people printed in ink.
taken from table.
"The Surhiiran palace gives tours to tourists," he announces. "We could just... go."
silence.
more staring.
Moon moves first.
snatches paper from his hands.
looking at paper.
eyes moving across words.
"Son of a bitch," she mutters. "He's right. Three days a week, they open the east wing to visitors. Supervised tours. Today is one of those days."
Geo sighs. "That... works."
Raven laughs.
slaps Nikolai on back.
"Who would have thought our resident brute would come up with the simplest solution?"
Nikolai jerks away.
"Don't touch me," he says.
but no real anger.
too pleased with himself.
Moon looks up.
not just trying to be happy.
she really is this time.
Nikolai is good for something, then.
"We'll need to look our best," she says. "Proper tourists from the neutral territories."
looks at me.
smile in eyes.
"Even you, big guy. We need to find something to make you look... less imposing."
not possible.
am monster.
always monster.
but for her...
will try.
"Let's go find outfits fit for the palace," Raven says, clapping hands together, excited. "And who knows? Maybe we'll run into your prince before we even need to make a plan."
Moon's face changes.
hardens.
"He's not my prince," she says, voice cold. "And I'm not his anything."
all happiness gone.
only sadness in her eyes.
pain in her scent.
annoyed with Raven now.
but all my anger is for Azarel.
want to kill him.
want to tear his limbs.
want to make him suffer.
they all move now.
gathering things.
talking plans.
I rise.
follow Moon.
where she goes, I go.
even to the end of the world.