Chapter 29 #2
He sipped his tea, smiling lazily. “I prefer to think of it as an advantage.”
Solmaz studied him as she leaned back. “The bounty is one thing. But it’s not what you should be focusing on—not if your purpose is to protect the princess in the long run.”
For the first time, Kaelen caught a shadow in her gaze. Not just calculation—but something sharper.
He didn’t like what he saw. “What are you trying to say?”
She hesitated, fingers trailing slow, deliberate circles along the polished wood of her desk.
“Whispers travel quickly,” she said at last, her voice dipping lower. “Especially in places like this.”
She glanced around, despite their solitude, before continuing, “Highborn Omegas have been disappearing. Not just here, but across the nine kingdoms. It’s subtle enough that no one’s panicking yet—but bold enough to make those in power uneasy.”
Kaelen’s gut tightened. “Highborn Omegas,” he repeated. “Disappearing?”
Solmaz gave a slow, grim nod .
“Peasant Omegas vanish all the time—tragic, but rarely news. But noble-born Omegas?” Her mouth tightened. “That’s a different matter. Someone is bold enough to steal them from under Alpha aristocrats’ noses. And it’s beginning to cause a stir.”
A chill slid down Kaelen’s spine. His mind flew to Reiya, marked in ways she didn’t even realize.
“And you think whoever’s taking them also put the bounty on the princess?”
Solmaz didn’t answer immediately. She only studied him, her gaze steady, unreadable.
“What do you think?” she asked softly.
The silence that followed sat heavy in his chest.
He leaned back slightly, hands curling against his knees to steady himself. They had suspected Castiel’s betrayal wasn’t isolated. But hearing Solmaz confirm it—hearing how far it stretched—was worse than unsettling. It was infuriating.
The weight of it pressed hard against his ribs, sharp as a blade.
“The princess first left her home under the influence of Castiel Vaelmont,” he said, voice tight. “Youngest son of the Duke of Caerelle from Aethonia. You know them?”
Solmaz tilted her head thoughtfully.
“I know of the Vaelmonts. But Castiel himself? No. And I don’t know if he’s connected to this.”
Kaelen’s jaw flexed. Not yet connected—or too careful to leave proof?
Pawn or mastermind—it hardly mattered. The Beta had woven his lies too deliberately, stolen too much. He had wrapped Reiya’s fears around her like chains, dragged her into danger she couldn’t have seen coming.
But why? What did Castiel want? What was the ultimate prize he risked everything to take?
Kaelen’s fingers drummed once against his knee, forcing his thoughts into order.
Anger was a poor strategist.
He needed clarity. He needed to be ready for whatever came next .
He lifted his gaze back to Solmaz. “Did your sources from the Luminara Isles say the same?”
The woman’s smile was slow, her gaze flickering with quiet amusement.
“Ah, the Isles.” She paused deliberately, taking a slow sip of her tea. “I wondered if you’d bring them up.”
“It’s hard not to,” Kaelen replied, careful to keep his tone light. “Knowing it’s visited by all kinds of powerful people from across the nine kingdoms, and all the information trickling into the place.”
“ You would know. You spent a few months there yourself, when your father sent you to study under one of my sworn sisters.”
For a moment, her eyes glinted with a teasing light, her tone a mix of amusement and sharp memory. “I remember how you were back then: young, wide-eyed, overconfident—just like every young Alpha noble sent to the Isles. Did you figure out why your father sent you there?”
Kaelen held her gaze, her words stirring memories he hadn’t revisited in years.
The Luminara Isles had been unlike anything he’d expected.
At eighteen, he’d stepped onto those shores with the arrogance of a young Alpha certain of his destiny.
He’d thought the training would be about mastery of dominance, about refining the power that pulsed through his blood.
But it had been far more than that.
The Moonflower trusted with his education had stripped him of his bravado with disarming grace, teaching him that control began not by mastering others but by mastering himself .
She’d taught him patience and precision, to understand the needs of an Omega beyond instinct, to turn natural dominance into something deeper—a bond meant to last.
He still remembered those lessons—the admonishments, softly-spoken but never meant to spare his pride, the way every misstep had been met with a knowing look that made him flush despite himself.
At the beginning, he hadn’t understood why his father had sent him. But as the weeks passed, it became clear: the training wasn’t for him. It was for his future Omega bride .
The lessons were meant to shape him into an Alpha worthy of the bond .
The bond was more than marriage, more than claiming, more than duty.
The world often reduced it to something simple—an Alpha taking an Omega as his, sealing the arrangement with a bite mark, often brutally inflicted upon the woman.
Most thought the journey ended the moment an Alpha marry an Omega, tie her to him by the law of king and land.
But a marriage was only a shallow imitation of what the bond was truly meant to be.
It was an unbreakable tether, something that went beyond instinct and reason, something not every Alpha and Omega pair could achieve. Most never did. An Alpha could claim, mark, and promise, but they could not force a bond.
An Omega had to choose it—not with words alone, or even with her body, but with something deeper. She had to trust her Alpha with every part of her being. Only then would her instincts surrender to the bond, recognizing it as something lasting. Eternal.
Kaelen had been raised for that very thing. Not just to court an Omega’s favour, not to win her obedience—but to become the Alpha she would choose to stay with. Freely. Forever.
His father and mother had been such a couple.
That was why, even after his queen’s death, King Azarion had never taken another wife, never sought to replace what had been lost. He could marry again—any Omega of noble blood would’ve secured an advantageous match—but Kaelen doubted he’d ever attempt another bond.
Some things couldn’t be replicated, no matter how much time passed.
“At first, I thought he sent me to Luminara Isles as a test,” Kaelen replied, his lips quirking into a self-deprecating smile. “A chance to prove I was Solthar’s gift on earth. But later, I realized it was something else—a lesson in humility.”
Solmaz threw her head back and laughed, the sound rich and unguarded, but without mockery. As one of Luminara Isles’ former Moonflowers herself, she must be well-acquainted with many young Alphas’ rude awakenings .
“Humility doesn’t come easily to Alphas, especially Sunborns. Your father was wise to send you. The princess is a lucky woman.”
Kaelen blinked, the words lingering uncomfortably in his mind. Lucky? Was she lucky when, for a mysterious reason they’d yet to unearth, she was in grave danger?
His mind turned to the quiet strength she carried, the way she faced every obstacle with a resilience that humbled him. And in that resilience, Kaelen saw something that struck deeper than duty or honour.
She made him want to be worthy—not as the Sunborn Alpha, not as a prince or protector, but as himself.
For her, he wanted to be more. A man she’d choose to bond with.
Solmaz pushed her hair behind her shoulder, bangles chiming softly with the motion.
“My sworn sisters in Luminara Isles wrote to me not long ago. Several Omegas, both Moonflowers and patrons, have also gone missing—vanished without a trace. Kidnapped, ran away, no one knows. Last I heard, an Elloryn’s nobleman is looking for two missing Omegas, one of them his sister. ”
Kaelen frowned. If nowhere in the nine kingdoms, not even the Isles, was safe for Omegas, how deep did this conspiracy run?
Her gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before she glanced toward the door. “My advice, Prince, is to keep the princess close and leave Zohara as soon as you can. This market has always been a haven for opportunists. Someone wanted to cast a wide net for bounty hunters, and they’ve done it.”
He exhaled, his thoughts racing. One thing was certain—Reiya was in far more danger than any of them had realized.
“We’ll leave with the caravan tomorrow,” he said. “Once we reach Dune Crest, we’ll make our own way.”
“Wise,” she acknowledged, though her expression didn’t ease. A faint crease remained between her brows, her posture still brimming with caution. “But the Alpha posing a danger to the princess leaves with you too, doesn’t he? You’ve seen the mark on her neck.”
“He’ll be dealt with.” The promise sat heavy in the air between them. “I’ll see to it myself.”
Kaelen’s jaw tightened at the thought of Jodhar’s eyes on Reiya, appraising her like a merchant weighing goods. Jodhar’s motives were obvious, but Solmaz’s? She was too shrewd to act without purpose.
But she hadn’t asked for payment, hadn’t bargained for anything.
His gaze shifted to her. “What motivates you, Solmaz?” His voice was softer but no less probing. “I know coins don’t drive you anymore. So why help?”
A flicker of warmth passed through her sharp eyes. “If I said it was simply to see another Omega flourish, would you believe me?” Her lips curved slightly. “She may be a princess, but she’s of my caste. And after seeing that bruise on her neck . . . I’d like to see her do well.”
Her words gave him pause. Solmaz, for all her edges and veiled power, was an enigma, yet the sincerity in her tone was unmistakable. She’d seen the world’s cruelty—how it reduced Omegas to pawns and prizes—and rather than hide, she had carved her own place.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “For helping her. For looking out for her when others might not.”
Her smile deepened. “Omegas are treasures, but this world doesn’t make it easy for us to flourish. Titles don’t shield us from greed or cruelty. I hope your princess is an exception.”
Then, as if sensing the weight he carried, she added, “Keep her safe.”
He nodded, resolve settling like a blade sheathed with purpose. Jodhar wasn’t just a threat—he was a festering wound, a reminder of the world’s ruthlessness.
Keeping her safe wasn’t enough. She needed to move forward without fear, without always looking over her shoulder.
He couldn’t change what had happened.
But he could ensure it never happened again.
Jodhar must go.