Twelve nights after meeting the General
For days, I had been weighing out my options.
I was not one to admit defeat, but to remain headstrong at the cost of my freedom was a choice only a fool would make.
Yet, I could not bring myself to make a decision on what to do next.
True defiance would mean jumping out of that window.
I was sure General Axel would be enraged to see my rotting corpse splayed out on the courtyard.
But even I valued my life too much to forsake it to make a point.
The entrance to my chamber was still wrecked.
Wood splinters were found far from the door.
The door itself lay in the hallway of the tower.
Why would they leave a prisoner in an unlocked tower?
For all they knew, I would enchant the soldiers at the entrance of the tower and escape to the empire.
Even more astounding was three days ago, when midday brought four guards to my doorstep.
They did not say a word. In their silence, they stepped on the wooden door and barged into my chamber.
I briefly expected them to take me to the dungeons.
Instead, they filled my tub with boiling water and left me what looked like several portions of stew on the rocking chair.
One of the guards chanced making eye contact with me.
I imagined he was trying to deduce the same thing as I was.
Why was this prisoner kept in a tower with a duck feather bed?
I wondered if they could smell that Axel had visited me only hours before.
If they did, it did not show. They left in a hurry after completing their tasks.
I expected them to fix the door. They never did.
For a while, I pretended to be a wealthy lord resting in his chambers.
The bathwater was as clean as the water by the shore, but it was good enough for me.
I took a hot bath and ate some stew. It was the best stew I’d ever had.
I changed into the silk robes that someone left on my clean linens while I was bathing.
It was vaguely concerning that I had not noticed this happening, but I was not able to complain.
I lazed around in my canopy bed. I stared out of my window, peeking at soldiers on duty, and the courtesans giggling as they walked past.
There was, however, endless time, and at some point I had to face the fact that I was not a lord.
I was not in my own chambers. I was not sure I would ever leave this room.
In a moment of weakness, I cried into my pillow.
Wallowing in self-pity, I whined about the unfairness of it all.
That moment had since passed as well. I was left staring at the emerald curtains of my canopy bed for the last few hours, contemplating my fate.
Was I being fattened up to be served up for dinner?
I did not think that werewolves ate people, but perhaps I was wrong.
Did this castle lack for dungeons? Or was it that Axel could tell my rank the moment he laid eyes on me, and decided to have mercy on my soul?
Should I have confessed what I am? I had nothing to hide, really.
It was my obduracy that prevented me from divulging information to the werewolves.
“Gabriel?” A smooth baritone came from the hallway.
I recognised his voice, but not his stature.
When I only saw him through the shutter on my door, his face was all I could see.
Standing in the hallway, he was almost as tall as the General!
If my assumptions about him were correct, this meant that omega werewolves were unnaturally tall as well.
Another injustice for poor little me. He stood in the now empty doorway.
“Espen!” I called out to him. I registered that he was wearing a green winter cape and thick fur boots.
The material looked soft and luxurious. Around his neck was a chain of pure gold, with what appeared to be an actual emerald hanging from it.
Why would someone that important attend to a lowly prisoner?
There was no mating bite on his neck. Who was he to Alain?
“What happened here?” he asked. He walked through the mess on the floor and entered the chamber, a bowl of porridge in hand.
I sat up to face him. To my surprise, instead of handing me the meal and keeping his distance from the prisoner, he sat next to me on the bed.
His brown eyes were earnest. They twinkled as the last remnants of sunlight were reflected in them.
It was enough to lower my guard. I sighed.
“Your General happened.” His eyes widened briefly.
“He came to see you?”
“No,” I said. “He came to attack my door.” I let out a chuckle.
“Did he harm you?” he asked. It made me wonder, did Espen expect Axel to harm me? Was it the sort of thing he would usually do?
“No.” I shook my head. “Just the door.”
He stared at me. He furrowed his brows. I wanted to tell him that I was as confused as he was. That I had no idea what brought this on. Except I knew that my heat very much had something to do with it, and I did not want to divulge that information to someone I barely knew.
“What did he want from you?” he asked.
“He wanted me to tell him what I know.” There was silence for a moment.
Espen stared out the window. He crossed his legs.
I could not enjoy the silence when sharing it with an unexpectedly wealthy ally.
Was he an ally? He was clearly a friend of Alain, and he had been helpful so far.
I could not begin to understand what his motives were.
I did not know why he would even agree to tend to me.
The other attendant, who I presumed was a servant, was a young girl that was too frightened to speak to me.
Espen was not scared, and he was clearly not a real servant. But he had been good to me so far.
“Then tell him,” he said. I sighed.
“But there is nothing to tell him. There is nothing I know for certain.”
“Tell him what magic you have.” Espen looked me in the eyes. “Tell him why the empire was watching you.” It felt like earnest advice. To me, it sounded naive.
“He won’t believe me.”
“He might,” Espen said. His eyes told me that he at least believed it. I smiled at his optimism. I could not help but laugh at the idea.
“He will call me a liar and hang me in the courtyard!” Espen raised an eyebrow at me. The corners of his mouth were raised to form a barely there smile.
“Are you dangerous?” he asked. If Espen thought I might be dangerous, he would not be here.
“Not as dangerous as a werewolf.” This made him laugh.
“Then he won’t hang you.” Somehow, this irked me. How would Espen know if I am not dangerous? I could be any magical creature, I could even be a demon! I told him as much.
“He doesn’t know that I am not dangerous.” If Axel did know, he would not have kept me here. Unless he kept me there for his own pleasure. Perhaps it was something he enjoyed, hiding omegas in towers. Visiting them to rile them up. Perhaps he took pleasure in it. The thought gave me shivers.
“Then tell him what he wants to know,” Espen said. “Prove to him that you’re not dangerous.”
“I don’t want to prove anything to him,” I said. Espen let out a slow breath. Was he frustrated with me? He had to understand the situation I was in! He should have shown me some sympathy and understanding.
“His judgement is fair,” he said instead. I raised my eyebrows at that.
“He locked me up in a tower!” I laughed.
“So he can also free you from a tower.” Was everyone in this castle under some sort of curse?
One that made them admire their General?
Or did they truly believe their General to be just and kind?
The man I spoke to did not seem very kind.
He seemed power hungry and domineering. He smelled like alpha and like magic and a little bit like the fires of hell.
“His scent confuses me,” I said. Espen nodded.
“It confuses all of us.” This made me think. I had many theories about the General. Would the same be true for his subjects?
“Do you know he is magic?” I asked. Espen looked away. I did not expect him to answer.
“No one knows whether he is, but everyone guesses.” I put my hand on his shoulder.
“I do know,” I said. I was not completely sure, but I was as good as certain.
Crimson eyes. A cursed sword. The scent of fire.
But this was also an admission of my own identity.
If I could recognise the scent of a sorcerer, there were only so many types of magic I could possess.
Espen looked at me then. He was assessing me, his eyes moving up and down my body.
“Then you are not a banshee, or a harpy, or a fury,” he asserted. He nodded his head. “The General will be merciful.”
For some reason, I could not stand the fact that he knew what the General was as well.
It meant that most likely everyone knew, and they only kept quiet about it because the General was a sensitive little man who pretended to be an ordinary werewolf.
“I could still be a threat,” I said. I crossed my arms. Espen laughed at me. The audacity.
“If you were a threat, you would have escaped already,” he said. “If you tell him everything, you’ll gain his trust.” I thought about this for a bit. He made good points, but who knew if he was right about this? About his General? I didn't even really know who he was.
“What if he kills me regardless?” I asked.
“He has a soft spot for the persecuted,” Espen said. There were no signs of deceit, and there was no reason for him to wish me harm. Unless he despised druids, or thought me someone I was not.
“How do you know I am not an imperial spy?” I asked. He sighed.
“Who spies on their own spies?”
“I wish General Axel was as sensible as you are,” I told him. He smirked at me.
“The General is an alpha,” he said. “None of them are sensible.” I smiled back at him.
“I could be an alpha,” I told him. “I’m stubborn enough.” He raised another eyebrow at me. He had quite an amusing look on his face when he was mocking me. It was open and carefree and he appeared to be doing so in jest.
“You are quite stubborn,” he responded. “But you were in heat.”
This wiped the smile off my face. I thought he might have known what happened over the past few days.
I scarcely remembered a thing from those days.
It was stupid of me to think the people who brought me my meals would not notice what was going on.
I suspected for a moment that it was Espen who told General Axel about it, but I quickly dismissed the thought.
Axel was drawn in by my scent. I knew that instinctively.
“I do not want to give him the satisfaction of knowing what magic I have,” I told him honestly. “I enjoy driving him up the wall.” He laughed at this.
“You will have plenty of chances to do so as a free man.”
I took a moment to consider this. I did not expect General Axel to let me go back home.
I could not go back home even if he did.
The empire was not safe for me anymore. Yet, there might be a chance for me to enjoy some freedom in this strange country.
Maybe one day I could sail off to start another life.
If the General is the only way for me to get my freedom back, was it not worth a shot?
“Tell Alain,” I said. “Tell him I am ready to talk.”