CHAPTER FOUR
CAILYN
Cailyn was pleased that a plan had been arranged for her to leave Ashens.
Initially, she had been worried that the Records Keep staff would know that she wasn’t Miss Lefroy, but she should have known that the Mothers would have assistance in every area of the Eastern Lands. An Omega male she knew from a prior job worked at the Keep. Of course, he had blocks too and came across as a Beta in every way. He was one of the ‘dynamic variants’ the head keeper had referred to and, for him, it was just as dangerous to reveal his true dynamic as it was for her.
Male Omegas were rare, and even more so since their families tended to murder them after discovering their dynamic. When the female Omegas began to disappear, the birth rate of male Omegas seemed to slow, and many had thought they were taken too, but in fact, they were simply being protected by the Mothers until they could protect themselves. Most of them led peaceful lives throughout the Lands assisting the Mothers however they could.
Her Omega contact at the Keep had been awaiting her arrival and had already put in place a plan to assist her cover. He had been sure he could arrange an exit strategy for her and had been in the middle of explaining it when Drocco had stormed over like the savage he was.
His need for control was stifling, as was his distrust of anyone who was not Lox. He watched her in the research room for hours every day, his imposing presence making her acutely aware of him. And then, when he wasn’t there, the room had an imposing absence that she didn’t like either. The day after the visit to the Records Keep he hadn’t been in the room much and the wide, heavy chair in the corner he normally sat in remained empty. More than once, Cailyn caught herself standing in the room with files in her hands staring at it and… thinking about him.
Although her body hadn’t physically reacted, it wasn’t a good sign. Her blocks were still firmly in place and to be having an instinctual reaction to him when he wasn’t even in the room was highly worrying. All she could do was hope that the Mothers had an answer. She couldn’t continue to be an effective spy if her blocks were compromised.
In truth, he still terrified and disgusted her, but there was something else about him—something in his dark eyes, his confident manner, his steadfast conviction. She couldn’t pinpoint it and wasn’t sure if she even wanted to. Every moment she wasted thinking about him was a moment lost. All she had to do was remember what they had discovered at the Records Keep to remind herself of that.
She had always known about the Omegas’ suffering but never had she imagined that it had caused a death rate to such an extreme. It was horrific. That knowledge alone kept her pushing herself to focus. She had been covertly copying relevant files, even with the Emperor in the room. Since he wanted her to make comments on his files, it became a good cover to make her own copies.
Two days after the visit, the communication she had been waiting for arrived. In her stack of fresh blank parchment, one sheet had a very slight sheen, glistening more than the others. Watching the closed door, she headed over to the desk in the far corner and sat on the floor, obscuring herself out of sight in case the Emperor entered.
She placed the parchment flat on the floor and focused her mind. Searching the tightly woven layers of magic threaded into the sheet of parchment, she identified the extremely subtle indicators that showed the correct order to unravel it. As she did so, the message appeared:
Exit strategy not possible. You have his attention.
Routine will impede escape.
When distraction is achieved, create signal.
Cailyn closed her eyes immediately for a short moment and then opened them and read the message again. As her eyes reached the end, it faded and the ink began to flake away. She got up and brushed the parchment until it was clean. She stood for a moment, dismay thudding through her as she thought about the implication of the message. She wouldn’t be getting out of there while everything in the Palace ran routinely. Only a distraction would allow her to slip away unnoticed and signal for help. She sighed, throwing down the parchment. She had told her contact at the Keep that the Emperor watched her constantly and he seemed to think it would still be fine. Why was having his attention suddenly a problem?
She thought for a long while, before realizing she was staring at his damn chair again. She cursed and busied herself copying the last of the important files she needed while trying to think up a plan. She needed to create some kind of distraction, but how? She would never be able to get out of the research room and create it without being noticed. She had studied plans of the Palace but she hadn’t ever explored it, and it was huge. One wrong turn and she could end up anywhere.
Her mood sunk lower and by the afternoon she became angry with herself that she hadn’t thought of anything. This kind of task was similar to the training exercises she used to thrive on. And now she couldn’t think up one single escape distraction.
When Emperor Drocco entered, she actually scowled at him, agitated by the disturbance of her thinking time and annoyed that he had taken so long to come to her today.
He slowed to a stop at the sight of her expression, his eyes narrowing. “Is there something you wish to say?” It wasn’t so much a question as a demand.
“No.” She forced herself to answer in a mild manner when she really wanted to scream at him. “No, Emperor,” she added, politely, before going back to her work.
He remained still and silent for a long while as she moved back and forth to the tables, then she heard him lowering into his chair.
***
A couple of days later, Cailyn stood in her living room by the glass wall, staring out over the city as the burnt orange sun lowered behind the smooth, jagged, uneven skyline. Ashens had been one of the more prettier cities in the Eastern Lands before the war between King Thororm of Ashens and the Lox began. There seemed to be no reason for its destruction. Many theories circled around the Emperor’s dispute with the late king, but nothing had been confirmed by either party. Now it was a city of contrasts; the broken next to the beauty, the loyal among the traitors, the truth in plain sight among those that had been conditioned not to see.
Cailyn sighed and sipped her water while she returned her thoughts to the options for the distraction she needed. She hadn’t come up with any strong ideas, only mediocre ones. She shouldn’t really take a chance when dealing with Emperor Drocco, but she really wanted to get out of the Palace. She had hardly seen Drocco lately and without his presence, she had sped up the copying of the files and sent everything to the Mothers with a note of her own. It was time to go.
A heavy knock fell on the door, startling her out of her thoughts. She made her way over to collect her dinner and found herself looking at an empty-handed young man.
“You have been summoned by Emperor Drocco, Miss Lefroy.”
Cailyn’s brows rose. “Why?”
The man widened his eyes at her question and instantly she realized he wouldn’t know. Of course, no one questioned the Emperor.
“Is he expecting me right now?”
“Yes, Miss Lefroy.”
Cailyn sighed. Taking a moment to ensure she was presentable, she followed the servant through a number of corridors and stopped outside an intricately engraved set of double doors.
“You may enter, Miss Lefroy,” the man said, gesturing to the door.
Cailyn took a moment to compose herself before entering.
She stepped into a large room with heavy multi-colored rugs, cream walls and windows along the back wall letting in the last of the evening sun. A mahogany dining table sat on one side of the room and the Emperor sat at the head, watching her as she entered.
“How may I help you, Emperor,” Cailyn asked, lowering her head.
“You are to dine with me,” he said, his cold gaze taking her in. “Take a seat.”
Cailyn glanced up, confused. He planned to have dinner with her? “Excuse me for being bold, Emperor,” she began, “but I have a lot of work to do—”
“You are done for the day,” the Emperor stated, as though bored. He began pouring red liquid from a glass jug into two glasses.
“Emperor,” Cailyn said, trying again. “I really need to be spending all my time working if I’m to meet the dead—”
“So you were working in your quarters?” He served her a glare, placing the jug down. “With files I told you not to remove from the research room?”
“No, Emperor.”
“Then you are available,” he said. “And from what I understand, you were awaiting your dinner.”
Cailyn mumbled confirmation that she had been and then pressed her lips together to avoid saying anything more. She moved to the other end of the table, only to discover that the only other chair at the table, apart from the Emperor’s, was positioned on the corner right next to him. She hesitated. Normally a visitor of equal standing would sit opposite the host, while a visitor of lesser standing or an employee might sit a few seats down along one side. They were certainly not seated next to the host like their confidant, lover, or mate. He was making a statement by removing all the chairs.
“You will sit here,” Emperor Drocco said, gesturing to the other chair after she hesitated too long.
She glanced around the room for any other chairs, but the rest of the furniture consisted of plush, teal couches, end tables, and short bookcases.
“Sit,” ordered the Alpha.
“Are there no other chairs?” she asked. She couldn’t be so close to him again.
“They are not needed,” he said, his voice deepening. “You will sit here.”
Annoyed with his demand, and frustrated with her lack of choice, a retort slipped out of her before she had time to even think about it. “If you’re having a problem securing furniture, I could arrange help for you, Emperor. There’s no need to live like a foolish market trader.”
The man’s entire body tensed and his eyes slipped into a darkness she hadn’t seen before. Instantly, she reined in her scowl and hurried toward the chair. As she sat down he grabbed her jaw and yanked her face close to his.
“That is the last fucking time you will speak to me in that way, kitten,” he rumbled. “I have been extremely lenient with your attitude, as I’m sure you recognize, but it is becoming tiresome. Am I clear?”
She stared at his face looming in front of her and nodded, unable to speak with her jaw tight in his grip.
“Good.” He slowly let go of her but kept his face close. As his eyes flitted over her face, the look in them changed, and there it was—that feeling again.
Cailyn leaned back, away from him, and took a breath, resisting the urge to rub her jaw. She turned her attention to the table. A number of jugs filled with water and other colored liquids had been placed among empty plates and bowls.
The Emperor clapped his hands and a line of servants entered bringing with them steaming bowls and plates of food.
Cailyn’s mouth watered as the delicious spicy aromas filled the room. She stared at the numerous plates and bowls being placed down on the table; cold and hot slices of spiced meat, curried and baked potatoes, fragrant stews of all colors, buttered greens, crusty charcoaled bread, mashed roots, and even delicacies like peppered cow tongue, jellied purple eggs, and cracked claw.
“Do you eat like this all the time?” she asked the Emperor, in wonder.
“Not really,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what you ate. Pick what you’d like.”
Cailyn selected a small range of dishes to try and began to eat cautiously.
“What progress have you made so far?” The Emperor asked, spooning meat stew into his mouth.
Cailyn kept her eyes down. “I found reference to information about the Alpha/Omega connection.”
“Yes.” The Emperor hesitated. “Is that of importance?”
“I’m not sure,” Cailyn said. “It could be. No current living Alpha has ever been with an Omega, have they?”
Emperor Drocco let out a growl that caused her to glance up at him. “No. What has this got to do with the investigation?”
“I was thinking that maybe an Alpha that had bonded with an Omega could be used to locate her.”
“No, that theory has already been disproved,” he said. “Wherever the Omegas go, it isn’t possible for their mates to locate them.”
“Hmm…” Cailyn said, feigning thoughtfulness.
“What?”
“Well, that in itself is interesting. There are very few places where the connection cannot be felt.”
“I never said the connection could not be felt,” the Emperor said. “The connection can indeed be felt, very deeply. I’m willing to guess that the bonded Omegas who were taken suffered greatly.”
Cailyn watched him. He seemed to be agitated even discussing it, but this was one of the things she needed to know. She had to press him. “How do you know?”
The Emperor chewed slowly for a long while, and Cailyn thought for a moment he wasn’t going to answer. “I knew an Alpha who had bonded with an Omega who was taken,” he said, finally. “He felt their connection every day, right up to the day of his death. The loss of her changed him, distorted him, made him vastly different to who he had been. I can only imagine the same fate fell on her.” His face clouded over as he spoke and Cailyn couldn’t look away from his eyes. They were stormy and hard yet tinged with something so slight she almost missed it; a subdued mellowness. It made his entire expression different. She couldn’t think clearly to ask her next question, so she kept quiet until she had eaten her fill.
“You don’t eat enough, kitten,” he commented, pushing his plate away.
The servants returned to collect the dishes and their plates.
“It’s Cailyn, Emperor.”
He turned to look at her, his gaze intense. “I know.”
She made a face. “You keep calling me kitten.”
“Yes, that’s what you are.”
Cailyn struggled not to bristle. He had given her a nickname as though she was his whore. Coupled with where she had been placed at the table, the insult was too great for her to remain quiet. “At the risk of insulting you, Emperor, I’d like to point out we are not familiar with each other in that way.”
The Emperor leaned forward. “Incorrect. I’m completely familiar with the kind of Beta you are.”
“And what kind am I?” she asked, evenly.
“The kind who likes to show their claws and nip and scratch, and make noise for the sake of it,” he said. “But ultimately, doesn’t make any real impact.”
Cailyn’s anger rose steadily. “So you’re saying I’m useless?”
The bastard had the nerve to smirk at her, his black eyes gleaming. “Even kittens have their uses.”
“Because they’re entertaining?” she spat. “Nice to look at and easily pacified?”
The Emperor broke into a grin as she spoke.
“Because they can be put in their place and are easy to confuse and distract?” She glared at him, grinding her teeth in annoyance.
He threw his head back, releasing peals of husky laughter.
Cailyn sat and fumed. He had already warned her of her impertinence and saying anything else would certainly cause her to be punished, but she found that she didn’t care. “I wonder if that’s how you see the Omegas you seek. Playthings to brush aside when you get tired of them.”
“An Omega has a lifetime duty to her Alpha just as an Alpha has a lifetime duty to his Omega,” he said, still chuckling. “It is a unique connection. You would do well to stop trying to understand it.”
At least he perceived Omegas as special, even if they were to be akin to breeding machines for his men. “Yes,” she muttered. “I think I will. Thank the stars I’ll be bonding with a Beta and not have to deal with being seen as ineffective and dumb.”
The heavy chuckle from the Emperor stopped abruptly. “Are you betrothed?”
“Why? Do you not think a Beta would be interested in a dumb little kitten?” she said, unable to help the retort.
“I asked you a question,” he snapped, his eyes suddenly hard.
She glared at him but backed down when she noticed the wildness in his eyes. He was angry. “No,” she said, tightly.
He relaxed back into his chair, observing her.
A servant entered and hovered by the door. “Would you like dessert, your Imperial Majesty?”
Cailyn stood up before he could answer. “I’m heading back to my quarters, Emperor. Thank you for dinner. Is there anything else?”
The Emperor’s jaw constricted and he straightened in his chair. “Sit down.”
Cailyn sat and waited while the Emperor told the servants to bring dessert.
“There will be a celebration in a few days marking the Lox victory in the Eastern Lands,” he said.
Cailyn’s interest peaked but she avoided reacting.
“Rulers of all the territories in the Eastern Lands will be attending, as will many Lox warriors. All who are in the Palace will be loyal to the Lox.”
There it was—her distraction. “It sounds like it will be an enjoyable event, Emperor,” she said, demurely. “I will not be a disturbance to you or any of your people during that time.”
“You will attend,” the Emperor said. “And you will pledge your allegiance to the Lox.”
Cailyn jolted in her seat, her eyes snapping up to his. “What?”
The Emperor’s eyes bore into her. “All who remain in the Palace must be loyal to the Lox.”
“I’m happy to give you my word about my loyalty, Emperor,” Cailyn said, as her horror rose. “But I cannot pledge it. I only have my sister. I will not sacrifice her just to make you feel more comfortable to have me here. I’ll leave if that’s what you need.”
Occasionally an innocent person would be caught up in the missions she undertook, but Miss Lefroy’s sister was only eight. Cailyn had always ensured that children were never affected by her missions, and this would not be the exception.
“And where will you go? The entire Eastern Lands is now Lox Empire. You won’t be able to escape pledging your allegiance and I will not end your employment.”
The servants reentered with more plates and bowls, but Cailyn’s eyes remained on Drocco. This expectation on her to pledge to the Lox would ruin her cover.
“Most of the files are organized now. A team of historians could find patterns one mind would miss,” she suggested.
Drocco didn’t even answer her. He bit into a slice of black crumble cake and chewed, watching her.
“I’m sure the keepers would also be very useful in assisting—”
“I’m not ending your employment.”
“You cannot kill my sister,” she countered.
“I will have your loyalty.”
“You have it,” she hissed, leaning forward. “Just don’t hurt my sister.”
“It is the way of the Lox,” Drocco said, somewhat nonchalantly. “It is the only way to ensure true loyalty.”
“Do you intend to ask everyone to pledge?” she asked, her voice rising. “Your entire Empire? Because you’ll have no one left.”
“Just the people who have access to this building,” he said, taking another bite and shooting her a look that said he had noticed her tone.
Cailyn fought against the effect his glance had on her, choosing to focus on the utter disgust at his methods. This man had no business running an Empire. It would indeed be dark times ahead for the people of the Eastern Lands.
“Your sister will be brought here for the ceremony,” Drocco said, once he’d finished the cake.
“No!” Cailyn tried a different tack and burst into tears. “No, Emperor, please.”
“The quicker you accept it, the quicker you can move on,” he said, irritably.
Cailyn’s anger built steadily. Of course he wouldn’t be affected by tears, the man had no compassion. She quietened and began picking at a bowl of fruit. They ate in silence for a while until Drocco had finished, and Cailyn stopped the pretense of eating.
“A dress has been left in your quarters that I expect you to wear to the celebration,” Drocco said, as the last plates were cleared. “I have been told it’s in your size.”
Cailyn took a sip of the spiced tea that had been poured for her. “Yes, Emperor.”
As soon as he dismissed her, Cailyn returned to her quarters and pulled a sheet of parchment from her writing equipment. Clearing her mind, she gently filtered magic into the ink of her quill-pen as she wrote.
Prepare for distraction. Signal will follow.
Protect loved one or unwanted reveal inevitable.
She inspected the ink and, once satisfied, sealed the parchment with magic. This hid the ink, protected the message from the casual Talent-crafter, and made it a beacon for her contact. She folded it and placed it in the trash. If Miss Lefroy’s sister suddenly went on a trip or in some way became inaccessible, there would be no one else for the Emperor to threaten her with.
She entered her bedroom and noticed the dress laid out on the bed. It was a close fitted, long dress with a slashed neckline that would reveal the tops of her shoulders. Cailyn fingered the soft deep red material. It was beautiful, of course, and reminded her of the sophisticated stateswomen and regal royals she had seen during her work in various cities. She never thought she would ever dress in such quality material or in such a graceful design.
She pulled her hand back sharply. She would be leaving the night of the celebration. As soon as she showed her face for the Emperor to tell her that her pledge would be delayed, she would escape. He would be too busy drinking himself into a stupor and fucking his Lox women to notice anything.
She dropped onto the bed breathing a sigh of relief. She was going home.