Chapter Text
Noise drew Rishe’s attention away from the merchant sitting across the table from her, samples of precious spices situated on squares between the two of them. From the rising din, she began to recognize people screaming.
“Soldiers! Soldiers marching under an eagle flag!”
“Galkhein is here!”
“Run! Run while you still can!”
Kaine Tully burst into the room where Rishe had been negotiating for the Aria Trading Company to secure a rare spice: saffron. Normally the merchant would never risk interrupting such a high stakes deal, but the chief’s hair was mussed, his beaded adornments askew, and his breathing heavy. “We need to evacuate. The Galkhein Empire just arrived and is taking the city!”
The room erupted in protests and motion. With a rushed apology and the floral scent still lingering in her nose, Rishe abandoned her potential business partner and burst down the hallway after her chief. Everyone knew of Galkhein’s conquests as of late, but this city was supposed to be far enough away from the frontlines to be considered safe from the war. Had it really progressed so far so fast?
When the two of them surged out into the streets, the city was in chaos. Oxen bellowed and horses cried as civilians urged them to hurry. Parents carried children as they ran down the street. More and more people joined the stampede around Rishe and Tully. Fear rose hot and fast in her veins at the sound of swords ringing on shields and battle cries drew nearer.
A horse reared up in front of them, piercing the air with its hooves and high pitched distress. The cargo wagon driving the animal shouted, then bailed from his seat as the entire wagon pitched and keeled over. Wood splintered as wagon and its boxed contents crashed down to block the street. Rishe pulled back with a cry, stuck with so many others on the wrong side of the accident.
“Rishe!” She could hear Chief Tully’s shout on the other side of the wagon.
The smell of smoke and fear clogged her throat. Rishe choked out, “Go! I’ll catch up!”
She took a few steps back to assess the damage. Fire was spreading across the buildings. The sun shone red through pillars of smoke. People filed in like panicked sardines all around her, dismayed at the blocked path. But she wouldn’t give up hope!
Willing the suppressants to give weight to her words beyond her omega station, Rishe sidled up to the overturned cart and stood on one of the boxes. and cupped her palms. “We can make it over if we help each other!” A sea of panicked eyes fell to her as she delegated firmly. “You, get that horse untethered and out of the way. You, get up top and help people over.” She hopped down and motioned to a mother clutching a crying bundle. “You first, step up here.”
Rishe squatted and cupped her hands. After a moment’s hesitation, the woman placed a foot in the cradle of Rishe’s fingers and stepped up and over the wreckage. Others flocked to do the same, many of them capable alphas determined to levy their strength to improve the dire situation. It was slow going, but it was going, and that’s what mattered. Rishe lost count of the people she helped – a young girl who smelled of chestnuts, an elderly man in silk robes – but slowly the crowd began to thin. And far too quickly, the din of battle drew nearer.
“That’s nearly the last of them! You’re next missy!” A man smeared in soot had his feet planted on the splintered wood above her had been helping people up while she boosted them from below. He reached down and the two of them clasped forearms. Her shoulder strained as he began to lift-
Something heavy slashed up her back. Pain, white hot terrible pain, shot from her spine into every inch of her merchant’s body. Her fingers spasmed in the shock of it, and she crumpled to the ground. Her ears were ringing, she couldn’t catch the words coming from his soot-smeared face as he watched her fall, swallowed, and ran. Unnerving wetness crept outward from where she lay crumpled in the street. Then, her tunneling vision saw a knight clad in Galkhein’s colors, and another, and another, as they rushed past her dying form towards the upturned carriage blocking their way.
Her heart pounded. Her lungs labored wetly. And as her life blood welled in the mortar in the cobblestone street, Rishe heard the chime of a clock.
“… Rishe?”
Her lungs labored. Her heart pounded. Rishe’s eyes shot open. Had the soldiers somehow patched her up and taken her in for questioning? She was just a merchant, she didn’t hold any secrets the military would find worthwhile! She struggled, heedless of her wounds, thrashing against the bindings constraining her-
“Rishe?-!”
The omega thudded over the side of the bed in a tangle of black silken sheets. The overwhelming scent of hawthorn and sex filled her lungs. No saffron. No smoke. No screaming in the streets. I’m not a merchant anymore... This is… which loop is this?
Two hands grasped her firmly through the linens and pulled her back onto the bed and into the naked chest of her mate. With one hand cradling the back of her head – no doubt searching for bumps or bruises – Arnold held her steady to him. Dazedly, she pressed her nose to his neck, hiding from the memories of her first death.
I am Rishe Irmgard Weizner. I am engaged to Prince Arnold of Galkhein. After we are wed, I will officially be the crown princess of the Galkhein Empire. She mentally recited, the affirmation and the scent of hawthorn grounding her in the now, instead of one of her past identities. A third grounding element, a warm dark thrum from the naked skin she was pressed against, took her belatedly by surprise. It wasn’t a purr, it wasn’t a growl, but it was altogether soothing.
“How often do you have nightmares, Rishe?” The sound of her name in his voice, breathed with tenderness against the crown of her head, had her somehow reddening and melting all at the same time. He didn’t ask her about the contents of the dream – likely knew her well enough to know she couldn’t quite bring herself to speak of it this moment, and likely drawing his own conclusions on the dream’s subject matter, given that she’d confided her past experiences as an omega in Hermity and how they were recently-
A blush zipped from to head to toe as bits and pieces of her heat came back to the forefront of her memory. They were mated! Oh sweet goddess, she had a mate! A true mate! Who’s naked skin was pressed against her own naked skin, both of their skin smelled of each other, and of sex, and-
The oddest sensation of getting poked in a new place of her mind – their true mate bond - yanked her from her spiraling panic, then straight into a new one. Did any of the nightmare spill over into the bond? The fear that she may have burdened him, or that he may have seen-
“Rishe.” He tapped the back of her neck where his beautiful sword-calloused fingers were splayed, pulling her out of her second emotional spiral that he could no doubt sense.
“They… the nightmares don’t happen often. But, they’re not new, Your Highness.”
He hummed. “And how are you feeling?” His blue gaze was critical, leaving no room to skirt the question. And skirt it she wanted to, unused to this level of scrutiny in her own wellbeing, but the bond seemed to tighten in some way… like he was mentally on edge, invested in her answer.
Falling back on some teachings from her life as a healer, Rishe mentally scanned her body from toes to head. Some embarrassing soreness, and in desperate need of a bath, but… no dizziness, no overwhelming heat or driving urges, she was physically fine and mentally present, if not a tad emotionally shaken.
“I’m alright, Your Highness.” From beneath her hopelessly messy coral bangs, she peered up at him and beamed.
Arnold squeezed her gently and brought his nose down to the crown of her head. His lips brushed her forehead as he spoke. “Seems like your heat has finally broken.”
She hummed a strangled sound of agreement as the warmth of him enveloped her and embarrassment flooded up her chest. She probably couldn’t have dreamt of a past death if her damn omega hormones were ruling. Even now, her basal instincts wanted to soak up every ounce of… whatever this was, with Arnold’s skin pressed against every inch of her own, wrapped up together a nest of linens that smelled like the two of them. But the need those instincts posed seemed less… insistent, like a cat languishing in the sun. She turned over to reach for the bedside dresser-
“What are you doing?”
-and froze. This is Arnold’s room, not yours! There’s no stash of suppressants here!
Languidly, the alpha drew her again back into him, pressing a kiss to the back of her shoulder and tracing his fingers up her outstretched arm. But she could sense something lingering there, down the other end of their bond, equal parts concerned and suspicious. “… Rishe?”
“I…” Embarrassment and guilt flushed hot up her cheeks. “I was… getting suppressants?”
The arm around her middle tightened like an iron band, and Arnold growled lowly. Before she could question herself, her body went lax and her head lolled to the side to bear her neck in submission. The omega’s mind reeled – the prince had never growled around her before, never acted so.. alpha-like before. And her body – a spark of self-frustration through her chest – her damn inner omega just reacted before she could quell the instinct!
The alpha pressed a kiss to her exposed neck in nonverbal praise at the show of submission. “I’m sensing some emotions, mate.” He pressed another lingering kiss to her neck, right on top of the mark left by his teeth. “And now that you’re in your right mind and not in the throws of your heat, we need to talk.”
A whine built in her throat – you’re one to talk, I’ve been working all this time to figure out your secret plans and oppose them, and now instead you want to talk about me??? Embarrassment again lanced through her at the pitiful omega sound betraying her sentiment, but Arnold simply kissed her neck again in silent appeasement and reward.
“First: No more suppressants, Rishe.”
She balked, and somehow she was aware that he was aware of that very strong emotional reaction through their bond. “Prince Arnold, I-
He growled again. “I mean it, Rishe. Don’t stifle those instincts. It’s not healthy for you. I will do everything in my power to grant your every request, but this Rishe… This hurts you. And I will not let anything hurt my mate. Do you understand?”
She didn’t want to acquiesce to this. Every life she’d lived until now had shown her the importance of circumventing her instincts, how her inner omega was more of a hindrance than anything else. But… flashes of the exchanges they’d had in the throws of her heat came back to her. Could she work with her omega, like he’d promised? Her curiosity was undeniable; could she use her instincts for greater perception? And what about their supposed true mate bond, what sort of tools would that provide to her arsenal?
Arnold, to his credit, waited patiently as she waged against herself back and forth. With no small measure of hesitancy, Rishe finally came out of her mental argument and responded. “A-alright. But I’d like some training.”
He raised an eyebrow. “… training?”
“Yes,” she pressed on. “Someone to show me how to tap into the… heightened perception, as you called it? You said you’ve gone through training to tap into your alpha nature, and that the same exists for betas and omegas. I want to go through that training.”
The alpha considered, then nodded. “You can do anything you want, Rishe. I’ll speak with Oliver to arrange it.” She sighed, not too pleased with the idea of going without suppressants after living on it for 6 loops, but excited for the opportunity to experience another piece of the Galkhein training regimen.
Still, Arnold did not release her. “Second: Up until now, I’ve been… not using my alpha nature around you very much.” She opened her mouth to speak, but the press of his teeth against her neck stalled the words in her throat. “I know, you would not want me to hold myself back,” he correctly guessed her words, “and I assure you I have not. Hermity has different customs than Galkhein, and I did not want to scare you. As is seems your… aversions were not to me as an alpha but rather to your own omega status, and now that we’re mated… you may notice that I act a bit more alpha around you than before.” He liked a stripe up her neck where his teeth had been moments before. “I promise, I will not command you, Rishe. I want you to do as you wish, as you did before.”
He pulled away a fraction while her mind caught up with the words he was saying, the sensations he was afflicting to her neck, and her long-dormant instincts slowly supplying meaning to those sensations. It was a way of communicating, a format she’d never been privy to before, and she was far from fluent. “… did you use any commands on me before, Prince Arnold?”
“… yes.” Guilt colored their bond. “Just when you were hurt and nearly crazed from heat. I needed to help you, and the commands were a way to do that quickly. But I would never use them on you otherwise, Rishe.”
She was quiet again, retreating inwardly once more while inner turmoil. She’d hated when alphas used commands on her in the past, easily one of the reasons why she was just so uncomfortable with her omega status. Memories of Prince Deidrich practicing on her, of the alphas who’d captured her and Theodore the other day doing the same, how her body was compelled against her own will, it made her skin crawl. But Arnold… Arnold’s commands had been intended to tend to her care. And from what had her even more concerned…
“… The Emperor used alpha commands on you, didn’t he?” The other side of the bond went dark, like a wall was blocking her out. Rishe squirmed in Arnold’s grasp to turn chest-to-chest, then licked the underside of his chin in what she thought her instincts were telling her was a soothing, apologetic thing. Her mate blinked, blue eyes going from vacant to focused, and looked down to her.
“Yes. He did.” Tears bubbled in her gaze, but Arnold held her tighter. “Shhh, Rishe, none of that. Don’t cry over me.” A soothing rumble built in his chest and she found herself pressing into it, taking the comfort her alpha offered.
“It’s okay, Prince Arnold. You can use commands on me, if the situation calls for it.” He reeled back but she just met his gaze with her own watery but determined emerald eyes. “I trust you. You are not Prince Deidrich, and you are not your father. Just…” her gaze dropped, “just you though. I don’t want any other alpha to command me. Okay?”
He swallowed, then pressed another kiss to her forehead. “If that’s what you want, Rishe. I promise, I will not let any other alpha command you.”
They stayed like that for a beat, before he pressed on. “Third: In no way do I want to hamper you, but… you are my mate, and my wife-“ Not yet! She mentally denied- “and I need you to understand. After spending your heat with me, you might be…”
Oh shit. The pieces clicked like a stone in her stomach. She’d never prepared herself a contraceptive in her lives, because she’d never intended to be intimate with anyone! And even in this life, being wed to the royal family meant inevitably bearing an heir for them, but that was still relatively far off, she’d thought she’d have time before considering it! After so many years being on a suppressant, she wasn’t sure how “fertile” she might be so soon after stopping the treatment. But she’d needed Arnold’s "attentions" multiple times throughout her heat. Was it really enough to decrease the likelihood of her conceiving, or was she…?
“Pregnant?” Rishe squeaked.
The distance in their bond grew again, not a wall like before but enough she realized that he was somehow drawing back. The omega gripped him more firmly, as if she could physically pull the bond closer again. “We don’t know for certain,” he finally said. “I just… want you to be careful. You’re my wife, the princess of Galkhein, and now my mate, and potentially carrying. I would never restrain you, Rishe, but I just want you to keep it in mind.”
“Okay, Your Highness.” Her mind raced with anxious possibilities that she refused to give heed to just yet. They didn’t know if she was pregnant. They’d cross that bridge when they found out. Did she even want – No, I will not think about it yet! One panic at a time!
“Good.” He kissed her again, once on the forehead and once on the lips, a slow and firm press that had her toes curling and her blood heating. No, my heat is over! We shouldn’t- Arnold interrupted her train of thought. “The maids can draw you a bath. Your heat might be over, but you need to rest, eat, and regain your strength. At least for today. Then, you can go about as you see fit. Just one day, okay Rishe?”
A bath sounded wonderful. And as eager as she was to start her new training, she supposed it might take a day for Oliver to organize it. And so, she relented again. “Okay, Your Highness.”
“Good girl.” And as much as she denied it, a little trill went through her at her mate’s praise.