....*…..* a little time jump : { one hour later}
The dinner following the Great Hall's confrontation was a subdued affair, held in the private dining salon rather than the banquet hall. The air was thick, not with the smell of the roasted venison or the honeyed carrots, but with the lingering static of King Everest's arrival. Arion sat at the head of the table, his eyes watchful, while Kyon sat beside him, his fingers occasionally tapping a rhythmic, thoughtful pattern on the table.
Calix sat at the far end, tucked between Kenzo and Celine. He was in his girl form now, her dark hair falling like a silken curtain over her eyes as she meticulously pushed a pea across her plate with a silver fork. She didn't speak. She didn't look at the adults. She was listening to the frantic, erratic heartbeat of Lorcan, who sat directly across from her. To Calix, emotions had colors, and Lorcan was currently a swirling, chaotic mess of sunset orange and panicked violet…
Lorcan couldn't eat. Every time his fork touched his plate, his gaze drifted toward Aiden. Aiden, however, was eating with the robust appetite of a growing Alpha, oblivious to the storm of emotions sitting three feet away.
"You should eat, Lorc," Aiden said around a mouthful of bread. "You've got to stay strong if we're going to hit the training dummies tomorrow."
Lorcan offered a weak, trembling smile. "I... I'm just not very hungry, Aiden."
Aiden shrugged softly. " if you say so…" .
After dinner, the children were dismissed. As they walked down the torch lit corridor toward the Royal Wing, Aiden turned to Lorcan with a bright, casual idea,his hand rubbing his full belly.
"The training was dusty today, and my muscles ache," Aiden said, stretching his arms. "I'm going to use the Great Bath in my suite. It's huge,big enough for ten people. Why don't you come? We can talk about the Northern Academy."
Lorcan's heart didn't just race,it performed a frantic, dangerous somersault. A bath. With Aiden. The very thought made his skin feel several degrees too warm. "I... I should probably go to my own guest room..."
"Don't be silly," Aiden said, grabbing Lorcan's wrist and pulling him toward the door. "My Papa says Alphas and Omegas from the same pack should share everything. And we're a pack, right?"
Lorcan couldn't say no to that. He nodded dumbly, following Aiden into the steam filled chamber.
The bathtub was a masterpiece of white marble, sunken into the floor and fed by natural hot springs. As they stripped down to their undergarments and slipped into the scalding, aromatic water, Lorcan felt as though he were floating in a dream or a nightmare of his own making.
Aiden leaned back against the marble, the water slicking his dark hair back, revealing the sharp, handsome lines of his face. He began to talk excitedly about the Northern Academy—the classes on mountain warfare, the history of the First Queen, the survival treks.
"I think I can get in by twelve," Aiden said, his lips moving with an animated energy.
Lorcan wasn't listening. He was staring. He was focused entirely on the way Aiden's lips curled when he smiled, the way the water droplets clung to his eyelashes, and the sheer, raw vitality that radiated from him. Aiden was a sun, and Lorcan was a moon, caught in an orbit he couldn't escape.
"Lorcan? You okay? You're staring at me like I've grown a second head," Aiden laughed, splashing a bit of water at him.
"I... yes. The Academy. It sounds... very cold," Lorcan stammered, his face flushed a deep, rosy pink that had nothing to do with the water temperature.
When the bath ended, the real panic set in. Aiden stood up, stepping out of the tub with the unselfconscious grace of a child of the North. He didn't reach for a towel immediately, standing there in the humid air, the firelight catching the lean muscles of his chest and legs.
Lorcan let out a small, strangled sound and whipped his head away, his hands flying up to cover his eyes.
"Aiden! Put on a towel!" Lorcan scolded, his voice trembling with a mix of embarrassment and a strange, budding anger he didn't understand. "You can't just... just stand there like that!"
Aiden blinked, looking down at himself and then at the back of Lorcan's head. He shrugged, wrapping a fur lined towel around his waist. "We're both boys, Lorc. What's the big deal? You're so weirdly shy tonight."
An hour later, they were in Aiden's bed. It was a massive, sprawling piece of furniture carved from dark iron wood. Aiden was already sprawled out, nearly asleep, when Lorcan stood by the edge of the mattress, twisting his night tunic in his hands.
"Aiden?" Lorcan whispered. "Can I...can I sleep here? My room feels too big. And my Father... I don't want to be alone if he comes back."
Aiden opened one blue amber eye and scooted over, patting the space beside him. "Course. Get in."
Lorcan climbed in, his movements stiff. But the moment he settled under the heavy furs, his instincts took over. He scooted closer, his body seeking the warmth of the Alpha beside him. He wrapped his arms around Aiden's waist, cuddling into him with a desperate, tight grip.
Aiden smiled in his sleep, thinking Lorcan was just nervous about King Everest . He draped an arm over Lorcan, pulling him closer. "I've got you, Lorc. Go to sleep."
But Lorcan didn't sleep. Not at first. He buried his face in the crook of Aiden's neck, his nose brushing against the skin. He began to sniff , a deep, instinctual Omega behavior. He was inhaling the scent of mountain pine and cold stone, the scent of his Alpha.
Lorcan didn't know it yet, but his first "pre-heat" was bubbling beneath the surface the kind of hormonal surge that usually caused an Omega to lose all control. But Aiden's natural, stable pheromones acted like a balm, calming the fire in Lorcan's blood and turning the frantic heat into a soft, glowing warmth. Wrapped in Aiden's scent, Lorcan finally drifted into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
[the next day]
The next morning, the peace of the nursery was a stark contrast to the war being waged in the Royal Office.
Kyon and Arion stood on one side of the polished onyx desk, looking every bit the Serpent and the Tiger. Across from them sat King Everest, his face a mask of aristocratic fury.
"I will not have it,"Everest hissed, slamming a ringed hand onto the desk. "Lorcan is my heir. He belongs in the South. You are encouraging his rebellion, Kyon. You are teaching him to forget his place as an Omega."
"His place is wherever he chooses to be," Arion interjected, his voice like grinding stones. "He is a person, Valerius. Not a bargaining chip for your trade routes. We have seen what happens when children are used as tools. We will not allow it in this palace."
"He is coming home,"Everest insisted. "If I have to drag him through the streets in chains, he will fulfill his duty."
Kyon's eyes narrowed, the Serpent pupils flashing in the way his pupils seemed to sharpen. "If you touch him,Everest , you aren't just kidnapping a Prince. You are declaring war on the North. We have stabilized this kingdom through blood and fire. Do not think for a second we won't do it again for a boy we consider our own."
The argument escalated, voices rising until they could be heard in the hallway.
Outside the door, Calix was passing by, carrying his sketchbook. He stopped, his amber eyes fixed on the heavy oak doors. He heard the Southern King's hateful words about "Omega status" and "market value." Calix didn't say anything. He didn't intervene. He simply stood there, a silent shadow, absorbing the poison of the adult world. He looked down at his own hands, hands that were currently soft and feminine—and felt a wave of cold, quiet resentment.
He moved on, slipping away before anyone noticed he had been there.
The Afternoon realization (Almost) (^_^)
By the afternoon, the sun was shining over the courtyard where Aiden and Lorcan were sitting on a stone bench. Lorcan was still a bit dazed from the night before, his eyes following Aiden's every movement.
Aiden was showing Lorcan a new sharpening stone for his dagger. As he spoke, Lorcan reached out, his fingers brushing against Aiden's hand. He didn't pull away. He let his hand linger, his gaze fixed on Aiden with such a raw, aching vulnerability that a blind man could have seen it.
Aiden stopped talking. He looked at their joined hands, then up at Lorcan's face. For a split second, something flickered in Aiden's mind—a realization that the way Lorcan looked at him wasn't the way a brother looked at a brother. It was deeper. Heavier.
Lorcan's breath hitched. Does he know?
Aiden smiled—that bright, oblivious Northern smile. He squeezed Lorcan's hand briefly and then pulled away to pick up the dagger.
"You're really worried about your dad, aren't you, Lorc?" Aiden asked, completely misinterpreting the tension. "Don't be. My Papa and the Serpent King are giving him hell in the office. You're safe here. That's why you were so clingy last night, right? Just scared?"
Lorcan felt like he had been doused in cold water. The "weird feelings" in his chest felt like they were bruising his ribs.
"Yes," Lorcan whispered, his voice small and hollow. "Just scared."
Aiden laughed, ruffling Lorcan's hair. "I knew it! Don't worry, I'll protect you from the 'Southern Gale' as long as you need."
Aiden stood up and jogged toward the training dummies, leaving Lorcan sitting on the bench. Lorcan watched him go, his heart a tangle of love and frustration and deception all mix into one ugly emotion.
High above on the balcony, Celine watched the whole exchange. She didn't smile. She didn't laugh. She saw the way Lorcan looked at her brother, and she saw the way her brother didn't see it at all.
"Stupid," Celine muttered, her Alpha scent of winter mint flaring. "Everyone in this palace is stupid."
And in the library, Calix sat in the dark, drawing a picture of a boy with two faces, one crying and one silent, while the world of the Triple Crown continued to spin toward a future none of them were ready for.