KAI:
The carriage is suffocating.
Kai sits on the velvet seat, trying not to vomit for the hundredth time in three days. The suppressants make nausea his constant companion. Every bounce of the carriage over rough roads sends his stomach lurching. Every injection makes his body feel like it belongs to someone else.
He keeps his eyes closed, pretending to sleep because if anyone looks at him, they might see the panic underneath the princess mask.
What if Liam recognizes something is wrong? What if the suppressants wear off at the wrong moment? What if Kai forgets to act weak and some small gesture, some unconscious Alpha movement, gives everything away?
The carriage jolts over a pothole.
Kai's eyes snap open and immediately he wants to punch something. An Alpha does not whimper. An Alpha does not flinch at every bump in the road. But Princess Elena would. So Kai settles deeper into the seat and pulls his cloak tighter around himself.
Through the window, the landscape is changing. The harsh frozen mountains of Frost Vale are falling behind. The roads are becoming smoother, warmer. Trees bloom with early spring flowers. Green spreads across the land like a slow fire.
They are entering Sun Crest.
By late afternoon on the third day, the capital city appears on the horizon.
Kai catches his breath.
It is massive. A sprawling jewel of white stone and golden roofs that catch the sunlight and throw it back to the sky. The city spreads out from the palace like roots, buildings and streets and gardens all flowing outward in careful, beautiful patterns. Nothing like the sharp angles and dark stone of Frost Vale's architecture.
Crowds line the roads leading into the city.
Hundreds of people. Maybe thousands. They cheer and wave as the royal carriage passes. They are happy. Excited. Some are crying with joy at the prospect of peace between kingdoms.
Kai wants to scream.
He forces himself to smile and wave softly through the carriage window. Princess Elena waves. A princess from the north bringing peace to the south. A bride bringing unity.
A lie carrying lies.
The palace looms ahead. Enormous. Beautiful. A fortress made of something that looks like marble but catches light like it is alive. Guards line the courtyard in perfect formation, their uniforms white and gold instead of the dark blue of Frost Vale.
Everything is different here.
Everything is wrong.
Servants rush toward the carriage the moment it stops. They bow so deeply their foreheads nearly touch the ground. No one meets Kai's eyes. No one looks directly at the princess. Protocol demands distance and respect.
Kai is ushered through corridors that seem to stretch forever. The palace is a maze of white stone and golden fixtures and paintings of past rulers watching from the walls. The servants move in silence. Their footsteps are soft. Everything about Sun Crest feels quiet and controlled and dangerous.
A private chamber awaits.
It is larger than most rooms in Frost Vale's palace. Sunlight streams through tall windows. There is a vanity with mirrors. Perfumes. Jewelry. Everything a princess might need.
And the wedding gown.
It hangs on a wooden stand like a ghost waiting to be inhabited. White silk so fine it is almost transparent. Lace so delicate it looks like someone captured spider webs and stitched them together. Pearls sewn into the fabric catch light like tiny stars.
It is beautiful.
It is a cage.
Servants work for hours. They wash Kai's hands and scrub them until the skin is raw. They paint his nails with careful strokes. They apply makeup to his face, powder and color and things that make him look softer, younger, more fragile.
Each moment that passes, Kai becomes less himself.
They do his hair, threading it with tiny white flowers and strands of silver. The weight of it pulls at his scalp. The flowers smell like decay underneath their perfume. Kai wants to rip it all off and scream.
Instead he sits perfectly still and lets them transform him.
When they finally step back, the mirror shows a stranger.
Princess Elena looks back with Kai's eyes but someone else's face. Someone else's grace. Someone else's fragility. She is beautiful in a way that makes Kai's stomach twist because it means the disguise is perfect.
No one will see him in there.
The walk to the ceremony hall happens in a blur. Kai's feet are numb from the suppressants, heavy from the heels, uncertain about moving at all. Servants hold his train. Music echoes through corridors. Guests are already in place. The moment is coming.
The ceremony hall doors open.
The sound is deafening.
Thousands of people stand as the princess enters. Kai's vision tunnels. All he can see is the aisle stretching endlessly forward. White flowers line the walkway. Candles flicker with golden flames. And at the end of it all, waiting at the altar, stands Crown Prince Liam.
He is taller than Kai expected. Broader. His dark hair is perfectly styled. His uniform is white and gold like everyone else's, but it fits him differently. Like power is sewn into the fabric.
His eyes are cold.
That is the first thing Kai really registers. Not his appearance. Not his strength. His eyes. They are dark as winter nights and they look at Princess Elena with absolutely no emotion. No warmth. No interest. No recognition.
Just emptiness.
Kai's heart is hammering but his feet keep moving because training is stronger than fear. One step after another. Toward the man who might be a conspirator. Toward the man who is definitely hiding something terrible. Toward the man Kai is about to promise his life to.
The priest is old. Kind looking. He speaks words that mean nothing because they were written by politicians and signed by kings. They are not real vows. They are performances.
Kai repeats the words in Elena's soft voice.
Liam repeats his with a flatness that suggests he is reading a trade agreement instead of marrying someone.
The ring is platinum. Simple. Elegant. It slides onto Kai's finger and feels like a lock clicking shut.
"By the power vested in me," the priest says, "I declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Liam turns to Kai.
His eyes are still empty.
He leans down and presses his lips to Kai's forehead. Not the mouth. Not a real kiss. A gesture. A performance for the crowd. When he pulls back, his face is completely blank.
The crowd erupts in cheers.
They walk back down the aisle as the newly married couple. Liam does not hold Kai's hand. Does not touch him at all except for that cold kiss on the forehead. They are married but they move like strangers.
The reception hall is filled with more people. More music. More performances of happiness.
Kai watches Liam work the room. The Crown Prince is polite to everyone. He smiles when cameras flash. He speaks to nobles with perfect grace. But every gesture is calculated. Every word is measured. Every moment is a performance.
This is a man who has been hiding something his entire life.
Around midnight, servants gesture for Kai to leave.
It is time for the wedding night.
The bridal suite is enormous. A sitting room. A dressing chamber. A bedroom with a bed so large it could fit ten people. Everything is white and gold and beautiful and overwhelming.
Servants undress Kai in businesslike silence. They put him in a nightgown of thin white silk that leaves nothing to imagination. Then they leave, closing the doors quietly behind them.
Kai stands alone in the bedroom waiting for Liam.
Hours pass.
Kai lies in the massive bed, heart pounding, listening for footsteps that never come. The suppressants make his senses dull but his Alpha instincts are screaming. This is not normal. A new husband should come to his bride on the wedding night. That is tradition. That is expected.
Liam does not come.
Just before dawn, when Kai has almost convinced himself to sleep, he hears movement.
Not in the bedroom. In the hallway outside.
Footsteps moving quietly. A door opening and closing across the corridor. Then silence.
Kai's eyes open.
Something is wrong. Or something is exactly right. Something is happening and it does not involve Kai at all.
Against every instinct telling him to stay hidden, to maintain his disguise, to play the weak princess who accepts whatever her husband does, Kai gets out of bed.
He moves silently across the cold floor. His feet are bare. The nightgown is thin. He is vulnerable in every way a person can be vulnerable.
He opens the bedroom door.
The hallway is dark except for a single lamp burning near a locked door across the corridor. Kai can see light coming from underneath. Can hear movement inside.
He moves toward it like a predator stalking prey.
The lock is ornate but not complicated. Kai's fingers work it open in seconds. The door swings inward quietly.
Inside is a private study. Books line the walls. A desk sits in the center. Lamps are lit. And Liam is there, back to the door, removing his formal coat.
Kai's Alpha senses go completely still.
Because Liam is reaching for something. A small vial. A syringe.
He rolls up his sleeve and finds a vein with the practiced ease of someone who has done this a thousand times.
He injects himself with the liquid.
Immediately, his entire body relaxes. His rigid shoulders soften. His expression shifts from cold to something almost peaceful. And his scent changes.
Even dulled by Kai's suppressants, his Alpha nose recognizes what floods the small room.
Sweet. Warm. Unmistakably Omega.
The man Kai just married is not an Alpha.
He is an Omega.
And the syringe in his hand was suppressant.
Just like the ones Kai has been taking.
Liam spins around so fast his blade is already in his hand.
Kai and the Crown Prince lock eyes across the study.
For a frozen moment, neither of them moves.
Then Liam's expression turns deadly.
"How long have you been standing there, Princess?"