There was a commotion in the slave quarters and Phoenix was quick to sit up, his eyes still blurry from sleep. The windows were only beginning to turn grey and not even any of the kitchen slaves were up yet. But the doors of the slave quarters had been thrown open and Spring Guards were carelessly barreling through the cots, intent on something. Phoenix rubbed the sleep from his eyes quickly, hoping to see what was going on before he heard the sounds of their booted feet beside his bed and felt a painful grab on his arm as he was yanked from his cot.

He let out a cry of pain as he was hauled upwards, stumbling on bare feet against the armored bodies of the guards. “This him?” One guard asked, holding his arm high above his head. Phoenix remembered at the last minute to keep his gaze pointed downwards but only moments later, his chin was forcefully lifted and he was forced to stare into the eyes of the guard. 

“Yeah, that’s ‘im alright. Let’s get him out of here. The stench makes my eyes burn.” 

Phoenix was forced to stumble after them, arm in the vice-like grip of the guard. The two guards were unmistakably Betas but thanks to a diet of next to nothing since he was little, he stood no chance in strength against the two guards. He was gaunt, short and without a proper pair of shoes, his feet just slid across the marbled floors. So, he was forced to allow the two guards to march him through the maze of luxuriously gardened corridors until they were outside the front doors of the Great Hall. What had he done to ensnare the King’s wrath this time? Or was the King drunk and bored?

The two guards pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the Great Hall and Phoenix stumbled in after them, far too focused on his feet to realize who was all there. It was the scent of frost covered pine and mulberry that had his head shooting up as he was forced onto his knees before the Winter Prince. His heart pounded when he looked up at him, his body reacting in a strange way as if to pull him towards him. The conversation from last night he had overheard. Maybe… maybe they had caught his scent and now meant to punish him! He knew he shouldn’t have stayed!

“You can’t be serious.” The Prince’s icy tone sent daggers into Phoenix’s chest and he was forced to train his eyes downwards, crushing down the strange warmth in his chest with a mixture of terror and disappointment. Had he thought the Prince might have saved him? All royals were the same… Omega slaves were nothing. 

King Midas rose from his throne, walking towards them with a bit of swagger to his step. He came to stand beside Prince Aspen and threw an arm over the Prince’s shoulders. “Oh I’m very serious. This is him. I hate the sight of him. Get him out of my sight.”

“You mean to tell me, your son is an Autumn brat?” Snapped Aspen and Phoenix’s blood ran cold. Wait… what-

King Midas leaned in close to Aspen’s ear so only he and Prince Aspen could hear him. “Not just any autumn brat, Prince Aspen. A very special Autumn brat. He’s an Omega. Of breeding age. Kept him innocent and clean just for you.”

Prince Aspen shrugged the King off, as if his very touch disgusted him before he glared down at the top of Phoenix’s head. He could feel that burning gaze on him and he felt himself begin to shake as the Alpha’s scent rose up, demanding his submission. He withheld the need to whimper. He was… he was King Midas’s son?! And he was to be sold off to the Winter Prince like he was nothing more than a piece of meat?! He could feel his breathing pick up, a clenching in his chest that was beginning to hurt. His whole body was shaking now.

“A deal is a deal, Winter Boy.” King Midas’s voice dropped into a dangerous tone as he walked away from the Prince back to his throne. “Take the boy and leave or declare war and damn us all. The fate of the fae kingdom rests on your shoulders.”

Prince Aspen let out a growl of frustration and Phoenix glanced up in time to see the Alpha’s hand clenched at his sides.  He turned with a flourish and the men beside him were quick to stand at attention. “Get the Omega cleaned up and prepared to travel!” he snapped, walking away from them. There was a terrible tearing in Phoenix’s chest as the Alpha walked away and he found himself lying forward, over his knees and clutching at his chest. This couldn’t be real… This wasn’t… He was just a slave! He was nobody! 

More booted footfalls and he was yanked to his feet once more by several winter fae and turned away from King Midas. This place had never felt like home but he had never wanted to be anywhere else, afraid of what the world would do to him. Was he leaving one evil for another? What would Prince Aspen and his mother do to him once he was deep inside the icy Winter Kingdom? Would he rot away in a dungeon or  be forced to freeze to death?

He was taken from the throne room and into the guest wing of the palace where he assumed Prince Aspen had been staying. The men leading him were far more gentle than the Spring guards had been but they remained silent and didn’t look at him. They stopped him outside a nondescript door and knocked sharply. Seconds later, it opened to a small pixie woman who nodded and opened the door wider showing a wash room and several Omega attendants waiting for them. Phoenix didn’t remember a time when he had ever gotten a bath. There really had been no point. He woke in the morning to clean and went to bed after cleaning. Oftentimes, he smelled of soap and cleaner but he had never thought that he was rank enough to deserve a bath. Those were never allowed for slaves. 

The pixie woman was gentle as she took him from the Winter guards and waited until the door shut behind them before she stripped him of his tunic and dunked him into the wash tub set into the floor. The water was surprisingly warm, with little tendrils of steam rising from its surface. The water smelled of peaches and elderberries as the Omegas set to work scrubbing and soaping him. His hair took the longest but by the time they were satisfied that he was cleaned, he was being ushered out and into another room. He wondered if Prince Aspen had had this suite of rooms set up in the hopes of bringing home one of the Spring princesses. It surely seemed like it. He certainly didn’t deserve all this luxury, even if he was the bastard son of the King of the Spring Court. He was still reeling from such information and hadn’t yet had the time to accept such things. 

He barely remembered his Omega father, as he had succumbed to sickness when he had been only four years old but he had always remembered his smiling face, a mane of red hair that always fell around his shoulders and a warm embrace. He didn’t remember what his face looked like or what his voice sounded like but he could remember the love. How could someone so full of love, be with someone like King Midas? Had they been a slave as well? Had they been forced against their will to lay with him? That thought alone had his stomach rolling with nausea. 

The Omegas had led him into a bedroom and were now opening doors to a wardrobe where they began to dig through endless outfits. He was sat in front of a vanity as one of them began to work through the endless knots in his hair. For the first time, Phoenix got a good look at himself. His cheeks were set in and his eyes were too large for his face, giving no doubt to his lack of proper meals. His hair was limp from the bath but the white showed brightly amongst the blue and purple and the tips of ears pointed through the wet locks. But it was the beauty of his purple eyes that took his breath away. Was this the reason he had been told to look away? They were breathtaking with an almost crystalline look to them. Even in his frail and small body, they were clear and bright. At least he could breathe a sigh of relief that he didn’t look anything like King Midas, if he was, in fact, his bastard son. 

Once his hair was brushed, he was ushered once more out of the chair and towards a wardrobe where two others were already selecting an outfit. Phoenix sucked in his breath at the touch of the fabric to his skin. His whole life, he had worn nothing but a hand me down smock that had, over the years, been patched and torn too many times to count. He wasn’t even sure what the original color was. The clothes the others were pressing against him were soothing, silky fabrics that took his breath away. Like water turned into clothing. The shift they pulled down over his head had overwhelming fluffy sleeves and opened to an exaggerated vee with ties he could pull close. But he wasn’t given the option to do so before a tight corset was wrapped around his chest and he gasped for air as they tightened it, lacing the silk ties behind him. He was shoved into a pair of riding leathers, tight to his skin but breathable and as he sat down to have another put on his boots, he startled when he felt something around his neck. He reached up, touching a metal collar that was being positioned around his neck. 

When he twisted in his chair to ask, the Omega woman smiled, wearing much the same collar. In fact, as he noticed now, all the workers in the room with him were wearing one. “In the winter kingdom, we give Omegas their freedom by not being forced to pair with an Alpha. It’s a protection, sweet heart.” she told him, gently squeezing his shoulder. He felt a stirring and warmth in his belly and, as he turned back around, he couldn’t help the small smile that crossed his face. Maybe… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to leave Spring and live in Winter. The winter prince hardly seemed to take much notice of him, anyway. If he could just disappear into the background there, as well, it was possible he could have a better life already.