2. Henri

"Have you finished your studies for the day?" Liam, my assistant asked.

The name was such a misnomer. He wasn't my anything. Liam worked for my fathers and had one job, to keep me on the right track so that when the day arrived, I could take my rightful place by my mate's side. It didn't sound that bad. Being the omega your mate deserved would be romantic… if you got to pick your mate, and I very much didn't.

"By studies, you mean…?" I was being fresh and it would irk him, but that was kind of the point. He'd been my shadow since my very first shift. I went from being excited that I finally got to meet my fox to a prisoner in less than five minutes.

It sucked.

"I mean going over the papers your father sent you about Prince Cole's lineage." He wasn't taking the bait today. What fun was that?

"Yes, I did." I got up from my chair by the window.

From where I sat I couldn't see much, and what little I did see was of my family's property, but it was something that wasn't these four walls.

"I was thinking maybe we could go into town tonight. I can dress up and no one will know it is me." They probably wouldn't anyway. Aside from waving from the balcony from time to time, I didn't make any public appearances.

The official reason: Henri is the shy royal, devoting his time to his studies in the hopes of one day making this a better world.

The real reason: my parents signed away my ability to mate to the neighboring kingdom when I was a child, and the worst part? They never told me until the day they whisked me away to "prepare" for my future.

I'd been that kid who dreamed of finding a knight who would save me from dragons and then profess his undying love. Or I thought that a sexy cowboy riding on a unicorn would find me when I was lost and take me home and declare his intentions to my father. He'd promise that he was the mate I'd never dared wish for.

I was the guy who used to randomly scent people, certain that fated mates were real and I'd one day find mine. And then I turned 22, met my fox, and discovered it was all a lie.

Love didn't exist, only contractual agreements that would benefit both sides. My belief that my parents loved each other when they mated was shattered into a bazillion pieces when I discovered my dad had been part of a purchase agreement to acquire the Sapphire Mountains region to our south. Sure, the mountains were magnificent, but a living person? They were worth so much more.

Only to the kingdom, they weren't, and that was how I came to be. I was to be their one and only child, my entire purpose in existing to further grow their empire. Or at least keep it safe.

My sister had been born the year I turned ten. I loved her fiercely, and while I wished that I didn't have the royal duties that I had, not once was I ever jealous of Lavender. She deserved what she had in life.

"You know that you are not allowed out among the masses." Liam closed his eyes. I did know this. I'd known it since the day I was told I had one year to prepare to be the mate Prince Cole needed.

"Why do you constantly put me in this position?" he sighed.

"Hey, I'm not the one who agreed to keep the royal prince prisoner to prevent him from… gasp… getting it on."

"The contract is clear. You must be a virgin or this contract is null and void."

What he didn't understand was that it didn't make me want to hold onto my V card. If anything it had me wanting to lose it. During an exceedingly rebellious period I had in my late teens, I went so far as to beg my guard to take me. I think he almost agreed, too. But then someone ratted us out and he was reassigned ten minutes later.

Any perception of privacy that I had was an optical illusion. I wouldn't be surprised if my parents got a daily pooping report. Served them right if they did.

"Then can we at least order pizza?"

"Fine. We can order pizza. The same as usual?"

"Yes, and get Lavender's favorite, also. We are planning to watch a movie tonight."

Or I planned to ask her to watch a movie. Unlike me, she had complete freedom, and for all I knew she had plans for the evening.

Liam excused himself, and I called my sister. I didn't have a cell phone. No, that would be too progressive and give me too much information about my future. But there was a house phone that I could use to call my sister in her wing. At least there was that.

"What's up, buttercup?" she sing-songed over the phone.

"Liam is ordering your favorite pizza. Want to watch a vampire movie?" Vampires were her weakness. I was pretty sure she wished they existed in real life.

"Or there's a new vampire show that's streaming. Oh…sorry." Streaming was not a luxury I was allowed because it meant connecting to the internet. She hadn't meant anything by the slip, and I wasn't upset by it. "Yeah, a movie sounds great. I'll bring one."

Lavender didn't understand any of what was happening with me. Part of it was her young age, but most of it was that she was a good person, the best of us, really, and she didn't understand how people were traded like bargaining chips.

"Don't bring a scary one." Her collection had two factions; true love defies death and vampires eating their way to victory. There was no in between. I wasn't a fan of romance movies anymore, but they sure beat having nightmares of people being connected to tubes as a part of a vampire feeding system.

She came over just as the pizza arrived, and we watched the movie, both of us picking apart the main character who was downright awful. We wouldn't have many more opportunities to do this, not before my mating, and I wanted to savor every second.