But it could be,I think, glancing around once more.This is Monsterland.
I recognize some of the aromas from my brief time here, just as I can smell my mate-circle.
Fire.
Spice.
Cedar.
I inhale, allowing their presence to ground me.Are they nearby? Or just somewhere within the realm?
“What are you doing, Ailsa?” Baroness Clarice—Heart—demands. “Hurry up.”
I apparently paused in the hall, lost to my surroundings. “Sorry,” I say, feigning an apologetic grimace.
She snaps her fingers and I quickly obey, skipping forward, and resume following her. All while trying to discern the source of the illusion, how to see through it.
Because I won’t be able to find this elusive courtyard if I can’t break through this mirage.
Assuming the courtyard is real, I think.
I give myself a mental shake.It’s real.
Everything in Monsterland is insane. I just have to embrace the mayhem. Accept that the unordinary is the new ordinary. Believe that I’m meant to be here, chaos and all.
I’m an Omega. And I want to engage in the ritual.
It’s how we’ll win back Monsterland. Break through whatever spell this female Alpha has woven over the kingdom. And demolish her illusions.
Expose the Imposter King.
Although, I’m questioning how much he’s behind all of this now.
Heart seems to be the mastermind.
How long has she been Baroness Clarice? Did she know I was an Omega the whole time?
The answer to the latter question is likely yes. Which means she knew Krolic and Catum were in my district. She let them take me away.
Why?I wonder.
Or perhaps… perhaps they thwarted her original plans by reacting quickly. Maybe she didn’t mean for them to take me at all.
Which would suggest she never accounted for how much they would tell me, how much I now know.
From what I’ve gathered of her, she thinks little of Omegas. She wants me to supplicate. She doesn’t see me as a queen. Or respect me as her equal.
“She’s fully aware of her position,” she said to Tav earlier. There was a hint of pride in that statement, almost as though she was pleased that she’d taught me to be inferior.
She no doubt assumes it worked since I’m acquiescing and trailing after her like a good little pet. That I clearly bought her story and believe none of my “dream” was real.
Oh, it was very real, I think at her.But this place is not.
We’re outside now, and I can taste the difference in the air. There’s something sweet nearby. Floral.Like roses, I think, inhaling. I’ve only caught that aroma once—when Master Pillar brought a vase of them to sit on the altar.
I remember sneaking up to inhale the pretty flower, curious as to what they smelled like. It was my first time seeing roses in person, and these were particularly unique, as they were purple.
Why am I smelling roses now?I wonder, scanning the drab countryside of the mountain.There are no flowers nearby.
