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After I arrived at Ashton’s house with Kevin, I had to remind myself that I had less than two hours to stay there. I doubt Kevin would be able to get me out of trouble two days in a row… but then again he might be able to...

I shook my head. No, I was not going to push it.

We entered the house after Kevin just pushed the doors open and let himself in. I wasn’t trying to catch a breaking and entering case, but he pulled me in behind him. We walked upstairs and when we got to the third floor, my heart nearly jumped from my chest.

A hooded figure with bright green eyes melted from the shadows. CaVaughn cocked his head at us expressionlessly.

“We came to visit Ashton,” Kevin told him and then glanced hesitantly at the door. “Is he doing any better?”

CaVaughn put down his hood. He had gotten a fade and his silky black hair was done up in a man bun. It highlighted his breathtaking bone structured.

“No.”

I see he had gone back to his one word answers. I smiled and waved at him. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too.”

Kevin and I stood there awkwardly. CaVaughn just stared at us. I didn’t think he was feeling the awkwardness that was crushing me and Kevin.

“We’re just gonna…” Kevin said, pointing at the door.

CaVaughn nodded and slipped away into the darkness.

“He’s as interesting as ever,” Kevin remarked as he opened the door.

Inside, Ashton was lying in bed with a damp cloth on his forehead. I felt his temperature. It was slight, but he definitely had a fever.

“The king really did a number on you, huh?” Kevin murmured as he looked at his best friend.

“Do you think I should talk to his father about this?” I asked.

“No, don’t go near him unless it’s absolutely necessary. And even then still don’t go near him. He’s ruthless.”

I ran my fingers along Ashton’s face feeling the familiar tingles. I missed hearing his laugh and his annoying sarcastic remarks. I never thought I would ever say this, but I missed his smirk and his confused face when I talked about books.

After a few minutes, I drew my hand back and gave Kevin a sad smile. “I’ll leave him to get some rest.”

He nodded and we left the house. With my remaining time, I decided to visit Kevin’s parents, but then realized that it was still early and they were at work.

“I’ll show you around,” he suggested as we headed out and then paused with a sigh. “I should have blocked Jackson.”

“Let me guess, meeting?”

Kevin nodded. “I have to go because Jackson and I are Ashton’s second and third in command,” he groaned.

“It’s fine, I understand. Do what you gotta do.”

“I’ll take you back to the house,” he offered, but I shook my head.

“I’m going to see if I can find Micah.”

Kevin looked uncertain at that proposition. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, Micah’s nice.”

“It’s his brother I’m worried about. He has a grudge against us higher ranks and I don’t want him to take it out on you.”

“You mean Armani? I think I’ll be okay with him too.”

Kevin weighed the pros and cons to decide whether or not he should let me stay with Micah for the time being. I waited patiently for him to decide, but either way I was still going to go.

Finally, he sighed. “Okay, I’ll take you there.”

I grinned and clapped excitedly. “Good choice.”

We had been walking for almost ten minutes and Jackson apparently kept yelling at Kevin to attend the meeting.

Suddenly, a familiar face came into view. Armani looked over at us from what he was doing and his face distorted in anger. He stormed over to us and grabbed Kevin by the collars.

Kevin sighed and looked at me. “See?”

“Armani, what are you doing? Please let him go,” I said as they stared each other down.

Kevin yawned. “I really don’t want to go to that meeting, but Jackson will probably kill me now and then Ashton will kill me when he wakes up.” He twisted Armani’s hand and freed himself from his grasp easily.

“Are you sure you want to stay here with him?” Kevin asked me seriously.

“Yes, now go,” I said, summoning my bravery.

“Try anything with her and you’ll regret your existence,” Kevin growled and stalked away.

“Like I don’t already do that,” Armani grumbled. He stared at me pointedly, then walked off.

“Go away.”

“Wait,” I called, jogging after him.

“I didn’t give you permission to stay here with me,” he snarled. “Or does my opinion not matter to you, princess?”

“Hey, don’t be like that,” I said, smiling as brightly as I could. “I came to see Micah.”

“Well Micah can’t see you, so get lost.”

“Armani,” I pressed. “You should let him decide that for himself.”

“Okay,” he smiled mockingly at me. “Why don’t you come see him.”

I followed him to their house. It was the complete opposite of Ashton’s, Kristof’s or Kevin’s. It looked just about ready to call it quits. There were large, gaping holes in the roof and the exterior was crumbling.

“It’s not the palace you’re used to,” he scoffed as I stepped as carefully as I could into the structure.

I followed him around to a room and he knocked once on an old door. “Micah, you have a visitor.”

He pushed the door open and I gasped. My hands flew to my mouth. Micah’s lips were bloody and he had cuts and scratches all over his face and neck and along his arms. Both of his eyes were swollen shut. They were heavy and black and blue.

“See princess? He can’t see you,” he growled.

I walked past him carefully and stood by Micah’s bedside.

“Did you clean his wounds?” I asked, inspecting his face.

“As best as I could. He’ll be better in a few weeks. Then they can come attack him again,” he spat.

“Why would it take so long for him to heal?” I asked confused.

“Because he’s an Omega. The further down the ranks you go, the longer it takes to heal. Your soulmate would be better in a day or two.” He spat. “Micah’s been like this since Friday.”

Today was Tuesday. Micah groaned.

“Ewishabesh?” he asked, trying to pronounce my name despite his injuries.

“Shh,” I hushed him gently. “Yeah, it’s me, Elizabeth. I came to visit you.”

He tried to smile, but let out another groan of pain.

I sat on the edge of his bed and dug into my bag. After what happened with Ashton yesterday, I'd packed a small first aid kit in my bag in case of emergencies. I took it out and Armani moved closer to me and watched me suspiciously.

“This might sting a little, but I’m going to disinfect your wounds. Give me a thumbs up if that’s okay.”

Micah stuck his thumb up. I cleansed his face and attended to his wounds as carefully as I could, while I tried to distract him with stories about school. I told him about Callie’s school play and how many new books the library had gotten this week.

He listened eagerly as I edited my stories to remove Kevin and Ashton. Hearing about them would only do more harm than good.

I finished dressing his wounds and gently placed my hand on his as he drifted off to sleep. I got up and placed the kit on a broken table beside his bed.

“You keep this and repeat what I did tomorrow morning,” I instructed him.

He stared at me speechless and then nodded. I clapped my hands and looked around.

“I should probably go. Thanks for letting me see Micah.”

I turned to leave but ended up tripping on a loose floorboard. If only I could treat my clumsiness. Armani caught me by my waist and then hurriedly let me go. So I still ended up falling.

I got up gingerly. “Thanks a lot.”

“I’m sorry for touching you,” he apologized as I carefully made my way out of the house.

“Well, I was falling so I think that was the right call. If only you had waited until I stood up before letting me go.”

“What am I saying?” he retorted, scratching his head. “I’m not sorry for touching you.”

“Okay?”

“What I mean to say is, I’m sorry for letting you fall. It’s just that for a moment, I remembered that you’re his soulmate. And Omegas aren’t allowed to touch royalty or their soulmates.”

“It’s fine, I don’t care about that rule. Touch me as much as you want."

He raised an eyebrow. Okay, that did not come out right...

"That sounded way better in my head." I cleared my throat. "More importantly, who did this to Micah?”

“Some Gammas ganged him and beat him up. They were probably looking for me and found him instead,” he groaned as he collapsed onto a stone bench outside. It was crumbling too, but for the most part it looked safe. I sat down beside him.

“Armani, why would they be looking for you?”

“Because I’m always getting into fights with them,” he sighed. “I have to learn to walk away for Micah’s sake.”

“Yes, you should. Although I can’t see why they would do this to a kid.”

“You don’t get it. They’re awful… every last one of them.”

That sounded familiar. That’s what Jun thought of the Omegas and at the same time the Omegas felt the same about them.

“I hope Micah recovers quickly. I don’t want him to miss school,” Armani grimaced.

I nodded. “Micah really likes school.”

“That’s why I’m working to send him there. I didn’t finish high school,” he said, staring up at the sky. “The free school run by the royals is the worst possible place for an Omega, but my parents couldn’t afford to send me to regular school. It was complete hell. I ended up dropping out and just decided to work.”

I nodded and he glanced at me. “Aren’t you going to judge me?”

“I want to become a doctor, not a judge,” I laughed. “So I won’t be judging anybody any time soon. It’s respectable that you’re working so hard to send your brother to school. I’m sure he appreciates it. Micah’s a really nice boy.”

Armani laughed. “He’s too nice. I think he’s the exact opposite of me.”

“Micah’s smile instantly makes me feel better.”

“It’s his super power.”

“Is it an Origen thing?”

“It’s a Micah thing.”

We stayed in silence for a few minutes, feeling the cool breeze on our faces.

“You said you were always getting into fights,” I mentioned. “Is there a reason why?”

For a while, he stared at the ground quietly. I was starting to wonder if he'd even heard my question.

“I feel like if I stop fighting, then we lose.”

“Who? You and Micah?”

“Just… everybody. Nobody speaks up against the higher ranks, they’re all too scared,” he hissed.

“It might be self preservation,” I muttered.

“Even so, don’t we matter too? I didn’t choose to be born an Omega and neither did my parents or Micah. But we stay struggling.”

I paused hesitantly and then asked. “What happened to your parents? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Armani shook his head. “I don’t mind. I’m proud of them. They spoke up for what they believed in and they were heroes. They never stopped fighting until the elites managed to get rid of them. Micah was just four. I was fourteen.”

“It must have been hard losing your parents when you’re still so young,” I murmured.

Armani sighed. “They inspired me to speak up. I just wished those Gammas weren’t so damn cowardly to beat up my brother instead.”

“That was pretty messed up.”

“I believe that my parents wanted us to make a difference,” Armani said, staring straight ahead. “It’s in our names.”

“Your names?”

He nodded. “My name means free. Because my parents wanted to break free of all the oppression facing them. Micah got his name from a prophet who condemned oppression from the ruling class. They were hoping their dreams would live on with us.”

“That’s why you don’t want to stop fighting,” I surmised.

“Sometimes it’s not a choice. They come at us with the mindset that our lives don’t even matter. We don’t have a choice but to fight back. And then they say that the strength of the kingdom is for all people. It’s a damn joke.”

“Not all of them are like that though,” I said softly.

Armani’s glare hardened. “No, they’re all the same.”

“I know I can’t change your mind now. But in the future, the kingdom can be better.”

“That would be the day,” he scoffed. “That king’s a tyrant and I doubt his son is much better. The government should get rid of the royal family.”

“He’s definitely better,” I said confidently. I was at least sure of that. “I want the citizens of Crysauralia to understand each other better and work together hand in hand without discrimination.”

Armani stared at me uncertainly and then fixed his gaze to the sky. “I don’t know if that will ever happen. But for Micah’s sake, I want to believe you.”

We looked up as Kevin arrived at the gate. Guess it was time to leave.

“I have to go,” I informed Armani, who nodded somewhat ruefully. “Remember to dress Micah’s wounds.”

“He didn’t try anything funny, did he?” Kevin asked as he stared suspiciously at Armani.

“Nope,” I said, popping the p.

Kevin smiled down at me as Armani watched from his spot on the bench. He turned to Armani and gave him a nod. Armani looked surprised, but huffed and turned his face away.

“Goodbye,” I called to him as we left.

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