"Ahh, but Mr. Sampson eagerly dotes on those daughters. And besides, we omegas are still outnumbered. Another daughter might do our island good," I said.

The easy conversation between the other women had settled as I'd spoken up, and now they were all ears, eyes keen and eager. They wanted to watch verbal cuts and jabs. Perhaps some of them even wanted to see me win against Lady Hudson, who had a rapier for a tongue. But I didn't want a tea of catty conversation and delicately-phrased arguments. I wanted to unite these women. I had to tread carefully and not let this new and eager temper of mine have its way.

"And so she might, if any of the betas had the sense to listen to women," a sharp voice croaked out. It was Agnes Hubbard, an elderly omega who'd survived not one, but two beta partners—the second had claimed her supposedly for the double fortune she'd amassed before the age of thirty-five—and whose only sharp words to me growing up had been, "Well, speak up, if you're going to speak at all."

A woman trilled with a nervous laugh. "Oh, quite! My John never does attend a word I say."

"The betas may not all be our ally, but Alpha Cadogan would be," I said, lifting my teacup once more to my lips, letting my softly spoken words rest in the stirring sounds of muslin and lace shifting in seats.

"And what good does it do the isle to let a barely grown omega go tearing off on a ship to seek a silly fortune elsewhere, eh, girl?" Agnes grouched, snatching one of the tarts from the tray. She sniffed it, but at least that she gave an approving glance.

I laughed, thinking of Francesca. "I see your point. But what harm does it do?"

The women in the room blustered and shot wary looks at one another.

"He gave me the chance to leave too, and I stayed," I said, shrugging. "Not all of us want to run. It's not so dire, I think. Still, you must admit there's room for improvement."

"This is…is…heresy. Or-or treason," Mrs. Finch hissed to the woman at her side.

Agnes Hubbard snorted and rolled her eyes, plumping herself more comfortably into the cozy chair she'd claimed upon entering. "Of course it isn't either, you goose. You're sitting in front of the alpha's omega. If she's here, it's not to start a coup against her alpha."

"I like him rather a lot, actually, so no," I said brightly, finding my footing, if only by knocking all the other women out of of their usual stride. And hearing that I liked Ronson? Well, that threw a lot of women back into their chairs in a stunned silence.

Not Agnes, though. She huffed, but it was a sound of humor. She was tall, like me, healthy and full-bodied too. She'd birthed two sons—one to her second beta, quite late in life by dragonkin standards—and while her family and her sons' families had no grand titles and no marriages to high-born lines, Agnes Hubbard herself owned a number of successful businesses in part or whole on the island. She had deep pockets, and deep pockets always held influence, even if women like Lady Hudson would've rather not acknowledged as much.

One omega, Lady Evelyn Grant, cleared her throat to catch my eye. "If you really do have your alpha's ear, then perhaps you can persuade him to my Reginald's⁠—"

"I'm not here for your betas," I said firmly, cutting her off and refusing to shy from her shocked gasp. "I am here for you. For your daughters. For their daughters."

And still, the room was quiet, the women eyeing one another, waiting for someone else to speak. I wanted to rise from my seat and shake them all. These matrons had survived, it was true, but it was equally unlikely they had not lost someone too. A sister or a daughter. As omegas, our deaths were almost commonplace when it came time to bear children. Being chosen in the ceremony was like tossing a coin to see if you were going to the gallows.

We all knew what was wrong on the isle, with dragonkin. Why wouldn't anyone say it out loud?

"My granddaughter is expecting," Lady Hudson said, smoothing her skirts and turning her cup in its saucer. "From the rut. Already she is bedridden. Lord Quincy has informed the doctor to cut the babe from her if there is any chance of her not being able to deliver."

I nodded and met Lady Hudson's gaze as the other women looked away.

"Doctors on the isle prioritize a birth at great risk to the mother," I said.

"He's lost two omegas already," Agnes Hubbard muttered, and Lady Hudson winced.

I drew in a breath and considered the problem, the question Lady Hudson hadn't asked. "I am, as some of you might've noticed, a voracious reader. There are old birthing practices traditional to the isle that have fallen out of fashion, but they offer considerable benefits to the mothers."

"Wing breaking," one woman whispered.

Wing breaking was a practice of causing the break of an unborn male's wings to allow for an easier birth, but it didn't always have the best record of those wings being reset properly.

"Perhaps. I was thinking of a text I'd read regarding the regular habit of swimming," I said, receiving a few scoffs. "It sounds trivial, I agree, but the physics make sense. We float in water. It takes the pressure off the mother's body, as well as building muscle without excessive strain."

"Isn't there a chance of-of drowning the child in the womb?" Mrs. Finch gasped.

"Don't be a ninny," Agnes Hubbard groaned.

"Of course, we must first find a way of dissuading doctors of some of their more brutal methods," I continued.

I had their attention now, and for once, it didn't make me feel small and foolish and embarrassed. Ronson wasn't here to purr and compliment me. This strength was, at last, my own.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter Thirty-SixRONSON

Iwas getting used to the sensation of smiling.

I turned, my arm tight around Mairwen's waist, her hand warm in mine, and my cheeks felt full and a little sore as I watched a loose strand of her hair fluttering as we spun. The ballroom's plentiful candles and lamps glittered around us, warming Mairwen's skin to gold. Her hand on my shoulder tightened, and her breasts caught my eye, just the faintest glimpse of the dark valley that made my mouth water, almost hidden by the lace collar worn to disguise her bite. Mairwen's eyes slid shut and she stumbled slightly, carried along to the music by my leading.

"Are you all right?" I asked, slowing a touch, but not enough to cause a hiccup in the dancers around us.

"Just a dizzy spell," Mairwen laughed, and she swayed closer, like she was about to lean against me, before recalling that we were in public.

I found a gap in the dancers and ushered us through it, guiding Mairwen off the floor for the moment, ignoring the polite rules of society to pull her close against my chest. If dragonkin was inclined to be scandalized by the sight of me holding my omega, then so be it.

It'd been a long time since I'd attended a ball. I might've declined this invitation too, if it hadn't been for Mairwen saying, "Oh, I always hated attending the assemblies. Standing to the side for hours in a crowded room, while others got to dance? What a bore."

My omega hadn't danced? That wouldn't do.

"You were dizzy this morning on our flight too," I said, bending my head so only she would overhear.

Mairwen hummed and shrugged, but she didn't pull away from my support. I slid my hand at her waist up to the back of her neck. She was hot to the touch, but the room was crowded and we'd just danced two rowdy dances in a row together. Even I was sweating.