01: Agora

|Eda|

She had thought it to be crass- the way families would dress their Omega children with the sheerest cloths and drape them with pieces of jewelry. Next to them, she looked no different.

Nobody thought that the eldest daughter of the Cicero family would be anything but an Alpha. Her father had been so sure up until the last moon when she presented as anything but.

It was painful. It was humiliating.

Eda was raised as an Alpha. She learned to fight, walk, and talk like an Alpha. She grew up thinking she would succeed her family's ancestral seat in the Senate. Her father said so.

But now, all those mornings spent wrestling to the top of her class were rendered meaningless.

She beheld the crowd below the platform through the veil of blue cloth. Eda reminisced how the same sun that seemed to shun her now, had used to embrace her with an all-encompassing warmth back when she was just a child hungry for the promise of a new day of lectures. It's as if those days are merely part of a dream, and the only reality she had ever known is the weight of the golden choker around her neck.

Every month, Alphas (and Betas) of Romulus gather in the Agora- the center square- to witness the traditional auction of Omegas. Eda is very much familiar with the auction. She's been to them... as a nameless face in the crowd.

"It couldn't be helped," her Beta mother told her as she put the last of the golden bangles around Eda's arm. Eda knew disappointment when she heard it. "I... wish you happiness."

But happiness is the farthest in Eda's mind right now.

Omegas are valuable. They are rare, owing to their fragile nature. There is an inherent beauty in the bird-like quality of their bones and the gracefulness of their bearing.

And Eda, who was raised as an Alpha, lacked that. She stood solid with her back and shoulder straight and with her head held high. She must have stuck out like a sore thumb from her fellow Omegas- all tan and toned with cropped black hair close to her head. It was a hasty decision- cutting her hair, that is. She had thought that if she looked less like the others, she would be undesirable. Then she would be ignored. She'll be able to escape from the humiliation of her present.

She wanted to return to her family.

"Now, we have the eldest daughter of the Cicero! She has an excellent physique and a sharp mind! She's from a long line of Alphas! Any takers?!"

Eda closed her eyes. She can hear the confused murmurs of the crowd. Most of them knew her from school.

This could not be. THAT Eda? She wanted to run away.

Then a hush.

Eda lifted her head. At the back of the crowd, he stood holding his hand up- a king swathed in blue linen and gold silk come to blind them all with his riches.

Crassus Aurelius Augustus is the son of the richest of all the families in Romulus. He brought more gold into the empire and into his house when he ascended as the Crassus patriarch than all the other patriarchs of affluent families in Romulus.

The Crassus holds no seat in the Senate. But Eda is quite sure it would only be a matter of time before everyone in Romulus bends to the might of Crassus gold.

Eda knew Augustus from school, and Eda hated him.

The Master of the auction sent his own servant down to tend to Augustus.

|Augustus|

He thought he was dreaming when he saw her on the platform in the middle of the Agora. He knew her from school.

Eda is a girl who is hard to forget. Unlike the other girls in the Akademeia, she had always been slight and petite. But what she lacked in size, she made up with aggressiveness. No one thought she would be anything but an Alpha.

Augustus remembered her night-like hair braided into a tight rope around her head, surrounding it as an ethereal halo of contrast to her bright blue eyes. Under the summer sun, young Eda looked like a nymph with the lightness of her chiton and the defiance of her grin.

Times were simpler then.

"I will pay ten times the highest," he told the Master's servant. He must be mad, throwing away gold for someone who hated him with such passion.

Looking back, he thought it mere childish antagonism or the makings of an alpha who would one day have the whole Senate beneath her feet. But they grew up, and Eda still hated him with the fire of a thousand suns. Perhaps the fates thought it amusing to pit mortals against one another without rhyme nor reason.

When the servant signaled to his master ten fingers, the crowd erupted into incredulous chaos. Even the Master could not believe his eyes. Eda may be wearing a veil that obscures her face, but Augustus can definitely feel her glare at him. She must be fuming, he smiled. She must be livid.

As an Alpha, Eda is a diamond in the rough. As an Omega, Eda is a treasure.

The citizens of Romulus value lineage above all else. It is common knowledge that the Cicero family has been giving birth to nothing but Alphas for generations. They hold a seat in the Senate- a sign of their prestige. Furthermore, Eda is not frail like the other Omegas. She will surely give birth to healthy Alphas.

He is not throwing away gold for worthless flesh. He is acquiring a valuable investment for the future of Crassus.

Let them try to match his offer.

Augustus had just returned from his trip in Ra. He opened a new trade agreement favorable for Crassus, raking in more money to Romulus than all the merchants in the last two generations combined. He is the richest man in this gathering right now.

He can throw away more gold than anybody in the country.

When the Master handed him the scroll confirming his purchase, Augustus's hand shook. He's on top of the dais, the veiled Eda beside him. From now on, her luxury as an Omega is his pride as an Alpha. He handed off the scroll to his attendant closest to him- Pius, his scribe.

Without saying anything, Augustus lifted Eda off from her place in the dais and into his arms. He carried her off. He can feel her solid muscles and the swell of her breast beneath her diaphanous tunic. She smelled like fresh lilies- unlike when she straddled and pummelled him into the ground when they were children. She had smelled like the meadows with the hint of the metal they used to practice weaponry back then. When he stepped off the last step of the dais, his attendants are quick to shield them from the sun.

Thick flabellums covered their heads while they maintained a respectful distance from him- their master.

Eda weighed like nothing. She's smaller than the her in his memories; and in his arms, she looked like a child. But he's not fooled by her seemingly helpless appearance.

|Eda|

He's grown, is the first thought that crossed her mind when he easily lifted her off the dais.

Augustus has always been taller than her, albeit that does not say much since she has always been small. Through her veil, she can see his black hair braided over his side and pressing against her shoulder. The elaborate jewelry he wore- the earrings and the thick wesekh of pure gold and blue jade- looked heavy and clearly from Ra. He's dripping in gold. Next to him, she felt less decorated and more human. Less ornamental.

His servants are quick to shield both of them from the sun with flabellums imported from Ra.

She took a deep breath, smelling the incense and opulence that bathe him. It is unlike the smell of forest and flora that the aristocrats and the rich of Romulus scent themselves with.

It irked her to be in his arms like this, but she knew that as his Omega her feet must never touch the ground.

"You could have told one of your servants to carry me," came out in a raspy voice. Eda hadn't talked since yesterday.

"And you could have greeted me properly first."

Ah... there it is. That damned talent of his to piss her off.

"You are too light," he told her. It's more statement than admonition. More objectivity than an attempt to pick on her imperfections. But it irked her just the same. So what if she's too light? To her judgment, she has always eaten well. Eda felt an odd prickling on her arms. She's uncomfortable to feel anything akin to scrutiny with him.

They're silent all the way to his carriage waiting at the edge of the Agora.

Augustus settled her at the seat in front of his. He must have taken one look at where she sat and decided that all the feather-stuffed pillow cushioning her rear and feet are not enough. He had his servants bring wolf pelts that he personally draped across her lap, beside her, and on the floor of the carriage. Only when he is satisfied that they set off to the villa of the Crassus family.