cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

one

"The gods are angry at us for killing all of our omegas, so they've set a curse on us. No child has presented as an omega in years, and it doesn't seem to be getting better any time soon."

"What do we do? What will we do about our prince?" Another advisor had groaned.

"An omega will present by the time Mark is old enough to find a mate," his father had said dismissively, waving his hand in his son's direction, "not to worry. The gods always provide for the royal family. All will come in due time."

┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈

Mark turned twenty three, seven years after he had become the official king, and still not one person in the entire kingdom had presented as an omega.

"Your Majesty," a royal advisor whimpered, kneeling at Mark's feet, "it is due time that you find a mate. You will not have ample time to give birth to an heir if you do not settle soon."

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do about it?" Mark had hissed, slamming his hand loudly down on the arm of his throne. All the council members in the room flinched, hanging their heads. "There is no omega for me to mate with. If I mate with a beta, I will become a disgrace, a laughing stock... it will dirty the royal bloodline, and whatever son that should be born will be killed before he even has a chance to take the throne. The kingdom will be thrown into ruins."

Mark himself didn't really believe in the old tradition of alpha kings always mating with omegas in order to keep the royal bloodline "pure". He wasn't really one of the alphas that saw betas as less than, but he knew that the entire kingdom did. In the end, it didn't matter that he was perfectly fine with mating with a beta if he had to, it only mattered that the people of the kingdom would shame him for centuries to come if he even tried. Mark knew for a fact that both the beta he mated with and whatever child was produced from that relationship would be murdered, and he would surely be assassinated right afterwards. It wasn't a risk he was willing to take, so mating with a beta was absolutely off the table as one of his options.

"We could try to ask our allies, see if they have omegas that they are willing to offer to us." One advisor offered meekly.

"We could use the sorcerers and have them turn a beta into an omega."

"We could consult the high priests and ask for wisdom."

"Do them all," Mark growled, annoyed. He sank back into his throne and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to alleviate the tension in his skull, "I don't care. Look into every possible option we have, and I mean everything. Leave no stone unturned, just find me my omega."

The advisors nodded and scurried away, scrambling to try and find a worthy omega that could serve as their future queen.

Mark tried not to feel utterly hopeless as he let his head thunk back against the gold throne, looking up at the ceiling and wishing more than ever that his father was still alive.

Father, what would you have me do? What is the best option for me?

The heavens did not answer him. He was completely and utterly alone.

┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈

The messengers came back a few days later with a bag full of letters from all their allies in the neighboring kingdoms, responding to Mark's request to send over their best omega. Every single letter said the exact same thing—the vicious alpha gangs were running rampant in every territory, it seemed, and the other kingdoms were trying to protect their omegas in order to secure a mate for their own kings. There was no way they'd be able to send one over for Mark, both because the numbers were so small, and because it was more than likely that the poor omega would be killed along the way.