Page 4 of Sins of His Wrath (Myth of Omega: Wrath #2)

CHAPTER FOUR

D ark fury clouded every moment of Akoro’s existence.

When word came that a nnin-eellithi had breached the city, he’d abandoned the camp that his army had set up a few miles away and raced back on his nnirae . His focus narrowed down to one thing; Princess Naya. She was the only Omega in the area, the only one that the nnin-eellithi would be attracted to. Desperation slowly consumed him on that short ride. He needed to know that the magic hadn’t torn her apart, like what had happened with so many other omegas—what had happened to her sister. But when he arrived, he couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in his room where he left her; she wasn’t in her room; she wasn’t in the entire fucking palace.

The desperation intensified, turning raw and dark, propelling him to search the corpses and look for the color and pattern of her clothes among the clamor and confusion and death. But even as he frantically searched, an inkling deep within him sparked a realization that became stronger with each bloody corpse he looked at.

Naya had somehow caused this devastation. That was why she left the palace yesterday. She had headed west toward the weakened boulder, and he hadn’t figured out what she’d been doing, but it was obvious she’d been planning something. She had to have figured out how to escape.

His fury started building in the hours it’d taken to dispel the rampant magic that still charged around the city. The princess was the only one powerful enough to do this. In the confusion and devastation, she could easily escape. The question was, did she succeed? Was she still in the city? Was she in the Sands or had she died in her attempt? Or had she somehow created a portal and returned to her home?

Akoro had immediately sent soldiers searching the city for her, but he doubted they’d find her. If she had access to magic, even for an instant, she would have found a way home. Even though he had warned her what would happen if she tried.

She’d left him and made a devastating statement by killing his people in the way they most fear at the same time. He stared at the chaos around him. This attack was one of the worse he’d witnessed in the city since before his rule. Blood and debris scattered across the streets, corpses lay strewn in every direction, some with hunched, bloodied loved ones crying over them. Walls had collapsed and scorch marks streaked the ground and any surface that remained erect. His palace hadn’t been spared either. One side of it was covered with black dust and had been scarred with jagged marks. His beautiful city looked a mess.

He threw himself into the rescue effort with the palace guards, but Naya lingered on his mind. He couldn’t deny the agitation he felt blended with worry and even a thread of fear. It was like a whirlwind in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t calm, an agitation that sparked through his body, urging him to do something, anything to settle the idea that his Omega might be unsafe.

Along with the growing team of guards and wardens, he searched collapsed walls and buildings, and sought healing care for as many people as they could find. But the longer he worked, the more he was sure that Naya had escaped, and his anger slowly heightened until it was a thick, smoldering fog that filled his lungs with every inhale.

“My king.”

Akoro turned to see his head administrator, Yashol, just as grimy as everyone else. He straightened to his full height. “Tell me.”

“This nnin-eellithi is a particularly powerful one, but it has shrunk since it entered the city. It’s bouncing between the boulder guards as they attempt to repel it. All of our nnin-shu?nn are working to get it under control and dispel it.” He hesitated. “Nrommo has requested to send back at least one division of the army to help.”

Akoro’s fists tightened. This morning the army had been rested, positive, and eager to invade after years of preparing for this moment. Pulling them back from the camp would destroy the focused mindset they needed to invade successfully, but using the army to clear the dead and get healers to the wounded was the only way to secure the city and prevent more death. “Tell him to send two divisions,” he said, his voice as low as his mood. “And to stand by in case more are needed.”

It was dark by the time the roads around the palace were cleared. As suspected, the soldiers he’d sent to look for the princess had found nothing, not even a sign that she’d traveled out of the city.

He went to his room to bathe and change, only to find a worried Oppo waiting for him when he came back out.

“I thought this couldn’t happen?” Oppo said in a half-whisper, even though there was no one else in this wing of the palace.

Akoro said nothing, standing still to pull on the extra padding around his limbs that he needed to continue the rescue efforts.

“There will be unrest all over the city.”

Akoro grunted. “As expected. Have you heard what the death toll is yet?”

“Yashol estimates over a thousand at the moment,” Oppo said grimly. “All the people at the markets, all the buildings surrounding the palace…. It’s a lot. Citizens will be angry, Akoro. We should expect protests and crowds at the palace gates before long.”

Akoro began walking. “Let Yashol do his job before we panic, Oppo.”

Oppo frowned at him and then matched his stride. “What’s wrong? I saw you out there on the rescue behaving recklessly, but I assume it didn’t harm the princess or you wouldn’t be on the rescue teams.”

The fog in Akoro’s lungs tightened in his chest. “She’s gone.”

Oppo’s steps faltered. “What?”

Akoro’s jaw clenched. “She’s gone.”

Oppo recovered quickly, quickening his steps to catch up with Akoro. “Do you mean she’s gone and is hurt somewhere in the city, or that she’s… escaped?”

Akoro exhaled heavily as they turned a corner. “It was her, Oppo. She called the nnin-eellithi into the city and used it to escape.”

Oppo’s shock was almost tangible, his disbelief thick in his throat. “No. Omegas can’t do that.”

“She can.”

“So… she created a portal? She’s gone back to her people, her land?”

Akoro didn’t bother to respond. There was nowhere else she could have gone.

Oppo was speechless for a few moments. “Fuck, Akoro. This is…” Oppo sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. “So she is much more powerful than you said. To control the nnin-eellithi is unheard of… I can’t believe she called that destructive force of death straight to the palace.”

“She is the only one who could have done it.”

The only sound for a few long moments was Oppo’s heavy breath and the thud of their boots on the polished floor. “We have to convene the council,” Oppo finally said, grimly.

“After the city is secure.”

Oppo sighed, slowly shaking his head, and Akoro could almost feel when the edge of bitterness enter his thoughts. “You caused this, you know,” he said, his voice low. “You forced her to do it. I warned you.”

Akoro resisted responding for a moment until he could get his anger under control. Nothing had suggested that the princess might be powerful enough to do something like this—even she had said herself that her attempt to wrangle wild magic ended in death and trauma. But he knew she was dangerous. His mistake had been giving her free rein. “There was always a risk she’d try to escape again. I warned her not to. I even?—”

His steps faltered as a realization wedged into him, bringing with it a deep horror. He’d cut her with the nnol - ttaehh . Wherever she was, she would be heavily bleeding, and if she had gone back to her land, it would be an ugly wound that wouldn’t stop. She’d bleed to death within minutes if it wasn’t stopped or slowed.

“Fuck!” he bellowed the word out into the corridor, a new heightened sense of dread sweeping into the tightly coiled fog in his chest.

Oppo grabbed Akoro’s arm with surprising force and pushed him backward so they were face-to-face. “You’re feeling it, aren’t you?”

Agitation jangled Akoro’s nerves, but the strange look in Oppo’s eyes stilled him.

“I know you are,” Oppo said quietly, his eyes searching Akoro’s. “Every Alpha feels it.”

Akoro growled, shaking him off. “What are you talking about?”

"That hollow ache in your chest. The rage that burns hotter than it should. The way your senses keep searching for her scent even when you know she's gone."

“I know exactly where she is,” he bit out.

“This is why you needed her to accept her place with you, Akoro,” Oppo continued. “When she’s not with you, this is how it will always feel.”

Akoro’s fists clenched, but he resisted launching them into Oppo’s face. “I don’t need her to accept me.”

“And yet you reek of anger unlike I’ve ever scented on you before.”

“Of course I’m fucking furious. She disobeyed me!” His bellow echoed down the empty corridor. “I told her she belonged here, with me, and she deliberately defied me. She pretended to submit, but all the while, she was planning to escape.”

Oppo’s voice was icy. “You told me yourself that she would test us.”

Akoro glared at him, his chest heavy. “Things had changed.”

“Clearly not for her, brother. You forced her to choose between her home and you, and you gave her no reason to choose you.”

“We are true mates,” Akoro ground out. “That comes before anything else.”

Oppo shook his head. “She was your prisoner first. And that obviously didn’t change for her.”

Akoro exhaled harshly. “You wouldn’t understand?—”

“Don’t you dare say that to me!” Oppo’s face contorted. “You haven’t even begun to understand what it’s like to be with an Omega. Everything is different—better—when she actually wants you.”

“Mind your fucking mouth, Oppo,” Akoro said tightly.

“You said it yourself,” Oppo said. “If true mates come before anything else, what does it say that yours escaped and destroyed your city?”

Fury leaped up in Akoro. He grabbed Oppo and slammed him against the wall, but Oppo was clearly angry too because he grabbed him back. “You don’t fucking deserve her! Some of us have been deprived of our mates, and yet you treated her like she was worthless.”

They wrestled in the corridor, trying to get a better hold on one another, growling and grunting.

“You think I want to want her this much?” Akoro bellowed. “It would’ve been easier for everyone if she remained just a prisoner. I vowed never to go through anything like this again.”

The strength of Oppo’s grip lessened. He allowed Akoro to push him against the wall, his contorted face softening. “She’s not our parents, Akoro.”

“No?” Akoro released him and gestured to the destruction beyond the palace walls. “Look at what she’s done to the city!”

Oppo sighed, pushing himself away from the wall. “It’s a mess. The only thing you can take comfort in is that she will be feeling it, too.”

Akoro stilled, his breath heavy. “What?”

“She will feel the same—that worry and dread that her Alpha isn’t with her. I’m not sure how strongly, but it’ll be impossible not to feel it when you’ve been physically close for so long.”

The rousing flame within Akoro quietened. His chest heaved as his mind raced. “Will it make her want to come back?”

Oppo’s dark chuckle had no humor in it. “No, brother. I doubt anything will make her want to come back here. But you can at least rely on the fact that she will miss your presence, even if she doesn’t want to.”

“You know more about her instincts than you made known.”

Oppo frowned. “You know I have more knowledge about Omegas than most.”

“But you could have helped me soften her to this place while she was here—to me.”

Oppo’s face hardened. “I wouldn’t have helped you manipulate her.”

Akoro snarled. “You would have fucking done what your king asked of you.”

“When will you learn?” Oppo snarled back. “It is much better when she is willing.”

Akoro exhaled a long breath. “I do not have that luxury.”

Oppo straightened slowly, his brows drawing in as he eyed his brother. “What is it? It’s not just anger I can scent on you. You’re worried.”

Akoro spoke low and quiet. “I cut her with the nnol - ttaehh .”

Oppo’s eyes widened. “What? You did what?”

“It was a warning,” Akoro said. “She was wandering around the city and I warned her not to leave. I showed her the consequences if she did.”

“And yet she left anyway.” Oppo’s mouth twisted. “It warned her of nothing and put her life at risk. That wound will never heal.”

“I already know that,” Akoro barked at him.

“I have no idea what you fucking know,” Oppo said hotly. “Did it occur to you that your Omega is not vain?”

Akoro stared at him, his mind catching up to what should have been obvious. It had not.

“Just because you find her beautiful doesn’t mean she values her own beauty. Cutting her face did nothing to deter her because she doesn’t care about that. She traveled across the Sands for nearly two weeks and not once even straightened her hair.”

Akoro leaned against the wall and cursed long and loud. He had been sure that Naya would’ve been horrified by the sight of the wound, but now that he thought about it, Oppo was right. Naya had never shown that she cared about her appearance.

Oppo fixed his clothes, re-buttoning, retying, and straightening areas that had crumpled or loosened when they’d wrestled. He said nothing for a long time, but Akoro could feel that he was struggling to hold in every curse he wanted to launch at him. Oppo didn’t anger easily, but when it came to the Omega, he was constantly irritated about one thing or another. This time he was furious, and Akoro didn’t want to hear it. Naya was his Omega, not Oppo’s, and while he’d clearly misjudged some things, he hadn’t been prepared for how he felt about her. Oppo was the only one who understood Naya at her Omega core, and while it had always infuriated Akoro, Oppo should have been helping to encourage Naya’s instincts to make her more accepting of her mate. Of course, Oppo wouldn’t agree, but he wouldn’t have a choice once Akoro got her back.

Finally, Oppo faced him. “There was a time you would have come to me for advice about an Omega before using such dangerous magic on her,” he said gravely, “but you’ve been acting strangely since she arrived. I understand she’s your mate, but your decisions have been unexplainable. She is resourceful—she will find a way to stem the bleeding, but you’d better hope you can still succeed with this invasion, my king , or you’ll have much more to worry about than your escaped Omega.” He brushed off his clothes and turned away. “I will ask Yoshel to convene the council in three hours.”

Akoro watched him disappear down the corridor, and he stood for a long moment, his mind turning over everything his brother said. Oppo was right, of course, Naya would find a way to survive the wound, but it didn’t reassure Akoro at all. He wanted his Omega where he could see and feel her. That was the only thing that would soothe the turmoil inside him. Finally, he headed back outside to continue helping with the rescue effort.

When he arrived at the strategy room a few hours later, he had mostly calmed. The fog was still there roiling within him, but it was quieter, soothed by the knowledge that Naya was likely feeling the same. While he was working to clear roads and find survivors, he’d finally been able to think and make plans. This situation was salvageable. He just needed to move forward carefully.

When he entered the council was already there and on their feet, but they all looked tired, haggard, and scruffy. The acrid scent of smoke and dust hung heavy in the air, seeping through the chamber's lattice windows. Prillu looked the worse. Her thick black hair had been hastily tied back, but loose coils stuck out in various directions. A film of dust covered her deep-brown skin, and her clothes were torn and loose and full of dust. For someone who was usually so neat and well presented, her appearance clearly alarmed the rest of the council.

Nrommo watched her from the windows where he paced. Tshel and Oppo stood in opposite corners of the room, like they did sometimes, and Naneak stood next to Ranin, all throwing subtle glances at her. Prillu stood stiffly with her back to the door, hands clasped at the small of her back while she stared unseeingly across the room.

Akoro eyed her as he entered. It didn’t look like she’d suffered any obvious injuries. He arched a brow at her and she gave him a small nod.

“Take your seats,” Akoro said, striding to the table.

He moved to the head of the table and waited until they were all seated.

“Reports are coming in that a portal was created outside the palace which used most of the energy of the nnin-eellithi ,” Nrommo said as soon as everyone was seated. A harsh edge braced his voice.

“So it would’ve been worse?” Tshel asked, disbelief in her voice.

“Without the portal, the remaining magic would have been much stronger, yes,” Nrommo said grimly. “It would have possible destroyed the entire city. The question is, how did it get in and who created the portal?”

“And was happened to our nnin -boulder?” Ranin said.

“We need to figure out how the wild magic got so close to the city without our detectors alerting us,” Prillu said sharply. “That is the priority.”

Akoro held up his hand to silence them, and they instantly fell quiet. Usually, they waited for him to start the meeting, but it was obvious they were on edge. “First, was anyone hurt?” he asked.

Slowly, Oppo, Ranin and Tshel shook their heads. Nrommo had been with the army like Akoro, so he didn’t need to answer.

“I was almost hit by a collapsing wall,” Nanaek said. “I’ve got some scrapes, nothing serious, my king.”

Akoro nodded. “Prillu?”

Prillu swallowed, staring at the table. “No,” she said shakily. “But the boys…”

Akoro forced himself not to react to the sinking feeling in his stomach. Prillu had young boys—one was about eight and the other had to be around six now. “Are they all right?”

“They’re alive,” she said. “Both were hurt. But Mekil… he’s not awake yet.”

“Are they being treated in the palace?”

Prillu shook her head. “We couldn’t move him. He’s safe for now. We just need him to wake up.”

The desperation in her voice made it clear that she wouldn’t be here at the meeting if she didn’t need to be. Akoro turned to the guard by the door. “Get Yashol.”

“I don’t want him moved if it will hurt him.” Prillu sounded almost shrill, a tone Akoro had never heard from her before.

Akoro nodded at her. “Let’s see what Yashol can do. What about Kkish?” Prillu’s husband was one of the biggest traders in the city—he could’ve been anywhere.

Prillu nodded. “He has minor injuries, but he was at home when it happened. It could’ve been worse if he hadn’t been.”

“Good.” He turned to the rest of the council, who were nodding at Prillu in support. “I know what happened.”

Oppo, who was seated immediately to his left, snapped a look at him.

He leaned on the table and looked each member of the council in the eyes as he spoke. “The princess drew the magic into the heart of the city.”

Tshel gasped. “What?”

“She used the magic to create a portal to escape. My guess is she succeeded.”

A mixture of disbelief and anger twisted through the expressions around the table, their questions and exclamations overlapping each other.

“How?” Tshel said, confused. “How could she do that? Omegas can’t manipulate that magic.”

“This is an act of fucking war!” Nrommo rose from the table, his face twisted with rage.

“The war started when we took her,” Oppo shot at him.

“So she’s gone?” Ranin sounded alarmed. “She’s back with her people? Are we in danger?”

Akoro held up his hand. “She is very powerful in ways we didn’t anticipate,” he said to Tshel. He glanced at Nrommo. “Yes, this has started the war early, and unfortunately, our people have suffered in place of our army. We will rectify that.”

Nrommo nodded, his eyes fierce and his mouth tight as he sat back down.

“It’s unlikely she knows how to get back here,” he said to Ranin, “but we will scan for portals. I think we are safe for now.”

“Has she done anything like this before?” Nanaek asked. “I thought they didn’t have this kind of magic in their land.”

Akoro exhaled. “They do, but not in the same way. There were no reports that she’s been able to do something like this.”

“So she may not have survived?”

“She survived,” Akoro growled.

“How do you know?”

“We haven’t seen the extent of her powers,” Akoro said, “but clearly she is extremely capable.”

“Which is why I warned you not to take her,” Prillu said quietly, her whole body taut.

Something in her voice made everyone around the table go silent.

“Respectfully, my king, I warned you multiple times against taking the princess. We all did.” Her eyes swiveled up to meet his. “It wasn’t worth this risk.”

“I must agree,” Nrommo rumbled. “Our army has been forced to respond to this crisis when we should have been invading the new land. The princess has killed over a thousand of our people, and if she made it back, she has no doubt warned her people. They will prepare for our attack. We have lost the element of surprise and it will be harder to….”

Akoro straightened, rising to his full height as he stood at the head of the table, and Nrommo’s words faded. He looked at them all around the table. “You all swore your lives to the Sy Dynasty. You’ve all done your jobs well, but part of that oath was a sworn belief in my ability to save our people and redress the suffering that has been inflicted on us from afar. You may not always agree, and I will hear your well-reasoned advice, but you do not question me. I ask for your counsel and expertise, not your reproach about my decisions.”

Prillu’s eyes were hard. “I have never known you to ever make a mistake, my king. Never. That is part of the reason we all took this oath. You have one of the best minds in many generations of the ssukku?rian people, but this thing with the princess?—.”

Akoro’s muscles tensed. He had known Prillu was upset, but now she was directly challenging him. His hands curled into fists against the table, and the room seemed to shrink around them.

“Prillu.” He said her name low and firm, a warning in his tone.

He should shut this down. Now. But Prillu had been at his side for years. She had served him unfailingly, her loyalty unwavering, and she was also the best strategist in the room. He needed her, yet he couldn’t ignore what she was going through, not when her little boys idolized him and insisted they wanted to be warriors one day in the Onn Kkulma army because of him.

But if she kept pushing him, he couldn’t let it slide.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke, the tension between them thick, and Akoro could feel the weight of the council's eyes on them.

He leaned forward again, bracing his arms on the table. “The reason this happened is because when I took the princess, I didn’t realize I was kidnapping my mate.”

Oppo remained still, his eyes low, but every other every face around the table drained with shock.

“She is what?” Tshel whispered, rising from the table.

“How do you know?” Ranin asked, his voice hoarse.

Akoro shot him a look. “I know.”

“When did you find out?”

“While she was here.”

“So… she was influencing you?” Nrommo said, his voice rising as he also rose from his chair. “All this time, she was using you to escape!”

“Do you think she wouldn’t have escaped, regardless?” Akoro shot back. “She found an opening, and she took it, that’s all. She was terrified of the white fire in her own land, so whatever she did, it was only something she recently discovered that she could do. Do you think I didn’t take precautions?”

“She is a threat to you and everything we hold dear,” Nrommo spat.

Akoro stilled, every muscle in his body suddenly alert. The fog in his stomach unfurled, and his focus narrowed on Nrommo, his eyes narrowing. “Explain to me how my mate is a threat?”

Nrommo was stupid enough to open his mouth—but Akoro stopped listening. His fists clenched. His pulse thundered. Every muscle in his body went taut. His breath turned shallow, his vision sharpening on Nrommo as heat rolled through his veins, dark and possessive.

Oppo moved first. He half-rose from his seat, leaning forward and bracing himself on the table, and met Nrommo’s eye. “Answer that question if you wish to have an unbonded Alpha who is without his mate, decide you are the threat to her.”

Nrommo froze. A flicker of realization crossed his face as his gaze darted to Akoro. The color drained from his ruddy skin. His throat bobbed. “I-I-I mean no d-d-disrespect, my king,” he fumbled out. “I just m-m-mean that she has upended our plans.”

Oppo placed a gentle hand on Akoro’s shoulder. “Breath, brother,” he murmured under his breath.

Akoro inhaled sharply, forcing his rage to settle into something controlled. Still, his voice came out like iron. “You do not speak of her, Nrommo,” he said finally when the prickle of rage had calmed. He let the words press against the stunned silence in the room. “Ever.”

Nrommo nodded almost too enthusiastically, his pale knuckles gripping the table.

Akoro scanned the faces around the table. They were all watching him differently now. Cautious and uneasy. Good. Naya may have been his prisoner, but she was something else now, and they had to come to terms with it quickly. They had a war to win.

“She is my mate, but it changes nothing,” he said. “The information we gained from her has been more than valuable. Yes, we have lost the element of surprise, but if we attack immediately while they’re still preparing their defense, we’ll still have the advantage. Where are we with the army?”

Nrommo was clearly still shaken, but he spoke up. “We won’t be able to use the whole army anymore—not while dealing with this crisis.”

“Then we take whoever we can spare and instead of attacking across the entire empire at once, like they will expect, we narrow our focus.”

“To where?”

Akoro straightened. “To the place they care about most.”

The rest of the meeting went smoothly. Yashol arrived and Akoro instructed him to carefully move Prillu’s sons to the palace healing wing. Within the hour, they’d come up with a new plan to be carried out, using a little over half of the army.

Akoro could tell that the council was on edge after his treatment of Nrommo, but he didn’t fucking care. No one had any right to threaten his mate, least of all the people who had sworn fealty to him. When he declared the meeting over, none of them stood immediately. They all glanced at each other, as though somehow able to read each other’s thoughts.

“What is it?” Akoro growled.

Ranin stood slowly. “I guess we’re wondering what your plan is for the Omega princess, my king.”

Akoro heard what he didn’t say. The generals had been instructed to disarm and capture Naya if they had the chance, yet she was the most dangerous warrior they would face, especially considering she’d be in her own land and have access to her magic.

“She is my mate and she will return to me to remain at my side.”

“What about the laws concerning Omegas, my king?” Nanaek said cautiously.

“And what about the people she killed?” Prillu said, her voice quiet but strong. “She caused many deaths. My own sons have been injured, one of them possibly fatally.”

Akoro exhaled. “Leave us,” he said to the rest of the council.

Oppo leaned in again, speaking quietly. “Do you have any objections if I re-familiarize them with what to expect with Alpha and Omega couples? I think it might help to avoid?—”

“Do it.”

Oppo bowed and followed the other council members out.

Prillu remained rigid in her chair, staring straight ahead. After a long silence, she spoke. “Please forgive me for speaking so boldly, my king.”

Akoro did not soften. “I do not,” he growled.

Prillu’s lips pressed together.

“I understand things are difficult right now, but your disrespect is unacceptable at any time.”

Prillu lowered her head, her breath uneven. “Today may not have been the best day for me to be here, my king.”

Her voice was steady, but he could hear the tremor beneath it.

“But I know we have limited time.” She inhaled slowly. “I apologize for my behavior. I am struggling to contain what I feel.”

Akoro watched her closely. This was not the Prillu he was used to. She had always been controlled, sharp, reliable. And yet now—now, she trembled with the weight of something more than anger. More than grief.

It unnerved him.

“And you feel my Omega—the one that belongs specifically to me—should pay for the deaths she caused trying to escape?”

Prillu was silent, her whole body tense.

“Speak!”

Prillu said nothing for a long moment and then rose slowly from her seat, meeting Akoro’s eyes for the first time. “The recent history of the ssukku?rian people is one of unrest and violence, my king. We are historically used to attacks and death and blood. For a time we couldn’t expect to live to see the city ever resemble the great powerhouse it used to be, or even expect to see our children past the age of ten. But then you won the Battle of Sy. We entrusted you to protect us, believed you could take us back to the glory of riches that we once had as a people, trusted you’d correct the mistakes of your dynasty. You promised you would lead us to better lives and better enriching opportunities. But what you have done is facilitate the worst attack on Onn Kkulma city in thirty years.”

Akoro’s hands clenched on the table, but he said nothing.

“While my sons lay hurt and dying, I had to beg, plead, and send some money to our allies across the region to ensure they would send help. I told them we were investigating, but it was likely a freak accident caused by a faulty boulder that we were repairing. But now you are telling me that the dangerous prisoner that you insisted on taking against all of our judgment is the one that caused it? And even worse, she is your mate?”

“It was always a risk, Prillu?—”

“Then why didn’t you keep her outside of the city? Why didn’t you have the buildings surrounding the palace evacuated? Why didn’t you?—”

“We all did the risk analysis together,” Akoro thundered, annoyed. “It was the council, including you, that thought it would be quicker and easier to keep her here rather than in the Sands, like I suggested.”

Prillu froze. Her breath hitched, as if she had forgotten that fact in her grief.

Akoro’s voice steadied. “I understand how it looks that my mate did this, but that is incidental. She was a prisoner who took a chance to escape,” he added.

“How did she manipulate the nnin-eellithi , my king?” Prillu held his gaze, though her lip was shaking. “How did she know one of the nnin -boulders were damaged?”

Akoro’s eyes narrowed. “If you are making an accusation, then make it.”

She held his gaze, her expression taut, raw—the moments blurred into one long, weightless breath of time—and then she looked away. Of course, she was accusing him of giving the princess the tools to escape, but what had happened couldn’t have been expected, especially considering Naya’s personal aversion to the nnin-eellithi . She had, in fact, shown incredible bravery and insight by finding a way to use it against all odds.

But that wasn’t Prillu’s business, and he would not defend himself. For Prillu to even think that was treason, let alone to voice it aloud to his face. She had gone too fucking far.

“Your sons will both live, Prillu,” he said firmly. “I will make sure of it. But any more sedition from you will have to be dealt with. If you’re harboring resentment, it is inappropriate for you to be in this post.”

Prillu shook her head, her voice lowering to a whisper. “No. I don’t resent you, my king. I just thought things would be different. You promised us it would be.”

For some reason, the despair in her voice grated on him worse than her indirect treason. “And I will make good on that promise. You have no reason to doubt that I will lead our people to greatness. I didn’t know what she was when I took her, Prillu. Now I do. This is a minor setback, but nothing has changed.”

“Everything has changed,” Prillu said, her voice shaking. Her water-filled eyes lifted to meet his again. “I will do anything and everything you ask, whenever you ask, my king. I will give my life if you ask me to, but my sons.… I didn’t think I’d have to worry about my family in this way. Not again. And that will be the case for every ssukku?rian who is forced to face their families’ injuries or death because of this event.”

“What did you think was going to happen when we went to war, Prillu? You knew there would be deaths, you all knew. We all considered what would happen if the Lox people found a way to transport here, and the danger we would be in if it happened. We even considered what would happen if the princess could somehow interfere with our magical tools and use them against us. These scenarios were discussed, and we all decided it was an acceptable risk. None of that was role play. This was unexpected, but shouldn’t be a surprise. I told you all to transfer your families to the outskirts of the city while she was here. I know it’s not glamorous, but your boys would have been safer.”

He straightened. This had gone on long enough. Prillu needed to decide. “What I need to know is if you will uphold your oath and continue your service because I won’t tolerate this kind of attitude or behavior by my closest adviser. Your sons are strong, and they will live into old age, I will make sure of it. But nothing has changed. As per your oath, your highest priority is to me and the Sy Dynasty. If you can’t do that anymore, if you need to be with your sons, then resign now. There will always be a role for you in city work, but on my council, I need unwavering loyalty and dedication.”

Prillu’s mouth trembled for a moment, but she leaned forward on the table and took a deep breath. “I know, my king, and I will always be loyal to you and the Sy Dynasty. My oath is important to me and stand by it, I assure you. I took those words seriously and will never renounce them. I do not want to resign and don’t want to give you any reason to reject my service to the Sy Dynasty. Please accept my deep apology for today. It won’t happen again.”

Akoro watched her closely. “You and the city have paid a high price, I know. But I didn’t make empty promises to you or the people. These deaths and injuries are not meaningless. By the voice of the Sands, they won’t be.”

Prillu’s breathing calmed, and she nodded, her eyes flitting up back to Akoro’s. “I believe you, my king, but I must warn you that we are vulnerable. Your people love you dearly, but our allies have grown stronger over the years. They may see this crisis as a weakness they can benefit from. We need to start showing everyone—right now—that your most significant promises will be met.”

Slowly, he straightened, his voice resolute. “And when we invade, we will.”