Page 10 of Sins of His Wrath

Naya returned to her rooms and carefully reattached magic to her wound. She hadn’t been sure how long it would last, but it’d failed quicker than she hoped. After washing the blood away, she applied a thick wad of bandage cloth. Papa had arranged a meeting with the other rulers, and now that the generals had seen the damage, she didn’t need to subject anyone else to the sight of it.

Just as she was about to leave, Mama entered.

“I was just checking my wound,” Naya said, heading toward her. “But I’m coming now.”

“No, you’re not, Naya.” Mama’s voice was calm and quiet. “I told Papa that you won’t be coming.”

Naya’s face dropped. “Mama!”

Mama lifted her palm. “I know you want to go, but you need rest.”

“But Papa needs me to?—”

“Papa will be fine without you for a few hours.”

“No, Mama. I need to make sure?—”

“Nayara.” Mama took both of Naya’s hands in her own and placed them on her chest, speaking slow and measured. “You just escaped from brutal captivity and wrangled with white fire while half unconscious. You’re currently enduring a life-threatening wound, you have burn marks all over your body, and you spent most of the day strategizing for a war unlike any we’ve seen before. You haven’t eaten, drank, bathed, slept, or even sat quietly for an hour. Take time to recover from your ordeal.”

Naya shook the words off, barely hearing them through the desperation that gripped her. “I’m all right. I just needed to help prepare?—”

“Your brothers and your sister have been trying to find a moment to see how you are. Ka’ari contacted us every day you were gone to see if you were back. Auntie Vic and your cousins were beside themselves the entire time you were gone too—they’d appreciate time to talk with you. You cannot travel the whole empire and meet the other rulers when you haven’t taken care of yourself or even spoken to your family.”

Irritation sparked through Naya. Didn’t Mama understand what was coming? “Mama,” she said forcefully. “That can wait.”

Mama tilted her head, her warm eyes on Naya. “Do you intend to go into the most dangerous battle of our lives without having spoken to your siblings who have been terrorized for weeks by thoughts that they may never see you again?”

Naya hesitated, anxiety jangling in her joints while a deep yearning gripped her heart. Every minute that passed was a minute closer to Akoro’s invasion, and yet she couldn’t ignore that she had desperately missed them, too. Mama seemed to sense her anxiety.

“Everything will go ahead the way you and Papa planned, but to execute it, you need to be rested,” she said. “If the Sy Dynasty arrives before you get caught up, so be it. It’s more important you are prepared for battle. Besides, you look exhausted. You will not reassure our people that we’re ready for war when you look like that and are still in your medical gown,” Mama added, squeezing Naya’s hands.

Glancing down, Naya was shocked to see that she hadn’t even changed her clothes. She met Mama’s gaze, still reluctant. “All right. I can meet Drocan, Idaya and Azarn, and then go on to the meetings, at least.”

Mama squeezed her hands, holding her gaze for a long moment. “Come.” She led Naya through her rooms to her bedroom at the back. “Let’s just sit silently for a moment.”

Naya followed behind her, battling the urge to pull herself from Mama’s hold. She dropped onto the bed and sat while Mama knelt on the floor in front of her. The agitation of doing nothing kept her fidgeting, but at Mama’s direction, she breathed deeply and released the tension that clung so deep within her she didn’t realize she was holding. In that release, her body softened, and exhaustion overtook every part of her—her mind, her chest and deep within her, an exhaustion she’d been pushing down until she escaped. It rushed in, bursting through the barriers she’d erected to keep herself focused, overwhelming her with a flurry of thoughts and emotions. Smothering all of them was a deep sorrow that she didn’t understand, and before she could even wrestle with it, tears were spilling down her cheeks.

Mama pulled her into a tight hug, stroking her back as she murmured and cooed, allowing Naya to sink deeper into the sorrow without having to explain it.

Sobs racked her body, and she buried herself into the comforting hold and familiar scent of her mother. Naya didn’t even know why she was crying, but a heaviness within her carried a raw mix of somany emotions. The main one was relief. She hadn’t even registered how utterly glad she was to be home, how glad she was that the portal worked and that she could see and touch her parents again. But underneath it was a deep sorrow; sorrow for all she had endured, sorrow for what was coming, and sorrow for what she was about to face.

Mama comforted her until the tears ran dry, but when Naya finally lifted her head, the heaviness had lifted and her emotions had calmed. Her mother pulled the nearby chair in front of the bed and sat opposite Naya so they faced each other.

Naya wiped her eyes, suddenly realized the seriousness of Mama’s expression, and her anxiety peaked up slightly again. “What is it, Mama?”

“I need to talk to you about the war, but first, I want to know exactly what happened between you and this Alpha, Naya,” Mama said gently. “You knew I was going to ask, didn’t you?”

Swallowing, Naya nodded, pushing away the immediate pang of embarrassment and frustration. She’d hoped to never even think about it again, let alone talk about it, but of all people, Mama would want to know, and she was in a position to understand.

“Tell me everything,” Mama added, gently. “Do not leave out a single moment.”

Taking a breath, Naya ordered her thoughts. She began at the moment she’d realized Akoro was her mate and continued, recounting every moment between them she could remember, until the point Akoro cut her face. Mama’s expression remained neutral, not indicating what she was thinking.

When she finished speaking, Mama let out a slow breath and her eyes were unfocused in thought. “So he doesn’t know or understand about the Alpha/Omega connection?”

Naya thought back to the way Akoro had talked about Omegas, the way he treated her, the way he had insisted on their connection regardless of her own feelings on the matter. “Not fully. He’s aware of it, but it seems like he only knows fragments of what it means to be an Alpha and Omega couple.”

Mama nodded, watching Naya closely. “How did it feel with him?”

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