Page 6 of Sins of His Wrath

“Naya.” Mama’s voice was laced with warning. “You need to be looked after properly. This wound is deep. If you lose too much blood--”

“I need to be involved in the preparations, Mama,” Naya said. “If I can’t do that, then Akoro will win.”

Mama was silent for a moment, her mouth tight, and then nodded.

Naya steadied her mind and instead of pulling on the magic she knew was available in the room, she sent out her awareness to feel the surrounding magic. Healing magic came from the open air; it was always softer and more malleable than the magic interwoven with physical things, but it felt incredibly weak compared to the powerful vibrations and knots of magic she’d sensed across the empire.

Focusing, Naya gathered her own stream of healing magic, combining stronger threads she detected from the surrounding area, and then nodded to the twins. As they drew back, she willed her own stream to her wound, weaving it back and forth across the gash like magical stitches and then encasing it completely with magic, like a seal.

A twinge of pain skittered across her face as she took over, but it settled within moments. When she shifted her attention to the twins, the magic faltered. A searing pain scored across her face and blood gushed from the wound, splattering over her tunic.

“Naya,” Mama gasped, grabbing her arm.

Taking a deep breath, Naya refocused and this time, she widened her awareness to the stronger vibrations from just beyond the castle. Taking it painstakingly slow, she applied the stronger streams of magic in tiny threads to her own body’s healing energy. This time, once attached, it remained secure. A tiny trickle of blood still dripped from it down her chin, and she suspected it would need to be reapplied periodically, but when she slowly moved her head side to side, the magic held.

Naya lifted her head to see the twins’ surprised, questioning stares and Mama’s worried gaze.

She nodded at them all, glad she could finally nod again without blood and pain. “Thank you,” she said to the twins. Unfortunately, she couldn’t speak that easily. “Please assist the emperor immediately.” The twins bowed low and left the room.

Naya slowly stood up.

“Naya,” Mama said. “You need to rest.”

“I will, Mama,” Naya said. “I just want to prepare before he arrives.”

Mama lifted a hand and pressed it to her non-damaged cheek, her eyes flitting over Naya’s face. Something somber in her eyes made Naya frown. “What is it, Mama?”

Mama sighed, lowering her hand. “We will talk later. Go and help Papa.”

Naya nodded and headed to the door. It was time to plan for the invasion.

“We need to build fortifications around the palace, and then once they’re tired of trying to get through, we attack them with everything we’ve got and push them into the white ocean.” Naya dragged her finger along the map spread across the table. “If we can direct them through this valley and onto the shore, archers can attack from the surrounding trees, the boats—everywhere. They’ll have nowhere to go but into the ocean.”

Papa peered at the map. “No.” His voice was firm. “We drive them to the plains and surround them from all sides. I want their corpses feeding the soil of Ashens. They need to be spread out across the vast landscape and killed.”

Naya exhaled and dropped her arm. Papa had been disagreeing with her strategies for the last half hour. He wanted to make an example of Akoro and his army by killing them in hand-to-hand combat, even though Akoro had the bigger army. Naya wanted to wait them out, defend their home and then, when they were tired, kill as many as possible from afar. She didn’t want to risk the Empire and the lives of Lox warriors.

Mama, Uncle Torin, and the Talent-Crafter twins stood around the table with them, but discussion had devolved into Papa and Naya arguing about what strategy was best for Ashens. And it was a waste of time.

“What is the point of training archers if we won’t use them when we need them?” Naya asked. “And what is the difference where they are killed? It’s all our soil. We cannot win this battle like you’ve won others, Papa. His army is determined and well trained.”

“So is the Lox.” Papa’s glare was fierce. He leaned on the table, glaring at her. “Just because his enemy is bigger doesn’t mean they are smarter. We know the terrain, we have experience on this land. You have to trust that the Lox can defeat them on the battlefield.”

“I know we can defeat him,” Naya shot back, “but only if we have the right strategy. He’s hadyearsof preparation for just this battle, and he’s using a kind of magic that we don’t know how to defend against. We need to minimize risk. This isn’t about showing our strength, it is about winning.”

"It's about both!" Papa thundered. "You're assuming this battle can be planned down to the last detail, Nayara. We cannot rely on one strategy. It’s riskier, but?—"

“I am strategizing like someone who has sparred with him, Papa!” Naya shot back. “Someone who has seen howhestrategizes. Have you ever fought an army of his size before?”

Papa pushed back from the table, his face like thunder, but he didn’t answer. Naya took that as a no.

“Then you cannot know how much of a risk it is to fight them like it’s any other battle,” she insisted. “I know they will focus most of their efforts here in Ashens. They want to take the palace so they can convince the rest of the empire to give up. If we push them toward the water, we can trap them with arrows. I didn’t see evidence that they use archers—and they probably think we don’t because we’ve never made it known that Chief Kardos was training archers for the army. It will surprise them.”

When Papa started to shake his head, a surge of anger gripped Naya. She spoke again before he even had a chance to open his mouth. “Papa.Iam leading this defense. Me, the next ruler of the Lox Empire. I know this enemy. If we fail, it will be my empire at stake and the lives of people who expect me to rule. I will not stand aside.”

Papa’s face contorted, and his voice rose to a roar, tearing through the room. “I don’t want you to stand aside, Naya. I have been waiting to stand beside you like this for years. But you cannot lead this if you are speaking out of trauma and fear.”

Mama stepped forward and placed a hand on Papa’s arm. “Drocco?—”

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