Page 60 of Sins of His Wrath

They left the city heading south,navigating through the outer ruins that seemed to hug the city in all directions and passing the protective boulders. They traveled on a dusty, rocky landscape as the sky slowly brightened.

“Ask your questions,” Akoro said, almost a demand in her ear.

Naya exhaled a long breath and organized her thoughts. “Why did you have me imprisoned?”

She could almost feel him scowling behind her. “That doesn’t have anything to do with your Solution. If you can’t do what you promised, just say so now.”

“I want to know why I spent two days in prison treated like a criminal, and then paraded around in front of your people,” Naya said sharply. “I want to know if that’s what I should expect—random days in a cell and bribery to keep me quiet. I don’t see how I’m going to be able to effectively work if that’s how I’m going to be treated. You promised you wouldn’t interfere, but being a prisoner in a cell is definitely going to affect my ability to think and work.”

Akoro’s body was tense around her. “It won’t be like that again.”

“And I’m supposed to just believe you?”

“Yes.”

Naya exhaled, trying not to let herself tense. “Fine. As part of finding the Solution, I want to know what happened yesterday.”

“I already said, it won’t help you,” Akoro thundered.

“I’ll decide that.”

Akoro was displeasure was as loud as his silence. The rocky landscape gradually faded into golden sand, and thenniraesped up, increasing to a comfortable lope. Finally, he spoke. “We have allies.”

Naya blinked, startled by the sudden change of subject. “What… what does that have to do with?—”

“I’m telling you,” he growled. “Quiet.”

Naya grit her teeth but said nothing else.

“This region is made up of tennnoppas, or districts, as you would call them. The Sy Dynasty control three of them but others have soges who rule over them. They are our allies.”

“Soges?”

“Yes, like… lords.” Akoro thought for a moment. “Soge translates to “noble” in your Common Tongue.”

Naya nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

“Our allies have allowed Sy to become the most powerful Dynasty in this region since our civilization was destroyed, but these relationships have been built carefully over time. When I first began my rule, we were a nomadic culture, even though Onn Kkulma belongs to us. So stability in the city was the primary concern for my people. Once I secured it, tribes settled nearby. They were poor and needed us for various reasons; our boulders and magical wares that prevent magic attacks, reliable trading, sharing of resources and more. I also vowed that their protection was my first concern after the people of Onn Kkulma and I would keep peace in the region. But they’ve quickly grown into villages and towns, into more substantial sources of power. Your attack on the city was taken as an indication we could be unstable.”

Naya nodded, sighing.

“And now that they are more powerful, they are potentially dangerous,” he added. “If they wanted, they could attempt to join together and challenge the Sy Dynasty for Onn Kkulma.”

“Onn Kkulma is the city we just came from?”

“Yes. It is a city of great historic importance to this region, and to allsukkurianpeople. The Sy Dynasty secured it through great pains. Since then no one has challenged us. But this kind of event can make them reevaluate if it might be worth it.” Akoro’snniraeangled across the sand and began to run at a quicker speed. The soldiers followed.

Akoro kept talking. “Yesterday I presented you to both my people and the soges, and told them you were the Omega who committed the crime.”

Naya took a breath in and turned to look at him in disbelief, alarm stuttering in her chest. “You did? That’s what you were saying? Why? Do they know I came from the Lox Empire?”

“No.”

“Will this start the war between us? How could they be happy with letting me go?”

Akoro shook his head. “They see you as a rogue Omega.”

Naya calmed. “Oh. One of banished Omegas?”

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