Naya spent the rest of the night practicing her sequences again, but some of the quieter, sustained sequences that her father had been learning in recent years with High Chief Kardos required strength, balance, and focus.

After she'd calmed down, she realized just how emotional and triggered she'd been about Lili. It’d been because she’d been unprepared, but she shouldn’t have been. Getting upset about it wasn't going to help her or her parents. She knew within her deepest self that she was going to escape from this place, so if she didn't answer questions about Lili, it didn't matter. There was nothing Akoro could do about it once she was gone.

She still had her goals, and she needed to focus on the matter at hand and not get distracted by everything else.

So far, she learned they had an army of one hundred thousand warriors, according to Nrommo's boasting. Even conservatively, that would be seventy to eighty thousand, which was still more than the Lox. The Lox had the benefit of being placed all over the empire and they knew the various terrains and cities, and if her father's allies joined, together they would be serious resistance against Akoro. The other thing she'd learned was that Akoro was a multi-weaponed close-combat fighter, similar to Papa, and he could fight equally well with weapons in both hands. He had made assumptions about her on their first fight, but their second fight he had been a lot more versatile and demonstrated a range of skill. She suspected he still underestimated her in the second fight, but against her father, he would take it more seriously.

The more reserved sequences of her training aimed to quiet the mind and seek opportunities for furtive attacks—ones that could allow her to disable or kill quietly and escape without notice. She hadn't practiced these skills in a long time but now was the perfect time. Since they’d altered the way his council was meeting with her, she was in the strategy room with only two people at any one time, so it was possible that an opportunity might arise.

She should be prepared. And she would be.

The next day she went back into the battle strategy room and calmly answered the rest of Prillu’s questions. When Prillu asked about Lili, Naya just didn't answer. Prillu glanced at Akoro but simply moved on to the next question.

Akoro stood in his normal position, but this time there was a dark determination on his face, as though she was a challenge he was intending to beat. There's no doubt he was planning something for her, but since she'd been in the palace, his scent hadn't impacted her in the same way as when they were in the desert. Maybe it was because she'd been in more pain and eating less, but things were different now and it had to be the same for him. He barely approached her anymore. Whatever his Alpha outburst was about Lonn, it was an exaggeration of leftover possessiveness from the desert. Still, his determined stance made her uneasy.

In the afternoon after lunch, Akoro took her to the rooftop grounds and they battled again using different weaponry.

The next morning, Meiro didn't arrive with her breakfast or her clothes, and there was no fresh tmae laid out. It was strange but Naya did her sequences and waited.

A different woman came in and dressed her. Breakfast was simply bread and the strong-smelling kermo, which Naya had become quite accustomed to. Afterward Prillu came to collect her as normal.

That morning most of the council were discussing the best way to infiltrate Lox Palace. Naya barely contributed. This was one discussion she could learn more from than give information about, and it became a lively discussion, because Nrommo couldn't help but argue with everyone.

After he presented his idea, Naya scratched the bands on her wrists. "That won't work," she said. "There are warriors who pay attention specifically to that part of the city." She turned to Akoro, rubbing her neck. "The City of Ashens will be the most difficult place that you will attack. It is the capital of the entire empire. It’s extremely busy and lots of people visit the city every single day. It is the most watched and guarded in the whole of the empire."

Akoro simply stared at her.

Naya exhaled held in annoyance, scratching her neck. It was itchy and hot all of a sudden. The heat increased, burning her underneath the material wrapped around her. "Is it hot in here?" she muttered, glancing at the windows. Had their devices to cool the air suddenly stopped working?

"Whose method would you go with?" she asked Akoro, who was still staring at her strangely.

"Everybody out," Akoro announced abruptly, ignoring her question.

Naya frowned, and the rest of the council froze, turning to look at him. But Akoro's eyes did not leave Naya. "Everyone out," he suddenly roared.

Naya jumped, his voice burrowing into her core, breaking open something molten and wild and erratic.

The council left quickly, muttering their farewell to Akoro, even though he barely paid attention to them.

"What is happening?" Naya asked, her nerves hot and cold.

Akoro slowly rounded the table between them.

"What are you doing?" Naya breathed, panic crashing into her.

He came closer, slowly. "I can smell it.”

“What are you talking about?” But even as she said it, the erratic wildness within her twisted and spread across the lower half of her body, making between her legs tingle. Horrified, she realized what it was just as he spoke again.

"Your heat has arrived."

"No!" In desperation, she gripped her clothes, scrunching the fabrics hard in her fist. "No. This can't be happening."

Akoro said nothing, his expression was turning into something hungry and….

She backed away from him. "Stay away from me. I need…" A mist of awareness entered her mind, nudging her that her Alpha was right in front of her, ready and waiting and willing. She shook it out of her mind. "I need a room. With blankets and I-I need to be locked in. Y-you can't come in. No Alpha can come in. I just need⁠—"

The look he gave her was so intense and piercing that she felt like a babbling fool. She backed away, moving back around the table and keeping it between them. "Y-you said that you would—you wouldn't touch me."

"I said no such thing." Deep and growly, his voice shuddered right to her core.

She tried to think back to her time in the tent, but the memory was hazy. "You said… You said."

"I said, I would treat you in accordance with your dynamic." The Alpha slightly raised a brow. "I have… And I will."

"No!" Naya shouted, his meaning suddenly seeping into her. "No. I do not want you to take advantage of my Haze."

"Take advantage?" he said. "I am your mate. It is my responsibility."

"No!" Naya shook her head wildly. "No, you don't get to claim responsibility now. Not after everything you've done to me."

“I would have claimed it a long time ago if not for my brother,” he growled.

Naya rubbed her neck. It was getting too hot for clothes. “What?”

“My brother has been keeping you blocked.”

Naya’s mouth dropped open. “Who is your brother?”

“Your healer.”

Naya moaned. The tmae. There was no tmae this morning. “Why did he stop?”

“Because I fucking found out!” the Alpha bellowed.

Naya whimpered, his displeasure clanging through her.

"I told you I will treat you like an Omega, tmot zia, but I also must treat you like you’re mine, because that's what you are. You cannot go through your heat without your Alpha."