"With your sister Lili."

Near nodded, trying to keep her breathing calm under the power of his purr.

"Your sister died," he said.

Naya nodded. "I killed her."

Something shifted in the Alpha. Naya couldn't tell exactly what it was, whether it was a hint in his scent or the slightly tense muscles. But something changed in the way he held her.

"I'm a monster," she agreed.

"You are not a monster," he said. "I do not believe you killed your sister."

"I did," she insisted.

"How?"

She hesitated, inhaling a breath. "We have a… wasteland area in the empire. We call it the Wasteland because nothing can live there, no person, no plant, no animal. It is ravaged by wild magic so savage, it scorches the sky and there is a white fire that exists across the whole area. It has always existed in a particular area in the south of the empire. No one goes near it, but it is in one of the southern regions.

“Six years ago, the white fire started to stray beyond its boundaries. My people asked me to intervene. As someone who is the most comfortable with magic in the Lox Empire, it made sense for me to attempt it. But this isn't the kind of magic that exists everywhere. It is concentrated and unpredictable.”

Naya took a breath, halting and unsteady. "Lili was my littlest sister, the youngest. She was already a powerful Omega. At five she could already do more complex things magically than I could at that age, and at seven there wasn't much I could do that she couldn’t. She looked up to me, and I doted on her. She was my favorite person in the world." Naya swallowed, tears stinging her nose, but she kept going. “She always had lots of questions about what I did when I went out into the empire—what I’d learned, what magic I tried. Sometimes it was too dangerous to bring her, but if I could, I did. If not, I’d always talk to her about what challenges I faced. She was the only person I could talk to about magic at the level I used it, and I supposed I relied on that. When I was asked to deal with the Wasteland, I knew it was too dangerous for her and I told her she couldn’t come with me.

“I had to decide if I was going to destroy it or confine it back to the area it had always existed. I did my research and decided to confine it. Destroying it was too risky and unpredictable. Anyway, Lili followed me to the Wastelands—she came by portal so she could watch me.”

Naya’s voice started to shake, so she took another breath. “When I realized she was there, I decided to let her stay. She was far enough away and among the general crowd that I didn’t think there would be any danger to her, and I knew she was so excited to watch. I had factored in all aspects of the environment, but I didn’t factor in there being another Omega as powerful as Lili in the vicinity. As soon as I started to wrangle with the white fire, it was drawn to her.”

The smell of burning flesh started to fill the air, and Naya steadied her breathing, trying to push the memory away. It wasn’t real. "The fire tore her apart, and I couldn't do anything about it. It was completely out of control and burned across the country. I still hear her screams, all their screams.”

Naya stopped, words unable to form and Akoro pulled her close, squeezing her into him. “You did not kill her,” he said.

“I should have known better than to tell a seven year old that she could stay and watch something like that,” Naya said sharply. “It was a fucking foolish thing to do.”

“Other children must have been watching.”

“Yes. And they died too. I shouldn’t have allowed an audience to gather. The whole area should have been evacuated. I don’t know what I was thinking. They paid the ultimate price my arrogance.”

“You couldn’t have known,” Akoro growled. “Magic isn’t as unpredictable in your world. You didn’t intentionally cause her death.”

Naya pressed her lips together. No one could tell her that she didn’t.

“Some of us have intentionally caused the death of our family members. You shouldn’t take on the burden that we carry.”

Naya started, and looked at him. “What?”

He held her eye. “It’s a scar that will never fade. Yours will if you let it. It can make you strong.”

“I don’t feel strong,” Naya whispered, looking down at his chest. “Not any more. I don’t see how I can rule if I can’t even remember to think about risks to others.”

“Why do you think I took you, tmot zia?” he said, hooking her chin and drawing her head back up. “You are the strongest person in the Known Lands.”

Naya searched his eyes for any hint of amusement or mocking and there was none.

“And now you are mine.”

The next morning, Meiro came with a message for Akoro. It seemed urgent—he dressed quickly and had her dress too.

“Come, I need to show you something,” he said to Naya. He led her to the stables where a group of his courtiers were waiting on their own nnirae. After they mounted, they trotted through the courtyard and out onto the streets of the city, navigating to the west.

The roads that led from the palace were wide and well paved. Impressive buildings on either side of the road, many citizens walked the streets traveling between the buildings, some dressed in ways she’d never seen in the palace. The streets were quiet, though many clashing scents surrounded them, from harsh and bitter, to mellow and sweet. Naya couldn’t tell where they were coming from until they turned into a much busier street with traders calling from either side of the road, advertising their wares. The smells were more intense, and the streets were bright. People milled about everywhere, talking and negotiating.

It reminded her of Ashens, and a pang of loss stung her chest.

Akoro increased the speed of his creature, until they were galloping through the city. People quickly moved out of the way when they heard the hooves. The farther in they traveled, the streets became less paved, dust kicking up under the hooves of his animal and creating a smog in the air.

"Put on your face cloth," Akoro said into her ear.

Naya twisted to look at him. "What?"

"Here." Akoro tugged on a piece of cloth on her shoulder in her outfit. She pulled at it, and it came away from the outfit. She recognized it. It was what they had covered her face with when traveling on horseback in the desert.

She covered her the lower half of her face with it and found she could breathe easier.

They traveled on, and although she’d seen it from her lattice window, Naya was surprised how big this city was. They must have traveled for at least an hour before slowing, and they hadn’t reached the ruined outskirts yet.

This area of the city was less populated, but huge buildings had been erected here. Some of them are incredibly old.

Akoro slowed down to a trot and stopped by a group of yellow-robed people standing at the corner of a large square. In the middle of it, a building stretched up to the sky—old and worn, but beautifully designed. Its design was different from anything else she'd seen in the city.

Akoro dismounted. He lifted her off the nnirae and set her down next to him. Naya ignored the sweep in her stomach of his hands on her as her feet touched the ground. She followed him as he stalked to the group.

They bowed their heads to him, hands on their chests and then began to converse in their language. The yellow-robes talked fast and hard with clear urgency. The rest of Akoro's courtiers joined, and a discussion ensued, getting louder and more fraught as each moment went by.

Akoro turned to look at the building, as though studying it. Naya followed his gaze, unsure what he was staring at. He stepped toward it, and although his security immediately followed him, the yellow-robes, and even his courtiers cried out, as though calling him back.