by Zoey Ellis
“It is your own fault,” the queen snapped. “I would have much rather done this in a less aggressive way, but I wasn’t aware you had a tracker on you.” She stepped forward menacingly, her eyes darkening. “A very sophisticated and complex incantation that I did not detect.”
Oshali blinked. She completely forgotten that Tyomar had put a tracker on her, she’d gone used to the hum.
“My scouts have detected dragons on the edge of this province. They’ve never come this close before, apart from twenty-five years ago when you were in this province before. What do they want with you?”
“I don’t know,” Oshali said.
“Don’t fucking jest with me, Oshali,” the queen spat. “The last time one of them was here they destroyed my palace and took a child of royal blood. What the fuck do they want?”
“I don’t know,” Oshali shot back. “I haven’t spoken to them.”
“Tell me!” the queen hollered, her eyes flashing. “Why you? What do the dragorai want with you so desperately? Answer me!”
“I’ve told you all I know,” Oshali said calmly.
The queen snarled and turned away from her. She paced across the room in silence for a moment, shaking her head. “I take no pleasure in doing this, Oshali, but I gave you the chance to make it easy.”
An inkling of horror and dread stirred. “What?”
The queen stepped forward. “You must breed.”
Oshali’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“You are a traitor. You cannot be the last remaining female of our line when you’ve been so corrupted. I need more children.”
Oshali’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you breed, then?”
The queen scowled. “I learned long ago that an omega queen of my stature doesn’t put her life in the hands of an alpha for any reason.” She glanced around the room. “Potions to induce your heat will be misted into the room as soon I leave, so your heat should start within the next couple of hours, and since you have been particularly obstructive, sneaky, and unhelpful, I will find the ugliest, brutish, idiotic citizen in this Dominion to come and fuck you to near death.”
Oshali’s cheeks heated in both outrage and humiliation that she would not only be drugged, but would also be used in the basest of ways. “You want all those qualities for the child?” Oshali shot back, grabbing the bars to the cell hard.
“None of those qualities will ever be in any female of our line,” the queen said. “It doesn’t matter who we breed with, our blood is strong.” She chuckled, lowering her voice. “It came from the Goddesses, remember? Who breeds you only matters to you, and you are choosing to be difficult and uncooperative.”
A hard ball of anger swallowed Oshali’s insecurities and strengthened her determination. She dropped her arms by her side, her mouth tightening as she looked at the queen.
The queen, suddenly alert, stilled. “Do not be foolish, Oshali.” She spoke at a measured pace. “You have been with diary keepers for the past twenty-five years. I have been queen of this Dominion for decades. I’m sure all records you have read about me mention my proficiency in magic and the ancient language of Thrakondarian. You would be foolish to try to attack me. Breeding will not harm you, but I assure you if we battle, I will.”
Oshali breathed heavily as her heart pounded, and she pushed away the anger that threatened to overwhelm her. The queen didn’t know she could cast, and maybe it was worth keeping that a surprise as she tried get out of there.
“You must know I have no intention of staying in here.”
“Your intentions are not my concern,” the queen said icily, heading for the door.
Oshali gripped the bars, panicked. “I will need to carry the child to term.”
The queen glanced at her. “Yes, but you can do that unconscious. You have decided to make yourself a threat to me. And since you have a responsibility to me and to your ancestors to carry on the line, you will fulfill it in the manner in which I choose.”
Oshali could have screamed at her own lack of foresight. From the moment she realized the queen had something against the dragorai, she should have left the palace and sought out the truth. She had completely forgotten about the tracker, but she still shouldn’t have left herself open to be captured.
Her Mheyu Gowns had been stripped from her and the room was filled with a foul-smelling mist. She stood in her cell completely naked, absorbing the potion through every pore. No doubt in preparation for whichever male the queen sought to impregnate her.
The whole idea of it was insane. Why was this the queen’s priority? If the story about their family line was true, maybe she was unable to breed, but that didn’t explain her desperate plan. Oshali already had doubts about which of the queen’s narratives were true. The one thing that did seem to be true was the scroll. Oshali had examined it thoroughly using every incantation and method the Mheyu used to verify the authenticity of items, and the scroll was genuine—each portrait was painted at different times and in chronological order.
She paced in her cell, watching the door, trying to figure out if now was the best time to reveal she could cast. Once she did, there was no doubt the queen would find ways to restrict the use of magic, or at the least attack with magical deadly force. She had to use it at the right time. She wasn’t even sure if the cell already prevented casting, or whether Tyomar could still detect her tracker while she was in here.
As she watched the door, she saw the warrior with the short hair standing outside.
“Hey,” Oshali whispered. “Hey!”
The girl turned, looking at the corner of her eye at Oshali before turning back.
“I need to speak to you!” she called. “Please!”
The girl turned her head again. This time, she muttered something to one of the other guards before slipping inside the room.
“You’re going to get me into trouble,” she whispered harshly. “What do you want?” She wrinkled her nose. “What is that smell?”
“If you’re an omega, cover your nose.”
The girl pulled out a cloth from her pocket and covered her mouth and nose.
“Thank you for helping me,” Oshali said.
The girl made a face and gestured to Oshali’s cell. “It didn’t exactly help, did it? I risked warning you and you didn’t even take me seriously.”
“It was a surprise,” Oshali admitted. “And I did take you seriously, I just acted too slow.”
“What do you want?” the girl asked, glancing at the door.
“I want to get out of here! Can you help me?”
The girl looked at her like she was insane. “Do you know what would happen to me if the queen found out that I’d helped you? Having my tongue ripped out, my eyes blinded, my ears deafened, and being eaten alive by flesh worms wouldn’t even come close. I tried to help you before, that was much as I could do.”
Oshali was quiet for a moment as she observed the girl. She clearly cared, but why? She didn’t seem like the other warriors who were stoic and attached. She had petite features and striking eyes, and her short hair highlighted her features. She was very pretty.
“Why are you even one of her warriors?” Oshali asked.
“She forced me to.”
“Why?”
The girl shrugged. “I can do things that she wants her other warriors to learn.”
Oshali frowned. “Like what?
“I tend to have a feeling of when the king is going to attack,” the girl said, glancing at the door. “It’s like something in the air, and I first noticed the recent pattern of how he attacks the Dominion.”
“How did she find out you could do that?”
“She knows everything,” the girl insisted. “And I need to go right now before she finds out about this.”
“Wait,” Oshali said. “Clearly you don’t want to stay. If you help me to get out of here, I can take you with me.”
“There is nowhere in this Dominion that’s safe from her,” the girl said.
“
I’m not from this Dominion. I’m from the mountain ranges.”
The girl stared at her. “The dragorai territories?”
“Yes.”
“That’s fucking worse!” the girl exclaimed. She stilled, watching the door for a moment before continuing. “The dragorai are the targets of both the king and queen, I hear.”
“But that is their problem, right?” Oshali said becoming desperate. “You will be safe nearer them than here working for her. You won’t have to worry about dropping bombs or ember or anything else. The dragorai don’t involve their people in their battles, only the king and queen do. There is no danger in being near them unless you are breaking one of their laws.”
The girl chewed her lip thoughtfully. “If we go, I need to get one of my friends.”
Oshali resisted from rolling her eyes. “The priority is getting out of here,” she warned. “If getting your friend is going to get us caught—”
And the girl shook her head. “Of course, of course.” She thought for a moment. “I think I can get us to the west gate this afternoon. Do you think you can get us out of the Dominion from there?”
Oshali nodded.
“All right. I’ll be back within an hour.”
“In an hour!” She might be deep into her heat by then. How was she supposed to navigate out of the dominions when she couldn’t even think straight?
“It takes time to prepare all of this,” the girl stressed. “I can’t clap my hands and suddenly get us out.”
“All right,” Oshali breathed. As the girl left, she dropped her forehead on the bars hoping this worked. They would only get one chance. She had to make sure that one chance was all they needed.
10
Oshali waited impatiently for the girl to return. In the meantime, waves of need trembled intermittently through her, each one stronger than the last. She clenched her teeth, cursing the queen. At this point, she couldn't trust what the queen had said about Tyomar stealing her.
Oshali hoped the queen wasn’t lying about dragons been spotted near the province. Did that mean that Tyomar had returned? And did he come with his brothers? Or did it mean that the dragons themselves just turned up because they were roaming? It was unclear. From her understanding, the dragorai-dragons wouldn’t show up so far south of their own territories without their alpha counterparts, but she was at a loss as to why any of the other dragorai would come south at all. It was only Tyomar who had come with her.
A little while later, she was crouching on the floor clutching the bars of her cell, tensing as waves of need flared through her. She tried to fight it, but it wasn't something she could resist against forever. Slick was already gathered between her legs, and her nipples were taut in preparation for the alpha who was supposed to sate to her needs.
In the Mheyu sanctum, heats were not a frequent thing, although Oshali was unsure what the guardians did when someone was in the heat. She suspected there was some kind of suppressant to stop omega guardians from randomly going into heat and causing havoc among the alphas, but it wasn't something that had ever been made clear to any of the fosters, and Oshali never thought to ask. She’d never had a heat before. This was her first one.
"Hey." The girl slipped through the door with a bundle in her arms. "Are you all right?"
Oshali looked up and pulled herself up using the cell bars. "I'll be fine. Are we ready?”
"I found this sack thing in your room and I put your cloak in," the girl said, holding up the travel pouch.
Oshali’s eyes widened at her. “You picked up my traveling pouch but not my dress? I’m naked in here!”
The girl scowled. “I can’t walk around with Mheyu-colored clothing, and they wouldn’t both fit. I thought with the cloak you could at least cover with that and you wouldn’t look like, you know, a Mheyu guardian.”
Oshali exhaled through gritted teeth. Her dress would have given her extra magical protection and would definitely have suppressed her heat. “All right, thank you. Are we ready?”
The girl nodded, looking at the cell nervously. “I don’t have any way to get you out of the cell though.”
“That’s fine. Stand back." Oshali began casting hoping that she wasn’t restricted. But magic flowed steadily, swirling around the lock and crushing it. She stepped out the cell and wrapped her cloak around her shoulders sighing in relief.
The girl beckoned her out of the room, and she followed her through a number of corridors, hidden passages and crawl spaces. Thankfully, the girl knew how to completely avoid the guards. It seemed like she'd been with the queen for quite a long time and worked all this out.
Finally, they reached the exit to the west gate but it was guarded by two of the queen’s elite faction. The girl groaned silently. She pressed up against the wall and shot a look at Oshali, pointing to the ground, her eyes wide.
Oshali frowned. How in all seven hells was she supposed to know what she was saying? Before Oshali could whisper that to her, the girl stepped out into the corridor.
Oshali watched her approach the warriors, greeting them casually before launching into a series of smooth, hard-hitting, punches and kicks. Oshali’s mouth dropped as she watched her incapacitate the warriors within moments.
The girl beckoned and Oshali joined her at the doorway in shock. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
Oshali pointed to the unconscious females on the floor.
The girl snorted. “If they had been prepared for it, it wouldn’t have been so easy. Let’s go.”
They dashed through the exit into the courtyard.
"Over to you," the girl breathed, her eyes wide as she watched for more guards.
Another wave of need made Oshali doubled over. "All right,” she panted, bracing herself on her knees. “I will. In a moment…."
The girl stepped closer and leaned down to look at her. "You’re in your heat," she exclaimed.
"I know," Oshali said, through gritted teeth. “The queen induced it.”
"How do you expect to get us out of here if you're in your heat?" the girl asked exasperated. “We’re not going to make it.”
“We will. Just give me a moment….” Once the wave subsided, Oshali examined the courtyard, taking in everything she could about the environment. It was small and empty with only a few trees and plants in it. There was one entrance to the house, which was the one they came through, and one gate to the external courtyard which was locked. The walls were high, and had a flat top they could stand on.
Oshali sighed. She would have to use significant magic. She hadn’t wanted to rely on it too much because of what happened when she had tried to escape Tyomar. He told her that the magic in the realm was worn and overused, so it was effectively less potent than the magic she’d been using at the sanctum. Only older incantations could evoke the richer magic, but that required the ultimate precision, which Oshali couldn’t guarantee right now.
It was also likely that the queen would detect the use of magic, and they would struggle to get very far. But sometimes, it wasn't possible to find a perfect solution.
Before her urges returned, she grabbed the girl's hand.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Uraya.”
“Hold on, Uraya. Don’t let go of my hand, no matter what happens.”
Oshali began to cast. Magic began to build around them, lifting them into the air and carrying them over the wall.
"Don’t stop casting," Uraya muttered, her eyes locked to the ground. "Don't stop casting!"
But Oshali knew that the next time a surge of her heat gripped her, she wouldn't be able to continue. She took them to the top of the wall, placing them down to wait for the next wave of her heat to pass.
"Why are we here?" Uraya asked. "We can be seen and the queen will send her guards.
"She's going to send her guards anyway," Oshali said. "But I need to rest before we start the next one, and I need to plan our next move in case I endanger us when my heat hits."
>
Uraya looked at her skeptically, but nodded. Tugging Oshali's hand, she led her down the top of the wall, and around the circumference of the courtyard to a tree that would obscure them if anyone decided to look up.
"Good plan," Oshali whispered.
She looked over the wall to see where they were, but her stomach dropped as she realized the whole area was flooded with the queen’s guards. All three factions were everywhere. Clearly she was expecting an attack, probably the dragorai. And even though Oshali doubted why they would, the excessive guards suggested that the queen was concerned.
"Are the dragorai here?" she asked the girl.
"I heard that scouts have seen them," she said. "I haven't seen them myself."
“Where were they sighted?"
Uraya pointed to the left side of the courtyard.
Oshali steadied herself and tried to access the tracker to alert Tyomar. A few moments of concentrating, and she couldn’t even locate the tracker to try to meddle with it. She sighed. Of course, Tyomar wouldn’t allow her to do that.
She examined the area on the outside the wall again and wondered if she could simply throw them right over the guards to the street on the other side. It was a dangerous thing to try. But at this point, it was worth it. If she or Uraya ended up back in the clutches of the queen, they were worse than dead anyway. The fall could be the better option.
The surge arrived, the strongest yet, tearing through her body and heightening a desperation to be satisfied. Oshali urgently needed to rub between her legs, but she couldn't do it in front of Uraya. It was bad enough that her scent had changed to try to attract males, and she probably stunk. This was so embarrassing!
But Uraya did not let go of her hand, in fact she squeezed harder the more Oshali tensed, trying to battle the desperation for sexual fulfillment.
As it faded, the girl was looking at her, worried. "You only have a few more rounds before you will be fully in your heat," she whispered, “and when that happens you’ll beg for any alpha." She glanced at the guards below and back up to Oshali, her eyes wide. "Any."