Jata Niara left Srinivas wrapped in the new blankets of his bedding, sleeping. There was only a few more minutes she watched him sleep before she left the room and informed Myron that Elijah and Srinivas would be allowed their own personal servants of their choosing. And to be on the lookout for any strife between them and not to intercede, merely inform her.
Then, a thought struck her, to warn the others not to act as Srinivas has and to make sure the reminder sticks with the omega.
"I'm going to send you a brand with two servants to help you," she said as she saw fear fell over Myron's face. "You're going to help them burn the mark."
"You're not going to--?"
The unspoken words of selling.
"No, he simply needs a reminder that he's mine, that he's joined my family because I chose him and not a scheme."
Above ground, Nwaijaku was waiting and snapped to her side when she appeared, slipping into the waiting kajawa as they made way to the docks.
"There's a boat there that the El Mahdy left for royals to use for privacy. We rarely use it out of suspicion but if any day was a good day it would be today," she told her friend.
Nwaijaku frowned. "Wouldn't the El Mahdy clan know? They side with the crowned alpha and don't deviate."
"I know," Jata Niara smirked. "I want them to know that I'm being productive, unlike my sister. And, it forces Mariarch El Mahdy to inform my mother that I'm in contact with a black market dealer."
"You're losing me."
"My Imperial Mother is deeply involved with the black market dealings, as is my grandfather, but they tend to fight over the nuances," she laughed. "It's a matter of leadership and power. But, my Imperial Mother cares that I support her work and make her job easier, as I should. I imagine because the Malahi has been so quiet as of late that they'll attack, again. We'll be ready to respond then."
Nwaijaku replied, "You make it sound easy when we still haven't found the assassin."
"Well," Jata Niara said as she watched the outside move past. "If I survive long enough to attend the next session, it will be easy."
"Great," Nwaijaku sighed. "It appears I'll have to add more guards to your rotation."
"Bring me some of the recruits when you choose."
Nwaijaku nodded as the kajawa trodded down the road.
The boat had a hut, much like a wooden tent, perched with a servant already waiting. She had them prepare snacks and something to drink before sending them off as she waited in their place.
It didn't take much time before she heard rustling around the boat and swung open the hut's door to find Micah's widening eyes as their face met again.
"What are you doing here?"
Micah waffled from side to side before he said, "Running from my uncle but he hasn't seen me yet."
He pushed into the hut and she closed the door, peering under the hut's curtains to see no one, not even Nwaijaku. The woman was paranoid and was likely patroling the docks before informing them of the wait.
With a wide smile, the omega leaned against the wall, as there wasn't much space but for a table, two separate beds, bedding, and a chest with only ten steps of distance between them, as he asked, "How much time do you have?"
"Not enough."
Micah pouted before he dragged his hand across her necklace, before his eyes flickered up coyly. "Marry me into your family. As a concubine."
She realized then that Micah might not have known who she was until this very moment and pulled his hands off her necklace. "I will, but with Roy's permission."
The omega leaned forward with his tongue before their lips crushed into each other. She could feel the aftereffects of the incense strumming in her blood as she clutched the omega with wanton abandon. His moans catching in her throat as she felt her still heavy cock twitch under her waist covering. Her hands yanked him up before unclasping his underclothes and her fingers twisted inside his heat, loosening up, with his gasps breathing in her ear coaxing her on. As soon as she felt his body loosen up, she slid her cock in, trailing kisses along his lips as they shared air between them. His legs curled around her as she tightened her hold on him, lacking any space between them. She bounced him on her cock and lifted his thighs to deepen her thrusts as she heard her sack smack against his ass. The draw of her cock heavy and hard as it swung in and out his heat as the heat strummed in her blood hotter. It was over as soon as it started when her sack emptied inside him but she was hard still.
Micah must've sensed something was wrong when he lifted up her face and her breathing was rapid. His eyes tightened as he said, "Someone drugged you. I--" the realization came to him and he nearly pushed her away before Jata Niara stopped him.
"If you're okay, then I'm okay," she said, lucidly.
The incense was heightening her sense of sexual self-awareness, but it didn't make her do something she didn't want to do—just something she didn't want to do now. He gently pushed her to the bedding and rolled his hips over her cock until she filled him completely again. His lips leaned over and languidly lapped at her own as she held his head, pressing against him. The slow passion escalated as his hips sped up and his slick bouncing increased. Her fingers found his cock and milked his dribbling hardness until they both came with their lips still twisted in one another.
She felt her sack empty and the incense's effects drain out of her when the sound of Nwaijaku speaking reached her ears. Carefully, she pulled Micah off and grasped his shoulders as she stole a few more kisses.
"You need to hide," she whispered, and his widened eyes fell into agreement.
The omega slid out of the hut as Jata Niara tried to straighten up. There were no fluids, but it was impossible that they wouldn't know. She found a cloth and wiped her hands before tossing it over the boat.
This figure hunched outside the hut's entrance before stating, "Greetings, I am the one who sent you the missive."
"Enter."
Cloaked in black but a form-fitting sort of clothing. Foreign by design and possibly used for stealth and camouflage. The alpha said, "I will introduce myself. I am Akira Lin. I work in the vast communication of finding people to do the dirty work no one wants to think about doing, but knows needs to be done."
There was no proper greeting and she imagined he was used to flagrantly disregarding the rules because of his position and access.
Jata Niara laughed then and whatever bespelled evil Akira Lin believed he exuded was gone. She said, pointedly, "Everyone is your enemy. And yet you wrote a missive as if the solution to some grand plot. Many greetings and apologies. But I believe we're done here." she moves to leave but Akira Lin clears his throat as if that is supposed to stop here.
"I have the assassin in my midst," Akira Lin clarifies with a bored once-over. "If you're not interested, then I can simply bribe a mountain's worth of money out of our shared adversary and be on my way."
"Why didn't you do that first?"
Akira replies, before gesturing for them both to sit down, "I have an interest in something I heard recently. You know of my communicaring to the now deceased former Commander. I heard him say something, forcing someone to change their dynamics."
"It's rare, but it's a mistake of nature," Jata Niara countered. "Everyone knows it's not something you can force. That would be horrifying."
"To some, it would be," Akira Lin said and then sighed. "But imagine if we could control something like that by creating a place where alphas were turned into omegas for pleasure. Each one would be worth a hundred times than a regular omega. We do this by tapping into the network that the Orakpo have curated."
"You wish to turn this horrifying thing into a business," Jata Niara said bluntly. "I don't have the ability."
"This lack of interest stems from your belief that nothing can be benefited," Akira Lin repeats, when a grin stretches across his face, and he proposes, "but there has to be someone who triggers the change. This person is beholden to a special gift of tapping into the ancient alpha instincts of our ancestors."
Before she could reply, he pushed away from the table, smoothed out his cloaked garb, and continued, "I will expect a reply within two weeks, and expect that if there's no reply, you refused my business proposition."
He pulled out a folded missive and left it on the table before departing the hut entirely.
She picked up the missive and read:
The assassin is a man of Kinya Sarakh.
A nephew from a brother he's never met, but has made use of.
He has trained under an infamous martial artist and is likely very skilled.
To your great luck, I've already captured him.
Nwaijakus shortly entered the hut and asked, "What did he say?"
"He does have the assassin but if I don't agree to his demands, then I won't get to speak with him," Jata Niara said before handing over the missive.
Nwaijaku huffed. "Do we need to question the assassin? He can't make that much money off him."
"He is the son of the Sarakh family, but, apparently, of an expanding branch in the Zhuong," Jata Niara said as she wondered how to make use of this knowledge. "There is another thing. I have someone that I must bring to the underground housings."
Nwaijaku raised a brow. "Another omega? You appear to be collecting them in preparation for tomorrow."
"Of course," she answered before glancing at the boat's hut and knowing it would be burned by tomorrow evening. She left the hut to where Micah's hidden form settled under blankets and among cargo, lifting up the layers to reveal his embarrassed expression. Her hand outstretched and the omega grabbed it, allowing her to take advantage in that second, by pulling him into her arms. "Are you ready to go home?"
He kissed the corner of her lip and then said, "Yes, but I need paper to write a missive to my mother and father to let them know."
"As soon as we arrive."
The warrior rolled her eyes at the two of them and said, "I'll see if we can find out more about the Sarakhs and this hidden nephew. In the meantime, I have guards near the entrance available to help you when in need."
Jata Niara knew her friend was merely focused on making sure things went seamlessly, but things never do in a royals life. It was best to just make do.
She counted the number of guards, and Nwaijaku did her once-over before taking a camel and heading in the opposite direction.
They slipped into the kajawa and Micah leaned on her shoulder, sighing. He said, with his hands on her wrist, "I didn't know things were like this here. That people can just--they just take the things they want."
"No one just takes the things they want," she said to him as the kajawa started moving. "They fight for the things they have and then fight to earn the things they deserve."
"Not everyone has a weapon to fight with," Micah countered. "But everyone here does. Money. Title. Their--" and then he broke off. His eyes fell on the floor, avoiding her gaze.
"Their designation," she finished for him and Micah was still as if frozen. Her hand brushed over his eyes and turned his gaze to her. "I'm not ignorant of the reasons you're here. You told me already. You're tired of your empire. You're tired of never having made a choice. You're tired of everything hinging on if your omega is good enough. I do listen. And I also believe you deserve a chance."
Micah sunk into her side and drowsily nodded.
Her marriage tomorrow would permanently change her life and the direction of her future, but she patted Micah's arms, which felt warmer than her cold heart had felt in many days. The interweaving of Lawali's light mocking, her Imperial Mother's pressure, and the Orakpo bearing down on her as the full burden now rests on her shoulders.
For a cruel choice would have to be made, and she hoped she would be forgiven in time. A satchel tucked under her seat carried bottles sloshing with golden liquid full of little yellow blossoms.
The silphium blossom was a known contraceptive.
It was best to be added to her marriage dinner in the evening.
She sighed.
An Orakpo through and through.
Captain Orellano paced the deck of the docks as he waited for the ship to breach harbor. Everyone else's spouses had shipped in last week for the ceremony but Ahanu, due to personal reasons, was late. The missive he received from the Prince sat clutched and wrinkled in his fist.
The first day he met Ahanu, his husband, was as a relieving servant over twenty years ago. He'd been a young man of sixteen years and his husband was only a few months elder. It didn't take long for his belly to grow--nice and rounded. He remembered holding him tight as Ahanu rode his cock and his belly covered his chest. Unlike other soldiers, he found nothing but fine lines and beauty in his new form.
But he was barely a soldier trained out of recruitment then. Commander Berman took the young alpha girl and sent her away to the Academy of Wayward Children.
It was only a few years later that he found out that the academy never existed. Many soldiers and relieving servants had sent their children to be raised by more fortunate people only to find out it was simply another source of bodies for their empire to use.
He learned then that the only way to protect his family was through a tight fist.
"It's you? You called for this," His son's cocky grin fell into view. "I thought we weren't on speaking terms."
"Things have changed."
"Have they?"
The two men shared a battling look before the Captain admitted, "I received a letter from the Prince. He says he found your elder sister--in the no man's land."
"Sounds like bullshit to me," Titus huffed and then crossed his arms. "The world is a big place and the Prince can't even sum up enough soldiers to fight a war. And I'm to believe he can find a lost child? Decades later, even?"
"Ahanu said he's verified the Prince's claims," the Captain added. "Hence why we're here. My dear husband will be able to tell us more when he arrives. Not that he's coming alone."
"What do you--?"
The ship floated into view bobbing in the sea as the shapes of various people and cargo stood in full view.
It was Nathaniel Djau French, Akhutenan's younger brother and Titus' husband whom he hasn't seen in a year, ran out on as soon as the marriage ceremony ended, and was on the tongue of one of the biggest scandals of the year.
Akhutenan expressed his frustration with him but knew that Titus and his brother were a strange match for a long while.
As soon as his son leaned forward and then nearly dipped away, he yanked his son back to his side until Ahanu and his Nathaniel fully floated into view. He waved at them as they waved back and then broke hold of his son.
The young man wouldn't leave knowing his omega father was waiting to meet him, even if his estranged husband was on the ship too.
When the ship docked, the Captain of the ship greeted them and slipped a stack of missives into the Captain's hands that Captain Orellano easily tucked into his thin armor. These missives were solely for the eyes of Commander Akhutenan but it was unlikely that others hadn't already caught sight of the information or even omitted some of it.
In time, Akhutenan would learn the rules of the game but Captain Orellano would neither rush nor hinder that progress.
It didn't take long for a flush of people to pass them by, mostly merchants, travelers, and foreigners using this dock as a go-between before continuing their journey east. But then he caught the curl of his husband's hair and his wide cheeks, smiling, in the middle of the crowd, he raised his hands and his husband shoved through with Nathaniel holding his hand tight until he reached them. His rounded oval eyes, thick, round cheekbones, and firm lips fell into sight and he couldn't help but snatch his husband up, wrapping his arms around him as the omega sighed into his lips.
"How would you like another child?" he said against his husband's lips with a few more stolen kisses before his husband slapped his arm and laughed.
Ahanu warned, "We'll be too busy to deal with more of that nonsense."
"Ah, but I'm already starting to miss when our children were small and cute," he said as his hands jostled his husband's hips and himself into laughter. "Look at this one. How ever did we raise a miserly child?"
Ahanu kissed his lips again as if to silence him before greeting their son with a kiss on the brow. "I feel as though I haven't seen you in ages. How fair's my son? His complexion looks adventurous with new markings to show for it."
His son wore new tattoos, similar in color but entirely different in shape to his husband's who, as he was told, wore the tattoos of an omega who fought against death in the labor of childbirth. He could tell by his husband's shining, watery eyes that he was proud of his son.
"I took the path of our ancestors and earned the markings of maturity," Titus said as he puffed out his chest. "I wear the robes of the east because of my benefactor."
"May I ask who that is?" Nathaniel asked, quietly.
Nathaniel Djau French, like most male omegas in the Carolingian Empire, wore form-fitting but well-covered tunics and split skirts like male alphas. But, instead of leather, they were made of gentle fabrics and various colors of flowers were sewn into the edges. His tunic had golden leaf patterns along the center.
He could hear his son muttering under his breath but he ignored the grumpyness of a man who couldn't figure out his own heart. But no answer was given to the omega's question.
"We should return to the Campgrounds and reconvene upon a discussion long overdue," the Captain said as Ahanu kept tight hold of their son. "Akhutenan is excited to hear the news of what's happened in his absence. I hope that you're available?"
Nathaniel nodded as they entered their horse carriage and were sent off.
The short ride was quiet as his son nervously avoided Nathaniel's gaze but his Ahanu, like an angel of pure heavenly dust, spoke to the young man with compliments to his patience and his kind sincerity in choosing to visit along with him.
Nobility in the Carolingian Empire often wondered on why Maximus French had been so patient with the Orellano family. The scandal exploded a day after Titus ran away to the Zhuong for training, but unlike most of the empire, Maximus French knew the family Ahanu had been stolen from.
An old, respected family from the islands far, far in the east that once warred with the Zhuong and won. Few people could say the same. Not even the Carolingian Empire could say the same. But unlike his unobtrustive people, Ahanu wanted more for his people and thus his family's expanded network fell into his inherited hands. His husband, in his youth, trusted too easily and was tricked into being sold into relief.
And the rest is, as they say, already written.
His husband's roots were in the Zhuong now. Long after, with the then Commander's blessing, married his husband did they find out his clan had been wiped out by foreign enemies. The only way to rebuild his husband's clan was to support him in his endeavors. And he was more than happy to be the bulwark for his husband's needs.
"My omega father asked," and Nathaniel hesitated as the horse clopped along the road, "if we were truly going to move to the Zhuong."
Ahanu shared a look with him and the Captain nodded in affirmation. He was a member of the family now. It was time he knew.
"My son, Taho, has already gone overseas to find us a proper residence," Ahanu said while grasping Nathaniel's hand. "The Carolingian is not safe for us without a real status or title as we have in the Zhuong. And we can provide support for the Minister of War, your grandfather, should he need it."
Nathaniel slowly nods and then said, "Was I chosen for my fluency in the language?"
"No," Ahanu laughed, while the Captain eyed the outside of the carriage, watching civilians and legionnaires for any acts of odd behavior. "You were chosen for your clever adaptability and the brotherhood between your grandfather and my husband. Don't ever doubt your importance to our family."
The young omega nodded and smiled.
While the two omegas whispered amongst themselves, Titus leaned over and said, under his breath, "Akira Lin is making moves to bring Jata Niara into his network."
"It's a better choice than Lawali."
"I can't see how that's true."
"Because you have not seen what she's like," the Captain lowered his voice further. "The Crown Princess is a monster and lacks the heart to lead this empire. Hurulari and Heirut show signs of being reticent and disinterested in the policies of the empire. Their education is both delayed and unfulfilled. Jata Niara is the only one."
His eyes continued to peruse the streets, the vendors, and the buildings they passed as they entered the busiest parts of the city.
An elderly omega shouted along the streets, "White sage! White sage! Herbs aplenty!"
"There's the plants I've been looking for!" Ahanu said as his eyes matched his.
He nodded and knocked on the carriage walls to get the coachman's attention. "We need to stop here!"
The carriage slowed to stop and he pushed open the carriage door with an outstretched hand to catch Ahanu's waist, before lifting him out and onto the road beside him and under the cover his body.
That omega slunk off into the nearest building where the words Sirinsirin were painted in large looping letters. The store held ceramic cradles for a plant nursery where bundles of plants tucked into the walls, on shelves, and hung from the rafters. The elderly omega woman waved them in and then opened a locked door where the Captain and Ahanu met the shrouded figure of Chuli, the presumed dead heir of Zhuong's ambassador.