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She woke up thrashing, unable to catch her breath and rolled onto her side, forcing the air out of her lungs. Slowly, she controlled her inhale and exhale, continuing until her breathing returned to normal.
That nightmare had been worse than yesterday.
“What do you dream that is so terrible you scream like that?”
Naya’s nerves jolted and for a moment she couldn’t answer, just stared open-mouthed at the irritated-looking beast looming over her cart. Then she scowled. “Why do you keep?—"
She cut her words off seeing his brows draw down, tight and furrowed. No questions. She held up her palms. “I forgot,” she said slowly. Taking a breath, she forced herself to answer him. “I have nightmares sometimes.”
His annoyed expression didn’t change. “Repeated?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I-I…” Naya couldn’t find the words to continue. She’d never spoken to anyone about this except her parents and her healer.
His head tilted, a brow inching up just enough to mock her. "What kind of trauma could the Princess of the Lox Empire possibly have?”
Naya said nothing. Only the royal family knew about her episodes and her symptoms. It was good to know that hadn't been compromised, even by him.
The beast scowled. "For such a sheltered princess, your troubles can't be significant enough to plague you here, not when you have more pressing concerns."
"I wouldn't expect you to know anything about trauma.”
A darkness flashed through his face. "Why?"
"Because you cause it," she spat. "You’re willing to cause horrific trauma on an entire continent of people for your own gain."
"War is war." His words were blunt. "The trauma of it is the whole point. No one would choose it, but it is necessary. Do you think your father hasn’t caused trauma for the people he warred with?"
Naya’s anger flared brighter at his audacity to mention Papa. "My father doesn't declare open war on an entire people unnecessarily."
"Why do you think my decision is unnecessary?"
“You have your own world. You don’t need ours.”
He leaned in, a sudden fury in his face and his words hard. “Spoken so boldly by the ignorant little cunt who didn’t even know anything existed outside of her precious Known Lands.”
Naya’s fury matched his. “We have done nothing to deserve the violence you plan for my people.”
“Again,” the Alpha said, the coldness of his anger icier than the wind, “bold fucking ignorance.”
Naya frowned, curiosity hooking her for the first time. Was he suggesting?—
"You are rumored to be a fierce warrior,” he said, interrupting her thought. “What do you think a warrior’s job is?”
“To fight well and gain the advantage. That’s it. Their job doesn’t necessarily mean wiping out an entire culture. That decision isn’t their responsibility.”
“A warrior could refuse to fight.”
Naya shook her head. “An army cannot.”
The beast observed her for a long moment, his eyes narrowed. “Have you ever even killed anyone?”
The air was suddenly thin. Naya drew her knees up and around her arms around them. “I don’t see how that is relevant.”
“If you’ve never been in battle, you are not a warrior.”
