Fun fact: in Aker's clan, long hair is seen as a sign of power. The longer it is, the higher the rank and the more powerful the person. High positions of power like the queen had hair that pooled on the floor. Low ranking persons like slaves or princes had short hair. Banished people had their hair completely shaved. Aker's mother, Sekhmet, has a large Mohawk. She's the second only queen in the clan's history to not have incredibly long hair, but her choice is accepted because it is not a common hair style among the clan members and because she is a very influential and strong queen. The other queen was long before Sekhmet, and she shaved her head in a show of anger and rebellion against the corrupt rulers of Angora. It sparked outrage among the Luxortian people and further encouraged them to go to war. Angora's had a lot of issues with corrupt rulers and dictators taking over. Aker keeps her hair very long for this reason. She'd let it go past her knees, but does not feel worthy because her clan is broken up and her mother is still alive, which means she's technically not queen. She had a rough time in the labs when she was being experimented on, and part of it was humiliation from having her hair forcibly cut very short, which is basically a pretty huge insult and way to demean someone in her culture. She keeps her pets and slaves' hair fairly short because they're slaves and have low rank. Fun fact 2: dragon hair is not made of all the same parts as human hair and is fire proof! In the Luxort military, they had helmets similar to a Graeco-Roman Centurion helmet, but with space to pull their hair through instead of a red plume. They'd then set it on fire as they go off into war. It looks cool, can be used as a weapon, and it makes them look pretty intimidating.
