Before he could recover, Azul was on him, straddling his waist with her knees pinning his arms.Her hand shot out to grab the silver hairpin she'd left on the bedside table, and in one fluid motion, she pressed it against his throat once more.
The position put them intimately close—her thighs bracketing his torso, her loose robes struggling to cover her as she leaned over him.She was too focused on her anger to care about propriety.
But Ragnar noticed.His eyes widened fractionally before he could control his expression, and despite the pain and despite the blood loss, his body reacted in a way he clearly hadn't intended.
Azul’s eyes flickered with realisation.
His face flushed crimson from his brow down beneath the mask covering the lower half of his face.
He looked furious—whether at himself or at her for noticing, she couldn't tell.
If she were in a more jovial mood, she would have teased the ever-loving daylights out of him.
But she was not.
"You absolute fool," she hissed, her eyes blazing."I was in a good mood this morning.Do you have any idea how rare that is?"
Ragnar's face contorted in pain, fresh blood seeping through his bandages and onto her floor.
Again.
"I stitched you up," she continued, volume rising."Cleaned your wounds, gave you a sedative so you could heal in peace.And you repay me by trying to kill me?In my own room?Did your two brain cells die off last night?"
His hand shot up despite her weight on his arm, grabbing her wrist—the one holding the hairpin.His grip was weak, but he was determined.
"You're only this audacious because you don't know who you speak to," he rasped."Ragnar Valthorne, Great Khan of the Valthorne tribe.If you kill me, my people will raze this entire kingdom to the ground.They'll burn everything you've ever known and feed your corpse to wild dogs."
Azul stared down at him, her expression blank.
Then she tilted her head, a scoff escaping her bemused lips."Yeah, right.As if the Valthorne Khan would be this pathetic."
Ragnar's eyes widened, then narrowed with fury."You—you dare—"
"Only a fool would try to impersonate such a great man."She pushed the hairpin's tip."If you're the Valthorne Khan, then I am the princess you are to wed."
His whole body tensed beneath her."I am the Punishment of Ukhel.The Undefeated!I have conquered seventeen tribes and brought them under my banner!I—"
"Oh, how impressive," Azul cooed, her tone so saccharine it was mocking."Seventeen whole tribes.Yet you couldn't conquer a little girl.Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Valthorne?You have met your first defeat."
Ragnar bucked beneath her, trying to throw her off, but the movement tore his wounds further.
He gasped, face going pale.
"Stop moving," Azul commanded, though her tone remained eerily playful."You're making such a mess.Look—there's blood on my robes now.Do you know how difficult bloodstains are to remove from satin?"
"Release me," he growled.
"Why?So you can stumble around and bleed out properly this time?Don't be ridiculous."She leaned closer, her hair falling around them."Besides, you tried to kill me just now.Shouldn't I punish you a little?"
His jaw clenched."I wasn't going to kill you."
"No?"Her eyes lowered from his gaze to his lower face.She'd been too preoccupied with her treatment; she had yet to take off the face covering he was wearing."Let's see what you're hiding behind this mask—"
"Don't you dare!"
She winced at his volume.Her fingers pausing."Why?"she asked."Are you truly a criminal impersonating the Khan?Shouldn't I check?"
She reached out once more, but his body had gone rigid in a way that stopped her.
