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“I want you to be yourself…for me and for everyone on this colony,” she replied.

We locked gazes for a long moment. It was a relief to know that she understood me and that she never sought to change me. She had never used my love and infatuation for her as a tool to sway me.

“By the way, whose idea was it to put me to sleep for so long?” I asked her, grinning.

She bit her bottom lip. “They say you disregarded your injuries on the way back here. Your wounds kept reopening. You needed time to heal.”

“I am healed and now I must make things right again before Sanjit takes it upon herself to destroy this colony,” I told her.

“What happened to you out there?” she asked.

“Clawed by a beast,” I said.

“Ouch, that sounds awful.”

“I let my guard down. It was an alpha bitch and I hesitated. And Ghid…well, Ghid…he saved me.”

“How did he save you?”

“By killing the beast, of course.” I thought back to how Ghid stood over the beast while it was attacking me, but unbeknownst to him, another was charging him from behind at the same time. It felt strange seeing him hesitate like that. There had always been opponents that have tried to break us, but we always had each other’s backs. And we never hesitated.

“He’s there in the capital with Visla, isn’t he? He’s your brother. You should talk to him. Don’t let that witch draw you apart,” Visla said.

“He wants to mate with the princess. He’s already decided. He had decided before she even got here. I think he is bewitched…or hopelessly in love.”

“With Sanjit?” The bridge of Visla’s nose wrinkled and she frowned. “She seems…selfish.”

“Her goals are self-serving, yes,” I replied, then settled back down on the bed and pulled her in close to my side. “I want to talk about you. I missed a lot while I was gone, yes?”

She smiled. “And also while you were resting.”

“Now I feel like I have the strength of ten warriors.”

“I have a surprise for you.” She slipped from my embrace and hurried over to a crate close by. She pulled out a smaller chest and brought it over to the bed where we sat.

I was astonished by what was inside. She lifted the lid to reveal two silver crowns decorated with majestic deep blue jewels, and when I glanced at them it was like I was staring deep in the center of the ocean with my reflection staring back at me.

I lifted them both out. “Beautiful. You were working while I was gone.”

She nodded. “I worked with your mastersmith while you were away. Both are lightweight. Not too heavy like your sword. I was just about done with everything when Sanjit conspired to have me locked up.”

“I love it. I’ve never seen a crown like it before. Wait a minute. So, the crown wasn’t here all this time?”

Visla looked away in shame. “I went to retrieve it yesterday.”

I frowned. “It wasn’t safe for you to go out yet. And you certainly shouldn’t have gone back to the hut without me.”

“I knew you would say that but I’m not afraid of Sanjit. I feel like wringing her little perfect neck and burying her in a ditch and weighing her down with the ugliest and heaviest rocks. I could kill her for having me thrown in that cell.”

“She deserves the worst for this, but I cannot kill a woman. I cannot execute a princess. I do not have that power.”

“I know you can’t. You’re too noble. Too honorable.”

“And that’s not all, Visla. It’s against the law for a male to execute a female of royal bloodline under any circumstances. Such executions must be overseen by the King of Kings. Even so, we do not execute our women. We need them to secure our future. Many other species aren’t as lucky as we are. I’ve heard so many stories of female infertility running rampant throughout this side of the galaxy. Had she been a man, I would have gutted her where she stood when I found out what she did.”

“I’ve heard of this before. About it being illegal to kill women, even the ones that are regarded as slaves. Does this mean Sanjit can get away with the mess she’s made? And I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about your warriors. She sent them on a fruitless mission and nearly half of them were injured.”

“She will pay for that. She will pay for everything. I just want you to keep your distance from her until she leaves. I’ll have you over these crowns any day.”