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I hissed and tore off, heading for the capitol.

“Be careful,” Thanu warned. “I truly believe there are more. Zorfov has sided with her.”

His warning was noted, but first, this conniving princess was going to explain her actions.

“What will you do?” Ghid asked.

I ignored his questions and pressed forth into the palace. I burst through the front double doors and most of the maids ran out of sight.

My skin was hot like fire. My scales were elevated and illuminated. Heat radiated from me like a thousand suns.

I should’ve been better able to control my emotions, but how dare this woman overstep her boundaries and make decisions that weren’t hers to make?

“Where is she?” I asked no one in particular.

Two maids in the hallway pointed at a door down the end of the hall and then scampered out of the way.

Ghid galloped beside me to keep up. “My brother—”

“Not now, Ghid.”

It would’ve been kind for me to announce myself before bursting into Sanjit’s sleeping quarters, but at this point, she had just earned herself a one-way ticket off my colony.

I slammed back the door and looked around the room which had been cleared out shortly after her arrival and then refurnished specifically to accommodate her. Now, I wasn’t sure that she deserved such hospitality.

She was seated at a vanity, facing the mirror. She acted as if nothing fazed her as we walked in and even picked up a heavily-jeweled necklace and clipped it around her neck as we waited.

“What have you done?” I bit out.

“Depends on what you’re referring to,” she answered, swiveling around to face me.

“Explain yourself!”

Sanjit stood and swept the lengthy end of her gown to the right. She looked up with innocence fixed on her face.

“What is there to explain? My actions were within reason.”

She was too proud to admit that she was wrong.

“You sent my warriors away. My horde is not yours to command, princess. You have grossly overstepped your boundaries.”

“I wasn’t aware that I was bound…” she said, with a teasing glint in her eyes. “You forget. I am not a slave. Never have been.”

I wasn’t amused and I pressed my lips together to keep from lashing out in a way that would surely be unworthy of me.

“Neither are you in control of my horde,” I growled.

“I understand that. But another colony needed the manpower, so I sent what we had to help them out. Wouldn’t you have done the same, Khol? Every one of your warriors seemed to agree. They wanted to fight.”

“Nyet. I do not agree. Not if it meant leaving our colony vulnerable. You knew very well that I had taken the other warriors on a mission and that I wouldn’t be back for several moons,” I said.

“Well, nothing happened. We’re all safe.” She batted her eyelashes.

“Leave here, at once, princess,” I said.

She pursed her lips. “But—”

Ghid placed his hand on my shoulder. “My brother, the princess did nothing wrong. The colony wouldn’t have been defended in the horde’s absence. My builders are quite capable of picking up their axes and defending the—”