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Sanjit chuckled, which then turned into deep laughter. “Even with imprisonment, you still test my patience, Khol.”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I bit out.

She came around the table and picked up my napkin and unrolled it. She sat the linen on my lap and then picked up my fork. She pushed the sharp end of the fork against my chest, leaned down, and rasped, “I could have your heart for supper. Your hordesmen just massacred the Norjal and destroyed their entire fleet of ships while they were docked here.”

This time, I was the one who laughed. “They are intruders, after all.”

Sanjit screeched and threw down the fork.

I continued, “It seems your army of Norjal aren’t so formidable.”

“I wasn’t the one who bargained with them to come here.” She spun on a heel and fixed her gaze on Ghid. “You have failed me again, Ghid. The Norjal have failed me. They are all massacred. Every last one of them down to a single Norjal who cannot speak because his tongue was cut out. The Norjal were supposed to be protecting our borders. They can’t do that if they’re all dead by the hands of Khol’s men,” she snarled. “How could you have allowed your brother to order an attack from his cage? Who was watching him, huh?”

Ghid sulked in his guilt and I almost regretted coming to his defense, but I spoke the truth anyway.

“Actually, princess, I ordered no such attack from my cage. Although they choose to follow me, my hordesmen are free. However, they do not like when their king is caged.”

“If they’re so loyal to you, why don’t they come attack here and rescue you?” Sanjit shot back.

“I do not need to be rescued and I have not ordered them to rescue me. You see, princess, this is my domain. I don’t need rescuing from my own domain. I am right where I am supposed to be. I am just merely curious, how far you wish to go with this. How much longer do you wish to play these games and lose?”

Sanjit shrugged her shoulders and retook her seat. “No matter. This time, I’ll do things my way.” She shot an ill glance at Ghid, who frowned. “It has come to our attention that one of our shuttles went down south of the Yucotozn border.”

My stomach churned as if something were squeezing it.

“Ahhh, are you still worrying about your human—the one you keep for fucking?”

I swallowed hard.

“Ghid, do we have a status on the condition of the ship?”

“Yes, there were survivors. Strangely enough, his human was one of them. A handful of others survived. The black box and the time jammer show that they were carried out of the wreckage. I’ve sent out another ship and a bounty hunter to the Yucotozn border to go in search of them. He’s to send word when he finds them.”

“Hmmm, you will not fail me again, will you, Ghid?”

“No, my Queen,” Ghid said, shamefully.

As I learned that Visla was still alive, hope returned to me, but I was still fuming in anger and ready to lash out.

Sanjit sat back in her chair and clasped her hands together. “I suspect that you want your little human pet to live. I’ll allow that but from this day she is here by banished from Dretis. If she returns and is seen, she will be killed on sight. To keep her alive, you must comply.”

“Comply with what?”

“I need something that only you can give me.”

I gnawed on my inner bottom lip and exchanged glances with Ghid. It seemed he already knew what the princess wanted.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Your seed.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“How could you refuse me? Isn’t this what you once wanted or are you so blinded by human pussy? Don’t act like something like this hasn’t been done before. In fact, decades ago, this was the way of building a race. Do you deny this?”

I said nothing. If Sanjit wanted to delve in the past with our ancestors, she could go dive in the pit of hell and burn for all I cared.

“No matter. What I need are heirs. Full-blood Aurrakians heir with the blood of Xihran running through their veins, for only a Xihran heir can conquer colonies, destroy enemies, and build kingdoms all at the same time. That, dear Khol, is the legacy that runs through your veins. Ghid knows it, but you refuse to acknowledge it. You aim to weaken the bloodline by courting someone other than an Aurrakian.”