By the time they were outside, she could barely stand.
And she was angry. Furious, actually.
So much so that she couldn’t contain herself. Without thinking, she shoved him. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?!”
Dash froze in complete shock at her attack. No one had dared to strike him since he’d killed his father after his father had backhanded him.
Not even Ryper.
To this day, he could see the shocked look on his father’s face when he’d finally fought back.
On that fateful day when his horn had turned black, he’d promised himself that no one would ever again lay a hand to him without paying for it with blood.
And no one had.
Until now.
But Dash could never harm someone so much smaller than him. Ever. It wasn’t in him to do such.
Besides, she wasn’t out to hurt him. She was merely upset and had no idea how close she was to being splintered into a thousand pieces.
Calming himself, he cleared his throat. “Probably for the same reason you didn’t tell me you were the daughter of King Iagan.”
That took some of the anger from her as she stepped back and looked around nervously. “How do you know that?” she whispered.
Was she serious? “He just said the dragon’s skull was royal. There’s only one royal dragon family. If that’s your brother’s skull... he was Prince Davin Dragomir.”
The king’s only son. Was she not aware of how many times Dash had met with her father? Or the fact that he’d known her brother? The only surprise here was that he hadn’t metherwhen he’d been to their court.
She bit her lip. “Oh.”
“Oh? Is that really all you have to say?”
“You’re a villain?”
He blinked slowly. Mostly because he was strangely amused by the insult that should have pissed him off. He wasn’t a villain. He’d done what he had to, to ensure peace for his people. To protectallkingdoms.
Yes, he’d been vicious. Ruthless, even. But when he’d come to power, the kingdoms had been in a constant state of war.
No one had been safe, and millions had been needlessly slaughtered.
His father had made countless treaties and allowed others to walk all over their people. Just as the other kings and queens had done. No one’s throne had been safe.
Dash made no apologies for what he’d done to restore law and order to the lands. And heneverwould.He’d brought about an unprecedented time of peace. If that made him a villain, then he relished the title.
“Tell me something, princess. When you left your island kingdom and crossed my border to set the trap in my land for a unicorn, were you afraid?”
She frowned at him. “What?”
“You heard my question. Even though unicorns and dragons have been enemies for generations, when you entered Licordian lands, were you afraid of being caught in our territory?”
“Well... no.”
“What did you think would happen if a unicorn found you visiting in our lands?”
Tanis wasn’t sure why this was important. “Nothing.”
“That’s right. No one would have bothered you for being there. They damn sure wouldn’t have butchered you. Have you any idea what would have happened twenty years ago had you been caught in Licordia?”
