“Empress.” Mahesh’s voice broke from him, sudden and jagged. “You cannot.” “I can,” Malini said calmly, even as something sweetly dark coiled in her chest. Power was a pleasure with many forms. To see a powerful man—a man who had betrayed her—brought low was one of its headiest. She did not let it touch her face or her voice. She was like ice. “I am Empress of Parijatdvipa.”
