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“There will be three rounds of challenges, each of which will eliminate a proportion of the competitors. The nature of the rounds is yet to be decided, but at the end there will be three Potentials left. I will then choose which of those will be my mate.”

“So I don’t actually have to beat all twelve opponents, as long as I end up in the final three.”

“Yes, that is the crux of it. You must be one of the finalists, Kara. I will do my best to ensure you are.”

“What’s the final choice based on?”

“It’s irrelevant. Obviously I will choose you.”

“Yes, but I mean how would you make a choice if I wasn’t in the picture?”

He didn’t answer and when she looked at him she saw his scales had darkened. Her eyes narrowed.

“Vahn? How do you make the final choice?”

“Inshaa’baarathe male would… that is to say, he would… um… he would thoroughly vet the remaining Potentials to see which one he was most… er… compatible with.”

Kara blinked.

“Sorry, youwhatnow? Youvetthem? Do you mean you sleep with them to see who scores highest in bed?”

Vahn shifted uncomfortably.

“It is how it is done. It is tradition.”

“Bloody hell. And you call yourselves more advanced than humans.” She snorted. “That is the most archaic thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“I agree with you.”

“Then change it. You’re the Emperor. Make it illegal.”

“It’s hard to change something that has existed for centuries.”

“Bollocks. We used to burn witches on my world. We managed to stop doing that.”

“Hardly a fair comparison,” he pointed out. “We don’t incinerate our Potentials.”

Kara scowled.

“When I’m Zhaalini there are going to be some changes around here. And I’ll tell you something else. There isn’t going to be any ‘vetting’ of any kind onmywatch. The whole thing is fucking demeaning. What? Why are you smiling? Are you laughing at me?”

Vahn hurriedly rearranged his face.

“No, not at all.I just like hearing you say you’ll be the Zhaalini.”

“Well, that’s the whole point of all this, isn’t it?” She folded her arms. “So what happens now?”

“Now I finalize the plan with my advisors and prepare a diplomatic message for Earth announcing our unilateral ceasefire and inviting them to peace talks. Your President – your mother – will receive it via sub-space channels.”

“You said your father once offered a peace deal and she ignored him. I still don’t know whether to believe you, butifit’s true, what’s to stop her ignoring you as well?”

“Because I won’t make the same mistake as my father. My offer won’t go to your mother alone. I intend to broadcast it on all your communications channels so that everyone on Earth knows our intentions.”

“That’s… actually, that’s really clever. She’ll be under huge public pressure to say yes.” Kara raised a brow. “Sneaky.”

He bowed his head.

“I learned from the best.”