The sound of Lira’s body hitting the floor...

Andi stood, turning to face Klaren as her entire body shook with rage.

Lira.

Her friend’s face peered up at her from her mind. Lira, so loyal and strong and brave. Lira, who always put the crew before herself. Lira, who had dared to run from a crown so she could instead follow her dreams.

“Andi,” Dex breathed from behind her. But she didn’t want to listen to the pain in his voice, the pity as he tried to comfort her. She barely felt him as he placed his hands upon her arms, his own body shaking, too.

For what they had just seen...

“It wasn’t real,” Andi said. She refused to believe it.

Still, for now, she was no longer Andi. She was the Bloody Baroness again, her body like a taut coil ready to spring. It was the only way to escape the pain, the fear, the desire to crumple into a pile of tears right here and now in this office. So she shoved the feelings down deep, replacing them with the only emotion that had never let her down.

Rage.

“We leave now,” Andi announced.

Silence filled the room.

“Come again?” Klaren asked.

“We leave now for Arcardius,” Andi snapped. “You wanted my cooperation. You wanted a general. Now you have both. Get me a damned ship and a crew.”

“You can’t just go right now!” Klaren protested, her droid’s eyes flashing with each word. “You’ll walk right into what is clearly a trap.”

“My pilot, Lira,” Andi started. “My friend was just...” Her words fell away as Dex squeezed her arms. She took a deep breath, shoving that pain back down as it tried to bubble back up in the form of tears.

The Bloody Baroness did not cry.

“I don’t care if it’s a trap,” Andi said decisively. “You want the General of Arcardius, well, I’m the damned general. I’m going to Arcardius, I’m shutting down that weapons system and I’ll shove a blade through Nor’s throat in the process.”

“I can’t allow that,” Klaren said. “Not like this.”

“You have no ownership over me, Arachnid,” Andi hissed. “A ship. Now.”

“In time, yes. But now that we know for certain Nor is aware of your general status, we must be smart. We must take some time to make a move, consider all of our options—”

“I don’t have any time to waste!” Andi yelled. In her mind, she saw Lira falling. She saw Breck and Gilly, gazing up at Nor as if they truly loved her, as if she were their one true queen.

In one motion, Andi drew her blades, swinging them until the electricity crackled on and they hovered mere inches from Klaren’s throat. “I am leaving. Now. Whether you like it or not.”

“Enough,” Dex said.