She let out a slow breath and rested her forehead more fully against his. Her hands stayed on him, one still tangled in his hair, the other flat against his chest where she could feel the solid beat of his heart. Around them the corridor remained empty.
Distant voices drifted from deeper in the keep, but none of them approached.
"I watched you walk into that council this morning," Thora said after a while. Her voice had lost the earlier strain.
"Standing beside a princess in a hall full of women who have never trusted a man. I thought... maybe the beginning doesn’t matter as much once the empire starts paying attention."
"The beginning is the only reason any of the rest is possible," Kane answered.
"You were there when I had nothing but a borrowed axe and a half-starved warband. You stayed when the elves tried to kill us. You took every scar and every cold night and never asked me to choose between you and the next fight. That doesn’t disappear because I also have a wife with golden eyes and a political claim."
Thora stared at him.
The corridor light caught the wet sheen still on her lower lip from the kiss. Her dark eyes searched his face one last time, looking for any crack in the words he had given her. She found none.
"I’m sorry," she said, voice low.
Kane’s hand stayed at the back of her neck, thumb brushing the skin just below her ear.
"Nothing to apologise for."
He kissed her again, slower this time, tasting the lingering salt of the morning air on her mouth.
When he pulled back, he kept her close for another breath, forehead against hers, until the last of the tension bled out of her shoulders.
They waited.
The war-room door stayed closed a few minutes longer. Soft voices drifted through the wood, mother and daughter, low and steady, then the latch clicked.
Misha stepped out first. Her golden eyes were a little brighter than when she had gone in, the redness around the rims already fading. She closed the door behind her with quiet care.
She looked at the two of them standing together against the pillar and offered a tired smile.
"We can stay for a week before our next plan."
Kane nodded once.
"That’s good."
No more needed to be said.
The alliance was set. The countdown still sat at ninety-six days, but a full week inside Milfheim’s walls would let him shape the women who would fight under his banner.
He pushed off the pillar.
Thora fell in on his right without being told.
Misha stayed half a step behind, close enough that the hem of her gown brushed the back of his leg as they walked.
The moment they entered the wider halls, the staring began.
Noblewomen, officers, attendants, every pair of eyes tracked him.
Some looked with open hunger, others with the calculation of women who had never seen a man walk these corridors as an equal.
A few of the younger ones let their gazes drop to the heavy swing of Mjolnir against his shoulder, then lower, to the thick muscle of his thighs and the unmistakable bulk between them.
Kane ignored every stare. He had no interest in court women who had never held a blade.
He kept walking until the polished stone gave way to packed earth and the open training yards.
The women warriors were already assembled.
Nearly three hundred of them stood in loose ranks across the packed dirt.
Hair tied high in tight knots or long braids that left their necks bare.
The training dresses of Milfheim were little more than structured scraps of dark leather and thin linen, high slits up both thighs, open sides that showed the full curve of breast and rib when they moved, belts cinched tight under heavy chests.
Most wore nothing beneath.
When the wind shifted, fabric lifted, and pale skin flashed in the morning light.
Kane’s cock twitched hard against the inside of his trousers.
Not that time.
He stepped onto the raised wooden platform at the edge of the yard.
The low murmur of conversation died. Every face turned toward him.
Thora took position at his right shoulder.
Sira appeared from the side ranks a moment later, tall and bare-armed, a thin sheen of oil already on her skin from earlier drills.
Kessa came last.
Kane let his gaze move slowly over the formation.
"Listen carefully," he said. His voice carried without effort.
"Your empress has given you to me for one week. I will not waste it. The southern approaches will see the first joint drills. After that we march. The things that are coming do not care how pretty your formations look on a parade ground. They will tear through neat lines and leave the soft ones for the crows."
A few of the younger women shifted. Kessa’s mouth curved in a small, knowing smirk.
Kane pointed at the nearest rank.
"You fight in pairs. Always. One high, one low. The high fighter keeps the enemy’s eyes and blade busy. The low fighter takes the legs, the gut, or the cock if the enemy is male. You do not fight fair. You fight to end it."
He stepped down from the platform and walked straight into the open space between the ranks. The women parted for him. The scent of warm skin, leather, and light sweat rose around him.
"Thora. Sira. Kessa. Front."
The three women moved at once.
Thora’s braid swung against her back as she stepped into the open.
Sira rolled her shoulders, the motion making the thin straps of her training top shift across the full weight of her breasts. Kessa simply cracked her neck and grinned.
Kane stopped in front of them.
"Show them."
Thora and Sira faced each other.
No weapons yet, just bodies. Thora moved first, a sharp step in, open hand aimed at Sira’s throat.
Sira slipped the blow, dropped low, and drove a shoulder into Thora’s midsection, trying to take her down.
Thora twisted, used the momentum, and ended with Sira’s braid in one fist and her other arm locked across the taller woman’s throat from behind.
Kane nodded.
"Again. Slower. Let them see the openings."
They reset. This time the exchange was deliberate.
Every shift of weight, every place where a hip pressed against another woman’s thigh, every moment a breast brushed an arm or a hand settled on a waist was visible to the watching ranks.
The women in the formation leaned forward without realizing it.
Kessa stepped in after the second run.
"Switch. I take the low line."
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