Thousands of warriors moved through the drills as the morning stretched.
The sound of bodies colliding, short blades ringing, and Kessa’s sharp commands filled the yard without pause.
Kane walked the lines when it was needed, corrected a hip angle here, a grip there, and otherwise let the ranking do its work.
He was satisfied. The women trained as if the night reward at the end of the third day was the only thing that mattered, and that hunger made them better.
By midday, the board still read the same three names.
Jenna. Vessa. Rina.
Seraphine remained deliberately lower, correcting others more than competing. Thora watched from the platform with arms crossed.
Misha sat a little apart, quiet, golden eyes tracking every time Jenna’s gaze almost, but never quite, reached Kane.
The second day ended the same way it began: Jenna first, no private approaches, no further tests of boundaries.
Kane left the yard as the light faded and found both of his women already in the study. The conversation was short. They already knew the shape of the ranking.
They already knew Jenna was waiting for the third day to finish before she asked again.
The third day arrived with the same clear cold.
Training ran harder still. Kessa pushed the top ranks into live-blade drills under controlled conditions.
Blood was drawn more than once: shallow cuts, nothing that would keep a warrior from the board, but the message was clear. Ranking was not a game of points.
It was a measurement of who could still stand when the steel was real.
Jenna finished every set at the front.
When the final rotation ended, and Kessa drove the updated board into the dirt, the names had not moved.
Jenna.
Vessa.
Rina.
A murmur moved through the gathered warriors. Some looked relieved. Others looked calculating.
Jenna stood a little apart from the other two, sweat darkening the leather across her chest and the tops of her thighs, blue eyes fixed on the board as if confirming what she already knew.
Then she turned her head and looked directly at Kane.
She didn’t speak loudly. She tilted her chin toward the same narrow gap between the weapon racks and the outer wall where she had kissed him two days earlier, and waited.
Kane held her gaze for a long moment. Around them the yard continued to break apart, women moving toward water, toward the keep, toward the quiet conversations that always followed a ranking post.
Thora’s eyes were already on him from the platform. Misha had gone still.
Kane stepped down and walked toward the gap.
Jenna followed without hurry. When they were out of the main line of sight, she stopped a single pace away, close enough that the heat of the day’s work still rose from her skin. Her voice stayed low, meant only for him.
"Three days. First place every day. I did what you asked. I finished it."
Kane looked at her, the blonde hair still bound high, the heavy curves of her body marked by dust and effort, the absolute certainty in her blue eyes.
"You did."
"Then we talk," Jenna said.
"Or do I need to put my hand on your cock again before you decide I’m serious?"
The question hung between them, direct and unashamed.
Kane’s voice stayed even.
"We talk. Here. Now. And you listen carefully before you decide what you’re actually asking for."
Jenna’s mouth curved, sharp and hungry.
"I’m listening."
Kane looked at her for a long moment in the narrow gap between the weapon racks and the outer wall.
The yard beyond continued to empty. Jenna stood close enough that he could see the pulse in her throat and the way her blue eyes refused to drop.
"I’m not looking for women to keep now," he said.
"I already have more than enough. You are strong. Good. You will be leading an army. And if I own this empire, then you will be at the top."
Jenna’s mouth curved. She laughed once, short and sharp.
"Own?"
Kane nodded.
"You don’t have to know everything now."
She walked toward him without hurry. Her hands moved over her own body as she closed the last step, palms sliding up the curve of her waist, across the swell of her breasts still marked by the day’s sweat and leather, then down again.
It was deliberate. She stopped only when the heat of her skin reached him.
"What about the prize?"
"Come to my chambers," Kane said.
"All three of you."
"No."
Kane’s eyes narrowed.
"No what?"
"I’m not sharing."
Jenna’s voice stayed low, steady, and absolute.
"I want you all to myself."
"Jenna."
"I won. Fair and square."
She tilted her head, blue eyes bright with challenge.
"Are you afraid I will fuck you better than your wives?"
The words hung in the air for half a breath. Kane’s hand closed around her throat.
He didn’t squeeze hard enough to cut her breath completely. He held her there, thumb and fingers braced against the sides of her neck, forcing her chin up so she had to look at him.
The strength in his grip was unmistakable. Jenna’s pulse hammered under his palm. She did not struggle.
"You talk about my women again," Kane said, voice flat and quiet, "and I will break your neck."
Jenna smiled.
The expression was slow, almost satisfied, as if the threat itself was the answer she had been waiting for. Then she moved.
She rose onto her toes, caught the front of his shirt in both fists, and kissed him hard.
There was nothing careful about it. Her mouth opened against his, tongue pushing in, teeth scraping.
At the same time, her legs came up and locked around his waist, thighs clamping tight, ankles crossing at the small of his back so that her full weight hung from him.
The sudden shift forced Kane to take a half-step back for balance. Her body pressed flush against him, heavy breasts crushed to his chest, the heat of her mound grinding deliberately against the ridge of his cock through the fabric of his trousers.
She kissed him like she was trying to climb inside his mouth.
One hand stayed fisted in his shirt. The other slid up into his red hair and pulled. When she finally broke the kiss, her lips were wet, and her breath came fast against his mouth.
"This is why," she said, voice rough.
"I want to be with you. The possessiveness."
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