Chapter 144: Crossing the Blades
The body dropped to the floor with a thud. Blood pooled around the robes, staining the courtyard bright red.
Tossing the sword aside, Kane wiped his hands on a rag a nearby guard handed him.
He turned his attention back to the nineteen terrified mercenaries still holding their weapons.
"Drop your weapons," Kane ordered, his voice flat.
Clattering steel echoed across the courtyard as every single sword hit the pavement simultaneously.
"Nadia," Kane called out.
The sun-tanned rebel stepped forward from the perimeter, her green eyes wide with awe.
"Yes, King Kane?"
"Take these men to the dungeon," Kane instructed, gesturing to the shivering mercenaries.
"Strip their armor. First thing tomorrow, send them out to Greta. They are going to dig irrigation trenches until their hands bleed. Anybody who refuses to dig, cut off their toes."
"Understood," Nadia nodded sharply, signaling her militia to round up the prisoners immediately.
Watching the swift, brutal justice unfold, the southern rebels murmured among themselves. It wasn’t fear holding them, it was profound respect.
The old regime would have spent weeks holding trials, negotiating bribes, and playing political games just to slap Voren on the wrist. Kane just removed the problem permanently, proving he valued his people over aristocratic titles.
Nadia walked up to him once the prisoners were chained, a fierce grin spreading across her face.
"You really don’t play around, do you?"
"No point in keeping a rabid dog in the yard," Kane answered, turning to head back inside the palace.
"My people are ready," Nadia declared loudly, making sure her entire militia heard her pledge.
"We want to join the official city guard today. Whatever you need us to do, we are yours."
"Go find Thora in the grand hall," Kane told her, pointing toward the doors.
"Tell her she has a new battalion to train. Welcome to the Bloodfang Empire, Nadia."
Leaving the courtyard to the cleanup crew, Kane walked back up the grand staircase.
The capital was secure, the treasury was overflowing, and his army was growing by the minute.
Now he just needed to figure out how to grind his own stats for the frozen hell waiting up north.
*****
Midnight air cooled the training yards, but Kane barely noticed.
Sweat ran down his chest as he swung Mjoldr in wide, brutal arcs. Every strike tested his newly allocated stat points. Raw strength hummed through his veins, making his crimson axe feel entirely weightless.
’Agility is up,’ Kane calculated, pivoting on his heel to deliver a horizontal slash against a training dummy.
’I can snap my wrists much faster now. Just need to make sure my footwork keeps pace.’
Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind him.
Lowering his weapon, Kane didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.
Only one person in the palace carried that specific flavor of frustrated energy.
"Can’t sleep?"
Thora stepped into the moonlight, wearing her combat harness and carrying her steel-tipped spear.
"I sleep fine," Thora snapped, planting the butt of her spear into the ground.
"I just don’t like being sidelined, Chief."
Kane turned to face her fully.
"We went over this. Menual needs its best vanguard holding the walls while I am gone."
"Menual has Sira," Thora argued, stepping closer.
"Nadia just brought in hundreds of fresh southern recruits. You have enough guards. Take me to Fog Mountain."
"No."
"Why?" she challenged, her grip tightening on the wooden shaft.
"You think I am too slow to fight a snake? You think I will freeze?"
’She is itching for a fight because she feels useless sitting on a throne,’ Kane realized, recognizing the battle-lust burning in her posture.
"I think you rely too much on your armor," Kane provoked smoothly.
Tossing Mjoldr aside, the axe landed in the weapon rack with a clatter.
"Fight me right now. If you can land a single hit on me while I am unarmed, I will reconsider."
Thora blinked, genuinely surprised.
"You are fighting bare-handed? Against my spear?"
"Agility test," Kane smirked, gesturing for her to come to him.
"Show me what you got."
She didn’t need another invitation.
Lunging forward, Thora thrust her spear in a rapid, stinging arc aimed right at his chest.
Kane simply stepped inside her guard, sidestepping the blade entirely.
The wooden shaft grazed his ribs harmlessly.
"Too wide," Kane critiqued, tapping her shoulder as she passed.
Growling in frustration, Thora spun around and swept the spear low, aiming for his ankles.
Kane jumped, clearing the sweeping weapon easily. Landing cleanly, he dodged three more rapid jabs, weaving around the sharp steel tip with infuriating ease.
"Stop dancing and fight!" Thora yelled, breathing hard as she launched a furious overhead strike.
Kane caught the wooden shaft right beneath the blade. His upgraded strength locked the weapon completely in place.
No matter how hard Thora pushed, she couldn’t move it an inch.
"You telegraph your overheads too much," Kane teased, leaning in closer.
"You get angry, and your form gets sloppy."
Before she could yank the weapon free, Kane hooked his foot behind her ankle and pulled.
Losing her balance instantly, Thora tumbled backward.
Kane followed her down, pressing her firmly against the wooden barricades lining the edge of the yard.
He pinned both her wrists above her head with one hand, pressing his hips against hers to trap her completely.
Panting, Thora glared up at him.
"You cheated."
"I won," Kane corrected, leaning his face down until their noses brushed.
"You are dead, and the snake just ate you."
Her chest heaved against his. The adrenaline of the spar still pumped frantically through their veins, but the frantic energy rapidly shifted into something entirely different.
The way his body pressed against hers left zero room for imagination.
Thora let out a breath, her glare softening into a knowing grin.
"You sounded pretty busy yesterday," Thora murmured, changing the subject.
"Half the palace heard you and Firlia breaking furniture in the records room."
"Elves are surprisingly loud when they forget their manners."
"You love her that much?" Thora teased, tilting her chin up defiantly.
"Or are you just trying to mark every pretty girl in the capital?"
"You jealous?"
"Very much."
"I will stop if you tell me to," Kane whispered.
Thora stopped smiling. Her bravado cracked, revealing the genuine vulnerability hiding underneath all that armor.
"I don’t actually care about the stupid mountain serpent," Thora admitted quietly, her eyes searching his.
"I just hate watching you ride off to fight legends while I stay behind and babysit guards. My place is beside you. In the blood."
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