“Get up.” Astrid’s voice cut through the pre-dawn darkness like a blade. “Now.”
I sat up, instantly alert, the sheets pooling around my waist. She stood silhouetted in the doorway, fully armed and armored, her red hair braided for battle.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded, reaching for my sword.
“Nothing’s wrong.” She stepped into the room, her green eyes blazing with something I couldn’t name. “I’m here to collect what’s mine.”
“Which is?”
“A sparring partner.” Her smile was sharp as winter steel. “Unless last night made you too soft for real combat.”
I felt my jaw clench. “Last night?”
“Don’t play coy, Prince. It doesn’t suit you.” She moved closer, and I caught the scent of leather and steel and something wildly feminine underneath. “You think one night in my bed makes you special?”
“I think you’re the one who came to my chambers.” I stood, not bothering to cover myself. “Twice.”
“And I’m here again.” Her eyes raked over me with calculated indifference. “The question is, are you coming willingly, or do I have to drag you to the training yard?”
“You could try.”
“Is that a challenge?”
Before I could answer, she lunged. I caught her wrist just as her blade cleared its sheath, our faces inches apart, both breathing hard.
“Careful,” I said. “Someone might think you actually want me.”
“Someone would be wrong.” But her pulse hammered against my grip. “I want a worthy opponent. Nothing more.”
“Liar.”
“Prove it.”
I released her wrist and stepped back. “Give me five minutes to dress.”
“You have two.”
The training yard was already alive with activity when we arrived. Soldiers stopped their morning drills to watch as Astrid selected two practice swords from the weapons rack.
“First blood?” she asked, tossing one to me.
“To yield,” I countered. “I want to see you surrender.”
Her laugh was sharp and dangerous. “You’ll be waiting a long time, Prince.”
“We’ll see.”
She attacked immediately, her blade seeking my throat in a strike that would have killed if it had been steel instead of blunted iron. I parried, pivoted, and struck back with a combination that sent her stumbling.
“Better,” she said, rolling her shoulders. “But not good enough.”
“I’m just getting started.”
This time when we clashed, it was with everything we had. She fought like a woman possessed, her blade a blur of motion that kept me constantly on the defensive. But I was stronger, and gradually I began to press my advantage.
“You’re holding back,” she snarled, ducking under my swing.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t want your pity!” She drove her blade toward my ribs with enough force to crack bone. “Fight me like you mean it, or get out of my territory!”
Something snapped inside me. I caught her blade with my own, twisted, and sent her weapon flying. Before she could recover, I had her pinned against the training post, my sword at her throat.
“Yield,” I commanded.
“Never.” Her green eyes blazed with defiance. “Kill me or let me go.”
Around us, the soldiers had fallen silent. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.
“I said yield.”
“And I said never.” She spat at my feet. “I’d rather die than submit to a prince who thinks he can conquer me.”
“This isn’t about conquest.”
“Isn’t it?” She strained against my hold, her face inches from mine. “You come here with your prophecies and your destiny, expecting me to fall at your feet like some lovesick maiden.”
“I never—”
“You never what? Never expected me to be easy? Never thought I’d be grateful for your attention?” Her voice rose with each word. “I’m not some prize to be won, Prince. I’m a warrior. I bow to no one.”
“I never asked you to bow.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
The question hung between us like a blade. Around the training yard, soldiers pretended not to listen while hanging on every word.
“I want you to fight beside me,” I said. “Not against me.”
“I don’t fight beside anyone.”
“Then you’ll die alone.”
She went very still. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise.” I stepped back, lowering my sword. “The prophecy isn’t just about three mates, Astrid. It’s about three queens. Partners. Equals. If you can’t understand that, then you’re not the woman I need.”
“Equals?” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You have one mate already. A healer who glows in the moonlight and speaks to spirits. How exactly am I supposed to be her equal?”
“By being yourself.”
“A scarred warrior who knows nothing but battle?”
“A commander who’s never lost a fight.” I moved closer, and she didn’t back down. “A woman strong enough to stand beside a king and make him better.”
“Pretty words.”
“True words.” I reached out, my fingers brushing her cheek. “The bond doesn’t choose weakness, Astrid. It chooses what it needs.”
For a moment, something vulnerable flickered in her eyes. Then it was gone, replaced by the familiar fire.
“Prove it,” she said.
“How?”
“Tonight. The war council. My father’s been planning to test you since you arrived.” Her smile was sharp as a blade. “He’s going to try to break you. Humiliate you. Make you look weak in front of the entire pack.”
“And you’re warning me?”
“I’m giving you a chance to show me what you’re really made of.” She stepped closer, close enough that I could feel her breath against my chest. “Don’t disappoint me, Prince.”
The war council met in a stone chamber deep within the fortress. Alpha Stormclaw sat at the head of a massive table, his weathered face giving nothing away. Around him, his commanders and advisors watched me with calculating eyes.
“Prince Kieran,” the Alpha said as I entered. “Please, sit.”
I took the offered chair, directly across from Astrid. She watched me with the same intensity she’d shown in the training yard, but now I understood what she was looking for.
“We’ve been discussing the border situation,” Alpha Stormclaw continued. “My daughter tells me you have… opinions on our defensive strategies.”
“I have observations,” I said carefully.
“Share them.”
I reached for the maps spread across the table, but Astrid’s voice stopped me.
“Those positions are outdated,” she said flatly. “Northern floods changed the terrain two months ago.”
“Then perhaps you should have sent updated intelligence,” I replied.
“Perhaps you should have asked for it before making assumptions.”
Around the table, the commanders exchanged glances. This was the test—not just of my military knowledge, but of how I’d handle direct challenge from my potential mate.
“You’re right,” I said, and saw surprise flicker across several faces. “I should have. What do you recommend?”
Astrid’s eyes narrowed. She’d expected me to fight back, to defend my position. Instead, I’d acknowledged her expertise.
“The northern pass is impassable,” she said slowly. “But there’s a route through the western valleys that most scouts miss.”
“Show me.”
She leaned forward, her finger tracing paths across the map. As she spoke, I found myself genuinely impressed by her tactical knowledge. She didn’t just know the terrain—she understood how to use it.
“Brilliant,” I said when she finished. “How long have you been planning this?”
“Since I was old enough to hold a sword.” Her voice carried pride and something else—surprise at my genuine praise.
“Then why hasn’t it been implemented?”
“Because,” Alpha Stormclaw said, “it requires coordination with the Southern Territories. Something we’ve been… reluctant to attempt.”
“Politics,” I said.
“Survival,” Astrid corrected. “We’ve been betrayed before.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
The words hit like a physical blow. Around the table, the commanders watched to see how I’d react.
“When?” I asked.
“Fifteen years ago. A treaty that left us exposed to Eastern aggression.” Alpha Stormclaw’s voice was granite. “Three hundred of our warriors died because we trusted Southern promises.”
“I wasn’t involved in that decision.”
“No,” Astrid said. “But you carry the name. The question is, do you carry the honor?”
Another test. Another challenge. I looked around the table at these hardened warriors who’d survived betrayal and loss, who’d learned to trust only themselves.
“I can’t undo what my father did,” I said. “But I can swear to you that I’ll never make his mistakes.”
“Words,” one of the commanders said. “Easy to speak, hard to keep.”
“Then let me prove it with actions.” I stood, meeting each of their gazes. “Give me a chance to earn your trust. Not as a prince, but as a man.”
“And if you fail?”
“Then I’ll leave Ironheart and never return.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Finally, Alpha Stormclaw spoke.
“Very well. But understand this—if you betray us, if you prove to be anything like your father, it won’t just be exile you face.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” He turned to his daughter. “Astrid, you’ll be his partner in this. If he fails, you fail with him.”
“Father—”
“The choice is yours.” His eyes held hers without wavering. “Trust him, or send him away now.”
I felt the weight of the moment settling on my shoulders. Everything depended on her answer.
Astrid looked at me for a long moment, something complex moving behind her green eyes.
“I’ll partner with him,” she said finally. “But if he disappoints me, I’ll kill him myself.”
“Fair enough,” I said.
Her smile was sharp as a blade. “We’ll see about that, Prince.”
This isn’t courtship. It’s combat. And gods help me, I crave it.