Chapter 5

Elara's POV

The next morning, I was summoned to the great hall. I walked between two guards, my heart pounding with every step, until I reached the throne where the Alpha King sat waiting, his massive frame filling the carved wooden chair.

"Well?" the King said, his voice booming through the hall. "Did you succeed with the prisoner?"

I bowed my head. "Yes, my King."

A slow, satisfied smile spread across the King's face. "Good. Very good." He leaned forward, studying me closely. "You are a clever girl, to have managed what a month of whips could not."

I kept my eyes lowered, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Beside the throne, I caught a glimpse of Kane standing at attention, his face carefully blank in front of the King, but I knew my brother well enough to see the tightness around his eyes, the worry hidden just beneath the surface.

"Bring the prisoner to me," the King said, waving a hand toward the guards. "I wish to speak with him myself."

I was sent to fetch Lucian. When I entered his tent, he was sitting up, his wounds bandaged from the night before, his expression guarded.

"The King wants to see you," I said.

"Then let him wait," Lucian muttered, but he rose anyway, and the guards led him away before I could say anything more.

I did not know what passed between Lucian and the King in that private meeting. I was not permitted inside.

I waited outside the hall with the other attendants, wringing my hands, until finally the doors opened and Lucian emerged, his jaw clenched tight, his eyes burning with a fury I had not seen even during his worst days in the dungeon.

He said nothing to me as he passed. I hurried after him, but he walked too fast, and by the time I reached the courtyard, he had already disappeared toward his tent.

Word came soon after that the King had ordered Lucian's formal imprisonment ended. No more chains. No more guards stationed outside his door day and night.

I assumed, cautiously, that whatever Lucian said to the King must have signaled some kind of shift, some softening in his resistance.

That evening, Kane found me near the kitchen and pulled me aside.

"Are you in pain?" he asked quietly, his eyes searching my face.

I knew exactly what he meant, and heat rose in my cheeks. "I am fine," I said. "It is all right, Kane. If this helps you, I am willing to do it."

Kane's expression softened, though guilt still lingered behind his eyes. He reached out and stroked my hair the way he used to when I was small and frightened after a nightmare.

"He is wavering," Kane said. "The prisoner. Whatever he said to the King today, it was different from before. We must press this advantage while it lasts."

"What do you mean?"

"You will move into his tent," Kane said. "Live with him. The King wants a child from this union as soon as possible, Elara. The sooner you carry his son, the sooner this entire war of wills ends."

I took a slow breath, then nodded. "All right."

"You are certain?"

"I said I would help you," I said, meeting his eyes. "I meant it."

The next day, I gathered my few belongings and carried them to Lucian's new tent, larger than the last, with proper furs and a real bed instead of a stone floor. I pushed the flap aside and stepped in.

The moment I crossed the threshold, Lucian was on his feet, closing the distance between us in three quick strides. His hand shot out and pressed against my throat, not tight enough to truly hurt, but firm enough to make his point clear.

"So they have sent you to live with me now," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "Am I your prize, Northern girl? Something to be kept and used whenever your King commands it?"

I did not flinch. I kept my eyes steady on his, even with his hand at my throat. "Are your wounds healed enough for this?" I asked calmly. "You are still weak. If you attack me and reopen those cuts, who do you think will stitch you back together this time? Not me, I promise you that."

Lucian's grip loosened slightly, though he did not release me entirely. "You dare lecture me about my own wounds?"

"I dare remind you that you need them healed if you ever intend to leave this place," I said. "Dead men do not go home."

Something flickered behind his eyes at that, some calculation I could not quite read. Slowly, his hand fell away from my throat, and he stepped back, though his glare remained fixed on me.

"My men," he said abruptly. "Are they alive?"

I held his gaze. "They are alive."

"I want to see them."

"That is not my decision to make."

"Then whose decision is it?" His voice rose, sharp with frustration. "I have cooperated. I have said what your King wanted to hear. What more do you all want from me?"

I stepped past him and walked toward the bed, settling myself onto the edge of it before answering. "You can see them," I said. "But I have a condition first."

Lucian's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What condition?"

"Have a child with me," I said plainly. "Once the child is born, I will make certain you see your men."

For a moment, Lucian only stared at me, and then he let out a short, humorless laugh. "A child takes months to carry, and more months after that before it is even born. Do you expect me to simply wait, cooperating blindly, for nearly a year on the promise that I might eventually see my own warriors?"

"That is a long time," I admitted.

"Too long," Lucian said flatly. "Give me something sooner. Proof that this arrangement is worth anything at all."

I considered this for a moment, tapping my fingers against my knee. Then an idea came to me, simple and direct.

"Ten days," I said.

Lucian's brow furrowed. "What?"

"We try for ten days," I said. "Show good faith. If nothing comes of it after ten days, we discuss it further. But you cooperate with me fully during that time, no fighting, no running, no tricks. In exchange, I will speak to my brother about letting you see your men sooner, even before the child comes, if you prove yourself sincere."

Lucian studied me for a long moment, weighing my words carefully. Finally, he exhaled, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. "Fine," he said. "Ten days. I will agree to that much."

"Good," I said.

The next moment, before he could say anything further, I rose from the bed and crossed the small distance between us.

I placed both hands against his chest and pushed, guiding him backward until the back of his knees hit the edge of the bed and he dropped down onto it, startled.

"What are you..." he began, but I was already climbing onto his lap, straddling him the way I had the night before, my hands steady against his shoulders.

"Now," I said, a small, determined glint in my eyes, "let me inspect the goods first."