Later, when the king of the dwarves stepped solemnly into Kano's home, Kano himself opened the door, dipping his head in respect.
The king looked at him and whispered:
—"I heard about your sacrifice. You know... no king is worthy of a throne if he isn't ready to sleep on the floor. Few of those born to power understand that."
Kano smiled, a little embarrassed.
—"Around here, all of us made ourselves."
Once the king was settled, Kano finally allowed himself a walk through the city.
The tent was ready—vast, hung with tapestries, the symbols of orcs and dwarves hand-stitched by old tailors.
He was just about to exhale...
Then he froze.
On one of the towers—a shadow.
"A spy?.."
Kano changed direction. Quiet. Quick. No sound. Perfect, just as Lenor had taught him.
He closed in. He waited. And when the tower door creaked—he lunged.
The tower loomed in the dark like a shard of the old world lost amid the new city.
Kano, hidden by the entrance, barely breathed. His eyes were locked on the door, his heartbeat steady, his body strung tight as a wire.
"If it's a spy, I won't give him a chance. Not in my city. Not tonight."
A creak. The wooden door eased open.
Kano sprang.
A single soft body. A fall. Impact.
He pinned the figure to the floor, his knee wedged hard between the thighs, his hands locking the wrists—and that was that.
Stillness.
Warmth.
A supple, soft body.
The feel of silk under his fingers.
"No... anyone but her..."
—"Well, you caught me..." came a husky whisper by his face.
Revena.
She lay beneath him, fully sprawled, breathing deep. Her rich red hair spilled around her like flame.
Her cloak had slipped, baring an open neckline; her breasts, bound in a tight corset, pressed against his chest. Her gaze... was not afraid.
It was hungry.
—"Honestly, I've always dreamed of a game like this." Her voice vibrated, every word like the lick of a tongue.
—"A spy. Captured. Pinned to the ground by a strong warrior's body... mmm..."
Kano couldn't tear his eyes from her face. And still his gaze... drifted lower.
"I feel her... breasts. Her belly... her legs wrapping my thigh. She isn't fighting. She's... pressing in."
Revena arched smoothly, her breasts pushing even closer into him.
—"You're so strong, Kano. I can already feel your power... literally going through me."
—"I..." his voice broke. —"I didn't mean..."
—"Didn't mean to?" she licked her lips. —"But you already did."
Her fingers—once he loosened his grip—slid slowly to his wrist. Then upward, along his forearm.
—"You're trembling. Is this the first?.. The first capture like this?"
Her knee brushed softly against his thigh. Her look—a dare, a provocation, a blaze.
"I... can't... think. She wants me to... God, her skin is so hot..."
Revena leaned in closer, her lips touching his cheek but not kissing.
—"I can give you everything, Kano. Everything you never even dared imagine. Your fantasies are my toys. I know how to breathe at your neck until your voice catches. I know how to touch you until you forget who you are."
Her hands came to his chest, and she whispered right against his lips:
—"Let me show you..."
Suddenly—Kano jolted. Heart—bang-bang-bang.
He tore himself back as if yanked from a fire.
He stood. His hands shook. His skin burned. Panic flashed in his eyes.
—"I... I don't..."
—"What a pity..." Revena sighed, breathing like someone who didn't get a prize after the game.
—"We were so close, my little spark."
She rose with impossible grace, slid a palm along her neck, tossed her hair to one side.
—"But you know... You're so sensitive that I'm almost sure—one day you'll beg me to burn with you."
She stepped in very close. Her breasts barely brushed his arm.
Her eyes—straight to the heart.
—"Hold out a little longer. If you can."
She left, trailing only body heat and... a searing want.
Kano leaned back against the wall.
He closed his eyes.
"This was...
More than I can take.
And I have no idea
how... I'm still on my feet."
Night settled over the city, wrapping it in torchlight and the smell of fresh-roasted meat.
At the center—a great bonfire.
Dwarves, orcs, and townsfolk gathered in a circle to honor the alliance and life.
Torches blazed, mugs spun, talk hummed.
At the head of it all—the king of the dwarves, a mug in one hand, an axe in the other.
—"...And when that troll already swung his great slab—I tell him, 'Take a graceful fall!'—and sweep his legs!"
—"He goes flying—boom!—right into his own swamp!"
A roar of laughter. Even the orcs thump their chests as they laugh.
Kano smiles, though he keeps a little apart. Revena's scent hasn't faded from his head yet—her body beneath him, her touch...
He lifts his mug to distract himself.
Suddenly the dwarven king narrows his eyes.
—"Hold on... I know her."
Heads turn.
Out of the dark, Revena emerges slowly—in a gauzy fabric that only hints at cover. Her figure plays in the fireglow, hips moving smooth as a hunting panther.
The dwarven king rises, flustered, already wearing a sly grin.
—"Why... it's you! You're the demoness who tried to seduce me in the Ice Castle seventy years ago!"
Revena smiles, offering no denial.
—"And you still haven't refused me, King," she purrs. —"You just ran faster than I could reach you..."
The dwarf bursts out laughing and lifts his mug:
—"Ha! Praise the beard I was already old back then! You'd have lured me into a coffin—but with a smile."
He turns to Kano.
—"But what's she doing here?! Don't tell me she's... your concubine?"
Kano opens his mouth—but Revena gets there first.
—"And why not?" her voice sounds as if she savors every word.
—"I am his. If he wants me."
Silence.
The girls' eyes turn into daggers.
Kano would love to disappear into his mug.
Unhurried, Revena passes by, brushes Kano's shoulder, leans in, and whispers in his ear:
—"And don't worry, I'll be good... going first."
Boom.
The dwarven king laughs so hard ale sloshes from his mug.
—"Ha-ha-ha! That's heat! Chieftain, you're a collector of adventures too! You surprise me more every year! Ha! She's a fine one. I'd have... well, three hundred years ago—I'd have definitely tried."
Kano covers his face with a hand.
"I won't be buried in battle. She'll be the death of me."
Revena slips into the dark, casting the girls a glance edged with mild disdain.
Naira slowly sets her mug down.
—"Excuse me... I need a little air."
Selina and Lianel don't even ask—they rise after her.
Kano nods to them:
—"Go. Or she'll... kill her."
As the girls fade into the dark, the dwarven king leans closer to Kano.
—"Between us, lad. If you last a night with her—that'll be the first proof you're a true hero. Me, for example, I couldn't stand for three days after... and that was just from talking."
Kano exhales hard.
And the fire keeps crackling.
The feast goes on. But somewhere... another storm is gathering.