Late evening settled over Sylvandar, leaving Kane’s new manor remarkably quiet.
Thora and Sira had already moved to their respective rooms, while Kessa prowled the courtyard, running a nightly patrol out of restless beastwoman instinct.
Sitting in a plush chair by the window, Grieselda watched Kane spread a mountain of intelligence across the wide study table.
Caelindra left hours ago, marching out with her portfolio perfectly realigned and her pointed ears still burning an embarrassed pink.
Knock. Knock.
’She’s here.’
Walking out to the courtyard, Kane opened the gate himself.
Brak was sound asleep in his quarters, and Kane saw no reason to wake the boy for this.
Six figures stood waiting in the street.
Four won and two n wore armor that looked distinct from anything Kane had seen during the tournant or at the palace.
The legendary Knights of Elfheim didn’t wear the ceremonial silver of the Wardens or the bulky plate of the Imperial Guard.
It was crafted from the sa organic elven tal as the city gates, grown specifically to fit their individual bodies rather than being forged in a traditional fire.
Each helt possessed a unique shape.
’These guys are dangerous.’
Standing right behind them was the queen.
She dressed differently from her appearances at the tournant and the banquet.
Gone were the formal royal robes and the suffocating ceremonial weight.
She wore a simple traveling cloak over fitted clothing.
Her long silver hair was braided tightly down her back rather than flowing loose.
Yet even without the formal framing, she was extraordinary.
’Five hundred years without getting properly fucked,’ he thought, eyes tracing the elegant curve of her neck down to the swell of her tits.
’No wonder she’s so tense. I bet that immortal pussy is starving.’
Her green eyes in the flickering lamplight matched the color of the ancient forest she had spent her life cultivating.
Kane stepped back, pulling the gate open wider.
"You actually ca to Sylvandar," Kane noted, leaning against the wood.
"You explicitly said you wanted to talk face to face," the queen replied, stepping past him.
"I didn’t expect you to make the trip."
"I know," she murmured.
"That’s why I did."
He led her through the courtyard and into the study.
The six Knights of Elfheim imdiately took up defensive positions around the manor exterior without needing a single command.
Two guarded the front gate, two secured the garden periter, and two vaulted silently onto the upper-floor balconies.
Walking into the study, the queen imdiately noticed the intelligence scattered across the table.
She saw Sira’s detailed troop reports, the maps Kane sketched purely from mory, and the complex nual troop position assessnts.
She stared at the docunts for a long mont without reaching out to touch them.
"You’ve been building this since the mont you arrived," she observed quietly.
"Since before I arrived," Kane corrected her, pulling out a hand-drawn map.
"nual was a mid-tier expansion enemy. Moderately dangerous, tactically predictable, and primarily motivated by simple resource acquisition."
He flattened the map on the wood between them.
"But that was just the simplified version. The real version has been doing sothing we never accounted for."
"nual isn’t coming for your eastern border," Kane stated bluntly.
"That’s the standard assessnt everyone inside your war room is currently working from."
"That’s what the physical evidence suggests," the queen argued.
"The evidence is what they want your war room to see," Kane countered, tapping a date on the paper.
"Look closely at the tiline. The three survey marker crossings happened at perfect fourteen-day intervals. That isn’t organic military montum. They’re feeding your intelligence network a comfortable narrative."
The queen leaned over the map.
Her regal expression did not crack, but her attention sharpened into sothing lethal.
"If they aren’t actually coming for the eastern border," she asked, "where are they really going?"
Kane dragged his finger across the map, pointing far away from the eastern border toward the northwest.
"Milfheim," he said.
Silence filled the study.
"The Millenia Empire currently controls the only land route sitting between the northern continent and the coast," Kane explained.
"nual wants a fucking ocean. They’ve been landlocked too long. Taking Milfheim gives them deep harbors and a navy. Your empire is busy fighting Milfheim right now, so their western flank is wide open like a whore’s legs. Perfect timing. They have been waiting patiently for a Milfheim-Elven conflict to create the perfect distraction."
The queen considered the tactical nightmare for a mont.
"And the eastern border movent is just designed to keep our war room looking in the wrong direction while they march on Milfheim."
"Yes," Kane confird.
"Once they secure Milfheim’s deep harbor and coastal cities, they will pivot. Naval access changes every single strategic calculation on this entire continent."
"This still doesn’t explain why they would risk a confrontation with the Elven Empire afterward," she frowned.
Kane looked at her directly.
"They aren’t planning to confront you directly."
A pause hung between them.
"The World Tree," the queen whispered.
Her voice sounded different now.
"How did you know about it?" she asked.
"That tree is the only thing keeping your immortal cunt alive, isn’t it? No tree, no eternal queen. Your whole empire falls apart the mont that thing dies. nual knows it."
She stared blankly at the map.
"nual knows about the tree."
"Soone definitely told them," Kane said.
The queen went completely still.
Kane let the horrific implication sit in the air without pressing it further.
"My son didn’t tell them," she finally said, her voice tight.
"He wouldn’t..."
"He was looking for information about the Fallen Choir," Kane explained.
"Your boy went north to wipe out the last Dragonblood survivors so nobody could talk about the old seals. But soone smarter connected the dots. Now nual is coming for the one thing that actually matters."
The queen processed the truth.
Kane watched her absorb the devastating information without showing a single visible sign of collapse, a testant to her five centuries of ruling.
"What’s your strategic recomndation?" she asked finally, her voice pure ice.
Kane pulled three more maps from under the table.
"Let take over your empire."
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