Alexander gives his orders across the fjord and expects them followed. He expects it of me most of all. I have spent my life fearing the moment a man takes what he wants and leaves, but this jarl's hunger promises both security and ruin in the same breath, one that could bind us or break us apart.

He needs an heir to hold the northern territories against his rival, and my fertile body is the prize that will secure it. Every rough encounter strips away my defiance until all I crave is the weight of his child growing inside me, his seed taking root in a claim no rival can steal.

But if he claims me completely before the freeze, will I become the mother of his line or another loss he cannot afford to keep?