Page 140 of Iron Beneath the Snow

The correction came from a distance that made it unnecessary for him to step closer.

She adjusted without breaking the movement and repeated the sequence.

“Again,” he said.

She did, cleaner this time, holding her balance a fraction longer before committing to the turn.

He did not approach.

Across the courtyard, he stepped in to correct another fighter, his hand briefly guiding the angle of a blade before withdrawing again.

When Eira moved through the sequence once more, she allowed the shift in her balance to come slightly earlier than it should have—not enough to break the form entirely, but enough that the flaw would be visible.

He saw it.

“Hold it longer,” he said.

He did not move.

She corrected the motion as directed.

When she finished, she lowered the blade and looked toward him.

He gave a brief nod.

“Better.”

She lowered the blade.

Across the courtyard, he had corrected three others by touch. With her, every instruction had come from a distance.

Nothing in his manner had changed.

Only what he allowed himself to do.

She handed the blade off as the next pair moved into place and left the training line.

By evening, the stronghold had settled into a different kind of rhythm, one that did not erase the tension of the day so much as absorb it into something more contained. The great hall carried the low hum of voices, the steady movement of servants, the quiet clatter of dishes set and cleared without disruption.

Eira entered without drawing attention.

Her gaze found him without effort.

Soren sat further down the table, among a group of captains rather than near enough for easy conversation.

One of them said something that drew a brief response from him, a low remark followed by the faintest trace of a smile that did not fully linger, but did not vanish immediately either.

It was not forced.

It belonged there.

Eira took her seat, allowing her attention to move elsewhere without forcing it to remain on him, though the awareness of his presence did not diminish.

Across the table, someone asked her a question about the western routes, and she answered without hesitation, the information already ordered in her mind from the council earlier that day.

The exchange passed easily.

Soren continued speaking with the captains.