Aleksandra, still soaked in sweat from her most recent training session- with Thorik, the cheeky fighter who'd won a kiss from her during their first spar- didn't even realize that Aulfr was in their room as she started plodding past, headed for the bath chamber. She almost jumped in fright when she heard his voice behind her, and already had a dagger out, even if it was somewhat halfhearted. She was exhausted and she recognized his voice immediately. She sighed and sheathed her weapon, turning fully to listen to him.

She blinked in surprise as he delivered the news. So it was finally happening. After two months of murdering and scraping and suffering through the ridiculous 'feasts', Aulfr was making a move for the throne. Well, good. She was tired of dodging assassins left and right. Now she knew how annoying her kind could be.

Her girls weren't anywhere near ready for fighting, but their acting was coming along nicely. If anyone tried to do something dodgy, the girls would find some way to cause a scene and make some distractions. And Aleksandra could now fend off four of Aulfr's specially trained fighters for nearly ten minutes at this point, so anyone trying to get past her would have quite a bad day. And so would the servant made to clean up her mess afterwards.

"I don't mean to pass judgment on your skills. I know you're an expert warrior, but what happens if the fight starts to turn? Your father won't hesitate to kill you, and I..." She paused, cast her gaze to the floor, and swallowed her pride. "I don't think I could bear to lose you should this end badly." She crossed her arms over her chest and met his gaze, her expression set in stone. "What should I do if the battle shifts too far in the Oberjarl's favor?"