Sword-Dancers were the legendary corps of all female bodyguards who served the kings of Itko Kan before the rise of the Malazan Empire. Each was fanatically sworn to give her life up for her king. Girls were involuntarily recruited into the corps from the rural provinces of Itko Kan starting at as young as four years of age. To be chosen by the corps' recruiters was considered a great honour. Training in the capital was intense, brutal, and inhuman, and lasted nearly a decade. Those chosen were expected to remain virgins through their service but this was not often true in practise.