Chapter 97 (Draft)

I found it a little ironic that out of every time I’d been to the coast in the last year or so, this was the one that looked like what you’d imagine if you heard the word ‘beach’. The trees weren’t palms, but they did have large, green leaves that swayed a little in the breeze. The cloud cover had lightened, and the sun shone a few beams down that made the water sparkle. The sea was a deep blue-green color that fit the wide sand beach well. I couldn’t see any locals anywhere close to us, and the only sound was that caused by the spray of the waves and our presence.

“You said we would be picked up, didn’t you?” I asked the female agent, Sil. I hadn’t seen the other one since he’d left, although the continued absence of any Zarian spoke well of his efforts.

“Yes, Your Highness,” she confirmed.

I frowned but didn’t question her any further as we walked farther onto the beach. If all else failed, I could always go with my original idea and simply swim to the nearest sea dragon, or someplace they’d find me.

I only realized a second too late that we weren’t alone on the beach after all. I stopped and pulled out the knife I’d stashed up my sleeve, but the person or people who’d cloaked their presence were already close. I could sense their disguise lifting slowly. It was a strong working of darkness qi, encompassing not just light, but also our qi senses and maybe even sound.

“No need to worry, Imperial Princess,” a man’s voice said, as two figures slowly faded into view. “We’ll escort you until you can meet your own people.”

I blinked in surprise at the man and woman standing just a few meters away from us now, just above the level of the surf. They were strong, although I couldn’t quite tell how strong. But they weren’t from the Empire. If the faint accent hadn’t tipped me off, their clothing would have. It wasn’t a style I’d seen much of before, more form-fitting and subdued than was common in the Empire or even where I’d traveled. And they both had a small version of another nation’s symbol with those clothes.

“Oh, I see,” I said. “Alright. I assume you have a ship?”

I tried not to let them see how flustered I was. I hadn’t expected I guess Sil never actually said we would be picked up by Imperials.I glanced at her and saw that she seemed tense, though. Maybe she didn’t know.

“Of course,” the woman answered. She waved her hand, and a ship faded into view, in the shallows just before it would be beached on dry land.

I nodded and took a step forward. Maybe it made sense that a ship from another nation would be better able to pick us up undetected than an Imperial one. Though, I wouldn’t have expected them to do it. The Empire’s relationship was Adzur was relatively good, but that wasn’t saying much.

The ship looked to be built of wood, and it had a sleek appearance, with clearly low draft, or whatever it was called. It didn’t fly the flag of the City-State of Adzur prominently, so this probably wasn’t an official delegation.

I knew the tide would be coming in soon, could sense it with a certainty I couldn’t justify, but was still convinced of. Right now, its pull in my senses was muted, distant, but it was already starting to rise. This wasn’t the best time to set sail, probably, but their ship would handle it. As we walked closer, I could sense the strength of the qi in its materials and enchantments. One of them felt a bit like a steam engine, situated at the back of the ship.

We waded into the ocean and boarded the ship via a wooden ladder that unfurled itself from their deck, probably guided by the domain of one of the two Adzurians. I let Sil board first, then climbed ahead of Elia as she hesitated. Our hosts flew upward without any discernible device to help. I mentally revised my estimate of their strength upward.

Their ship only had a skeleton crew, at least judging by how few people I saw. The crew, mostly young men and women in the third or fourth stage, ignored us in favor of focusing on their task. I stepped up to the deck and looked back the beach, just in time to feel a jolt as the ship got itself loose and started moving. The Earth Continent spread out before us. It was a nice view, but I didn’t mind leaving it behind for now.

When I turned around, I noticed that the two Adzurians were watching me. The man, leaning on the railing, raised an eyebrow. His clothing looked like something out of a movie or video game. Skintight leather and a half-mask, all black. His arms were bare and I had to force my eyes not to linger on the sharply defined ridges of his torso visible through the outfit, assuming it wasn’t just modeled to look like it. This was not the kind of thing I’d have expected to see in this world.

“I’m thankful for your help,” I told him, deciding not to ask for his name. From what little I’d read of their culture, it was better to wait for it to be offered, if it was. “But I have to admit I’m wondering why you’d go to the trouble.”

The man smirked. “We were in the area, and since I was already in negotiations with your honorable Mother, I decided I might as well take on the job.”

I raised an eyebrow, then glanced at the woman, who seemed content to let him speak for them for now. “Negotiations? Do I want to know what this cost us?”

He shrugged. “Only a token amount, to be honest.” He leaned forward a little and smirked. “For the daughter of the Moon, I am, of course, happy to be of service.”

Now that he’d mentioned it, I remembered that Adzur generally venerated the Moon more than any other Greater Spirit. He’d been their sort-of chief deity for far longer than his recent importance in the Empire.

I met the man’s eyes calmly and raised an eyebrow. “I hope you’re not flirting with me. No offense, but I prefer men more of an age with me, and I do have my husband waiting for me.”

“Wait, you’re married?” Elia asked. She’d finally decided to stop hovering and was stepping up to the railing beside me.

The woman smirked. “Someone isn’t well versed in political events, it seems. By the way, Imperial Princess, it would be more polite to wear your real face, seeing as you’re a guest here. Your companion, as well.”

I nodded. “Alright.”

I’d been disguised for too long, anyway. As I prepared to change back, I had a moment of panic, a sudden fear that I wouldn’t be able to shift back to my original appearance. But a deep breath calmed me down and allowed me to focus on the change. I had a perfect memory and remembered everything clearly, and my body even seemed to know it, too. Shifting back was more effortless than any of the more involved disguises I’d done since the battle.

I stretched a little, enjoying the feeling of being back to normal, then glanced at Elia. She looked a bit different than when I’d first met her. Her skin seemed a bit healthier, and her hair wasn’t as dark, but a light brown that I hadn’t seen in the city often. Her face was subtly different, as well, like a sister’s. She also looked to shrink a centimeter or two.

“You are quite pretty, Your Highness,” the man said. He sounded more serious now and stood straighter. “But I apologize if I came across as improper. I always dress like this, and I did mean what I said honestly.”

“Of course, thank you.” I nodded at him. I still thought he might have been hitting on me, but at least he took rejection well. And considering his strength, it would be stupid to take offense and make an enemy.

“Sorry if I’m intruding, but what was that about political events?” Elia asked.

I noticed that the two Adzurians were watching me keenly, perhaps trying to see if that was a sensitive subject. So I did my best to act casual and matter-of-fact. “I don’t know how much you’ve heard, but it was my marriage to a Terbekteri prince that the Zarian used as an excuse to attack us.”

Elia stared at me for a moment, wide-eyed. She’d probably heard about these events differently and was trying to reconcile the two versions. “Right, I knew that,” she said. “I didn’t realize. So, the war is all …”

I was glad she didn’t finish that sentence, and just shrugged. “It was going to happen sooner or later, whether we gave them an excuse or not.”

“From what they’re saying, it might have been to your advantage if it was later,” the Adzurian man mentioned.

I looked at them, careful to keep my face controlled and give nothing away. “Who knows. That’s hypothetical now.”

He nodded after a moment, and silence descended. I looked back out over at the continent, which was already a good distance behind us. This ship moved fast.

After a while, we started talking again, but, this time, kept to small talk. The two Adzurians still didn’t introduce themselves, although I was starting to pick up a few things about them from what they said. They probably weren’t agents of Adzur’s government, but something closer to mercenaries. Or perhaps privateers, in a sense, if you didn’t restrict it to fighting at sea. That meant the City-State had plausible deniability if the Zarian found out they helped me, while still doing a favor for the Empire.

“Where exactly are we going?” I finally asked. “I’m rather anxious to get back to my people.”

The woman smiled. “You’ll get back to them very soon, Imperial Princess. In another quarter of an hour, roughly, when we will meet up with their ship.”

I started and looked in the direction she was pointing, leaning over the railing to get a good look at it past the ship’s front. It was outside the range of my qi senses, but if I concentrated on my eyesight, I could see a dark spot on the horizon that seemed to be heading for us. The sight made me grin.

I spent the next fifteen minutes trying not to pace up and down the ship’s deck. If I was lucky, I’d see some of my friends soon. In any case, I would finally be back among Imperials, probably soldiers. Time rarely passed so slowly.

The Imperial ship was cloaked pretty well, with light and darkness qi distorting its form so one would see little more than a blur in the form of a ship, making it hard to identify. It took me a minute of playing with my light qi to see through it, and that was only because I recognized the patterns. Once I did, I saw the quickly approaching vessel. It was rather small and clearly built more for speed than cargo, with a large sail as well as a sort of qi-based steam engine and propeller, alongside mechanisms based directly on air and water qi. But I didn’t spare it much attention. I was too focused on the two figures standing at the front of the ship.

Tenira and Kajare. My heart did a little skip into my throat. They looked well enough, perhaps a little stressed, but both smiled widely as we approached each other.

I tried not to fidget as I watched the two ships slow down and come to rest relative to each other, before the crews began to connect them with ropes and wooden beams, forming a simple bridge.

Before we could start to cross, the two Adzurians came to bid me farewell, while Elia was keeping close to me. I hadn’t seen Sil since we got on board, and assumed she had things to do here. I didn’t ask after her, I didn’t think she’d appreciate it.

I pasted on a smile and gave the Adzurians my full attention. “It was a pleasure to meet you, and I appreciate the hospitality.”

I didn’t say anything about how I was grateful and would remember their assistance. I might not be an experienced princess, but I knew better than to promise favor like that.

The man bowed. “It was our pleasure, Princess Inaris. I’m confident that our paths will cross again.”

“Perhaps.” I smiled and nodded at them, before turning to leave.

Imperial soldiers had lined up at the other side of the bridge, though of course they left plenty of room for us to arrive. There were some Terbekteri soldiers visible on deck, too. I tried not to tense at the sight of their uniforms. Instead, I walked over, glancing over my shoulder to make sure that Elia was following.

Then I was on deck, crossing the last few meters in a flash, and stood before Kajare and Tenira. I didn’t even think, just reached out to pull my best friend into a hug. She reciprocated, and I could hear her inhale deeply. In this moment, I didn’t care that people were watching us, I just gave myself a moment to enjoy the reunion.

Then I let go of Tenira and turned to Kajare. I embraced him as well, and gave him a quick kiss. He looked like he wanted to do more than that, but didn’t move and let me take a step back again. Still, his smile and the bright look in his eyes told me clearly how happy he was to see me again.

I smiled at the two of them. “You have no idea how glad I am to get back to you, finally. I missed you very much.”

“Me, too,” Tenira answered. She shook her head. “Why do you always do things like this?”

“Believe me, I wish things like this didn’t keep happening to me,” I said. “I guess I have enemies in high places.”

Kajare chuckled. “Then it’s a good thing you can deal with them. Welcome back, Inaris.”

“I wish I could just lock you up in the palace and stay there,” Tenira grumbled, but she still smiled.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Right now, that sounds fantastic. I wish it was that simple.”