The entire time they were on the Waterborn ship, Omilaena had to resist letting any of her amusement slip out. Zae Zin Nim was practically petrified by a little flirting and the politics of the bedroom. It was fortunate her time on Rosemount had been so focused, because she would have been horrified by some of the tribes in the Flaeren Dominion and the Carnal Court would probably have killed her outright.

In a fairly short amount of time, and without much flirting of her own, Omilaena had grasped the basics of Water Union politics. Despite all their philandering, they took their tribes and especially their elemental abilities extremely seriously. If Omilaena stuck around, she was fairly sure that she'd rack up many propositions herself.

Instead she focused on playing defense for Zae Zin Nim so the poor girl wasn't completely scandalized or taken advantage of. It didn't take very much, usually just her presence at the right times. Once when they were introduced to a large number of young men at once, Omilaena lightly touched the other woman on the back. Zae Zin Nim had stiffened a little, but when she saw how it warded off some attention she had relaxed and not pulled away.

Soon enough they reached the Southern Water Palace, which was a rather grand affair of fountains and arches of water held aloft by pure elemental craft. Allegedly there were hidden pools where young Waterborn swam wearing very little and Omilaena wondered whether or not they'd be invited.

When they touched down, however, Ivonailin seemed to have much more serious business in mind.

"My father isn't here yet," he said, "but he should be arriving by tonight. As I said, I think he'd very much love to meet you both."

"And we'd be happy to meet him," Omilaena answered for them both. "But why won't you tell us more about this strange invitation?"

"It's a state secret, so you'll have to wait. But I can tell you that it has to do with the Earth Union grasping so much power lately."

"You mean trying to ally with Irun?" Omilaena took in a quick breath, as if she cared about either place.

"Trying to absorb them, if the rumors are true." Ivonailin stepped in closer and lowered his voice. "If they seek to start a war, we'll be ready for them. The Earth Union is always hungry to acquire new talent, which is why we're so eager to show you the benefits of staying with us."

"Oh, then you're already deep into politics. I don't know if we can make any promises, but we'll at least hear you out. Is there anywhere we can freshen up before tonight?"

"You'll have rooms prepared, of course. But if you want to step through that little gate, there should be another fountain you can use."

Omilaena guided Zae Zin Nim over to it, just to give them a little peace and quiet. She could have spoken about any number of things, but it seemed like the cultivator wanted the moment alone. The little garden was peaceful enough, with a small fountain that arched like a flower. While Zae Zin Nim went to wash her face, Omilaena just examined her nails and waited.

"Look out!" someone shouted.

"Get together!"

They both looked toward the shouting, then toward the largest source of energy: a mana-charged ship was visible in the sky. Quite some distance away currently, but flying toward the Southern Water Palace at great speed. Something about the mana reminded her of the Water Union, but the vehicle was made of lighter wood and surrounded by wind.

"Brace yourselves!" Ivonailin rushed into the garden with a stern expression. "We don't know who it is, but there's a ship from the Wind Union coming in fast."

"An attack?" Omilaena asked.

"They wouldn't start a war like this, but there could be a vendetta over the princess's affair, or they could be here for a formal challenge. I'm sorry this had to happen now... it might be because my father is here. If you'll come this way, you don't need to worry about it."

But Zae Zin Nim was ignoring him almost entirely, then began to walk out to the blue-bricked plaza where they'd landed. It looked like the Wind Union ship was gliding toward it, not in a particularly war-like fashion. That definitely wasn't what caught her attention... when Omilaena focused her senses more, finally she understood.

Either this was a hell of a coincidence, or politics were drawing them all to the same place.

When the ship drew near, most stayed inside while several others jumped out to land on the plaza. They included a girl with spiky blond hair, a laid-back Windborn man... and Kai. As soon as Omilaena saw him land, she knew that he'd taken a step forward. His movements had always been reasonably fast, for such a bulky man, but now she saw a self-assurance and grace that hadn't been there before.

"What are you doing here?" Ivonailin demanded.

"We're here on behalf of the Frontier, looking for..." The girl in the lead trailed off and then smiled. "Wow, after missing each other over and over, guess we finally got lucky. Hey, Kai, aren't those your...?"

There was no real question, because Kai had already moved toward them rapidly. Omilaena wondered if he was going to hug them and just what the others would think, but it seemed he'd gained a shred of self-awareness. Instead he just grinned, Zae Zin Nim smiled back, and Omilaena absorbed some fraction of their happiness alongside them.

"Sorry you had to come look for me," Zae Zin Nim said.

"That storm really disrupted our plans, but it's fine." Kai jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the others. "You know Inafay, but Omilaena doesn't. She's an old friend from Goralia, and now she's working for the Frontier elites. If we just help her with one job here, we're in."

"Actually, you don't even have to do that." Inafay approached them and shook her head apologetically. "Technically we have no right to ask for your help, and we can't offer you much more than you're already asking. But I'd be really grateful if you could help us resolve this, and it would help all the Frontier nations."

Omilaena didn't care about that at all, but she was willing to shrug and go along with it. As expected, Zae Zin Nim glanced at Kai and then nodded in agreement, before even hearing what they were going to do. Their little chat had angered Ivonailin, who broke into the conversation again.

"You can have this reunion on your own property," he said. "The Frontier guard has already done enough damage. You're not welcome here."

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"Has your father made that official, then?" Inafay turned on the Waterborn prince with a new look in her eyes and his polite facade immediately vanished.

"Not yet. But you can't change his mind, so you might as well go home."

"We'll meet with him once he arrives, then. We value his contribution to the Frontier so much, we wanted to meet him in person to make clear that we don't want to lose him. Unless you want to stand in the way of that?"

Ivonailin's lip curled, but apparently he wasn't willing to stick his neck out that far. He glanced at Omilaena as if she'd betrayed him, then turned around to enter the palace. That left them looking back to Inafay, wondering what they had agreed to.

"I don't know if I can explain all the details," Inafay said, scratching the back of her head. "But basically, the Prince of Tides is saying that he's going to stop sending any support to the Frontier. Now, that happens from time to time and clan to clan. But he's building up a small army that he claims will defend the Water Union during the incursion. Unlike the Frontier elites, he'll be able to use that army against his rivals. If he actually succeeds and withdraws support, the Earth Union will strike first, the Fire Union might withdraw too, and no one knows what the Wind Union will do. It'd be a bad time."

"So what are we doing about it?" Kai asked.

"We need to convince him that he doesn't want to do this. As for how..."

"His son isn't very strong," Zae Zin Nim said, "and I doubt the father is much stronger. We should be able to kill them easily enough."

"Kill! We're trying to unify them, not-"

"Poison, then?" Omilaena asked. "They're pretty good with liquids here, but I should be able to get through if I can get information on their security."

"What? No!" Inafay shook her head. "I was planning to try to reason with him first, and when he doesn't agree, we'll set up formal matches with his army. Comparing the sides, especially with the three of you, should convince him that he still needs to support the Frontier."

That seemed like a needlessly tedious plan, but Inafay was insistent and Kai seemed to think it was reasonable, so Omilaena went along with it. Despite the frosty reception from the princes, their group was actually invited inward by several servants. They were led into a small reception room where Ivonailin and other nobility tried to convince them not to confront the prince.

When the group closed a little, Omilaena instinctively touched Zae Zin Nim's back. She didn't flinch at all, but she turned aside and spoke in a low voice. "It's okay, we don't have to do that anymore. We'll be done here soon."

"Of course." Omilaena faked a smile and pulled her hand back.

In her own way, she was just as much of a blind fool as Zae Zin Nim or Kai. She was smart enough to know how they thought, and should have been smart enough not to tease Zae Zin Nim back when they met. They would trust her in battle, but she would never get through those spiky outer defenses. Moving along with Zae Zin Nim and shielding her from the nobles had just been playing pretend for a little while.

This revelation completely destroyed Omilaena's mood and she had no more patience for the nobles. When she got a chance, she pulled Kai aside.

"I think I've figured out something about your abilities," she told him. "I don't have a grand unified theory, but the data fit you."

"Oh yeah?" He smiled broadly at her, but there was still that distance in his eyes. "There wasn't something in your books about powers like mine, was there?"

"No, of course not. But it's all more tied together than I thought. This probably isn't the time or place, but trust me, you'll like it."

Kai's smile warmed her for just a little while before they moved apart and she was alone again. What actually hurt most was seeing Kai and Inafay negotiating together. There was no sexual tension between them, but they honestly liked and trusted one another. They'd been separated for years only to instantly regain their bond once they reunited. Whereas if Omilaena was left behind, her power would be missed, but they'd probably breathe sighs of relief.

She was in too sour of a mood to pay much attention to the rest of the politics, even though she probably could have helped on some of the details. The rumored infidelity between Waterborn and Earthborn nobles wasn't just idle adultery, they were teasing potential conflicts. But it would probably come down to power in the end anyway.

Eventually they were escorted into a grand hallway with great arcs of water leaping from pools on the opposite sides. The Prince of Tides, one of the most important people in the Water Union, sat on a blue marble throne. He had a shroud, but not a particularly good one.

<

Name: The Prince of Tides

Total Power: 196

Waterborn: Twicedrowned (132)

Physique Level: F-9 (48)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

Just under 200 Power, most of it his Waterborn abilities - pathetic for a clan that spent so much time obsessed with breeding raw strength. It looked like he had collected a reasonably strong group who stood at his beck and call, ranging from Waterborn to a few Krysali mercenaries to one person from Rosemount using an ability called Cagnazzo's Tide. All with not much above 200 Power except the foreign water user, who didn't look experienced.

Omilaena could give one thing to the Frontier guards: they'd sent a strong enough group. Inafay and her allies could have handled the fight on their own.

"Great prince," Inafay began, "we hope that we can convince you to reconsider. The Seat of Tides has always been a strong ally of the Frontier, going back generations. If you leave the alliance, you will be leaving gaps that will harm your kin."

"Gaps that already exist!" The Prince of Tides stared down at them in disgust. "We paid and paid and paid, we sent many of our strongest, and for what? When the incursion came, you allowed Frontier monsters to attack us, even all the way to the Water Union."

"The last incursion was an unusually difficult one. I assure you, we grieve as much as anyone that so many monsters got through, but it was a widespread problem, not-"

"We've had enough! You can see the force I've gathered. Can you deny that I'm more capable of defending my people than your vaunted 'elites'?"

"Yes." Inafay squared her shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "You don't understand how dangerous the incursions can become. If it must come to this, see how your group compares to ours. We're only trainees, but I think you'll see the value of the Frontier alliance."

"You certainly have some power." The Prince of Tides leaned his head against one fist and smiled darkly. "But is this all of you? The Frontier is always spread thin... they probably got together as many as they could, am I right? I see less than a dozen warriors... I have over thirty of my own elites at my side."

"You may have numbers, but-"

"If your forces are spread so thin that they can't beat my numbers, what does your strength matter? That's my proposal: duels until you beat them all, or you've just proved my point."

This seemed to have passed Inafay's expectations, because she shifted uncomfortably. No doubt she was considering the odds and thinking that they only made sense with the new allies she'd gained by luck. But she was underestimating the difference between this rabble and real warriors, so Omilaena stepped forward.

"I'll fight them all," she said.

The Prince of Tides jerked up from his position. "You honestly think you can fight thirty duels in a row?"

"I'll fight all thirty at once." Omilaena spun needles around her fingers and dropped into position.

The others might be clueless when it came to flirting, but they could recognize a cue when they heard one. Zae Zin Nim lowered her shroud, stunning the group with an Earth Soul cultivator's presence and beauty. Kai also revealed his strength and she thought used just a touch of Void Gaze. Inafay and the others also caught on and dropped whatever shrouds they had, revealing themselves as a small army.

"I..." The Prince of Tides stared at Omilaena for several long seconds, gaping like a fish. "I don't..."

"Don't try to fight an incursion with this little army," Inafay said. "Send them to the Frontier for training. With your help, maybe next time there won't be any more gaps in the line."

He didn't agree right away, but from the way the prince sagged back, Omilaena knew that his spirit had been broken. Even if he wasn't much of a warrior, he had enough experience to know when he was utterly overwhelmed. His son looked just as astonished, staring at her and Zae Zin Nim with new eyes.

Soon the others began to discuss details, so Omilaena backed away. She'd planned to withdraw entirely, but Inafay pursued her.

"You had a hell of an impact," she said with a grin. "I really thought this was going to be a huge ordeal, an extended series of fights. You have to be Omilaena, right? Kai talked about you, but we haven't really met."

"Charmed," Omilaena said with an automatic smile. "I understand we'll be headed to the Frontier after this?"

"That's right. And if this is what I can expect from you, I'm glad you're here."

Omilaena kept smiling until the younger woman moved away, then dropped the expression. At least she was good for something.