I never had been too proud to admit my shortcomings. Well, perhaps that was being too generous. I was willing to admit obvious shortcomings once having enough time to process them that I realized it would be embarrassing to deny something so obvious. Sitting at the table with Gael's people in their main hall, I simply had to acknowledge that tendency to only see what I chose to focus on limited me greatly. It was a wonderful thing to be singularly devoted to my people. They needed that. However, if I never broadened my horizons, how could I grow into who they truly needed me to be?

We sat in the middle of one of the most complicated pieces of architecture I had ever seen in person. It truly made me question aspects of the history of my world that I had never been made privy to. How long had our civilization been developing here in this world? Because this place held history. Exquisite paintings stretched across the gold ceiling with ribbons of gold weaving through the pictures, catching the light just right so it gave the impression of natural light. I knew nothing about art. Absolutely nothing. Right now as I stared up at the image of an adorable and incredibly chubby reaching holding a scroll in one hand, I realized I had zero ideas on what it could mean and zero interest in trying to come up with any. This was definitely not my area. But it was amazing.

Piercey had not been able to take his eyes off the paintings or the chiseled columns. Leif seemed as entranced with the food as my other friend was with the art. He lifted a piece of watermelon to his nose and sniffed. We didn't grow watermelon in our frigid northern region, but I'd had it as a child in those distant lands. When the man ate it, his eyes widened.

"The juice."

Nash had been watching him and immediately reached for a hunk of his own. "Woah."

Both men popped a few more pieces before seeming to remember their manners and reluctantly sat back. Wren sat the furthest away from me and gazed up at the flowing and gauzy veils that created a makeshift ceiling over the dining table.

Seeing the beauty of this hall showed me clearly that I needed to travel more, not just to fight demons, but to experience the rest of the world. Gael's land was very different from my own and his people also had mastered powers that no one in Skia Hellig had. I'd been so fixated on the valley that I neglected to ever consider what I could learn from other lands.

"Thank you for joining us." Gael's leader, King Tyroin, dipped his head in my direction. "I feared that you may not be amenable to meeting with us."

"The reputation of my stubbornness has crossed the ocean."

The king at first looked as if he was uncertain of whether it was okay to chuckle, but once I smiled, he did as well. "You are an impressive leader, Max. I can only assume that your steadfastness and conviction have enabled you to not only set your people free of the tyrant Eskel but also to protect your precious valley from falling into the hands of another."

This guy was way too nice. I could see that Piercey was eating up the skill of this man's diplomacy, but Leif had narrowed his eyes to slits. I fell somewhere between the two of them, wanting to believe he was genuine, but worrying that eloquence could paint over a much uglier picture.

"I can see a few things about you as well, your highness. You rule a large kingdom and manage a great number of people. I'm sure that it requires as much grace and tact as it does strength."

While I would not call him traditionally handsome, he flashed such a charming smile, that it almost transformed his appearance entirely. "Warriors never trust politicians. I can't blame you for understanding that our tongue is the same as your sword."

Nash glanced at me, the concern clear in his eyes. Though I knew about Nash's past and that he acted as a spy when he served the Prophet of the Valley, I still struggled to make that time of his life actually feel real. I'd heard plenty of stories by now of his success with the Flatlanders and I remembered that he understood fighting as a politician much better than I did. Nash, too, had learned how to use his charm and charisma to control a situation and gain the advantage. Even if this king was genuine, he possessed the skills to manipulate. I would need to conference with my friends before saying very much at this meeting. Politics had never been my strong point.

"Your highness." I breathed in deeply and met his eyes. "I'm going to be honest with you because you clearly already know that I'm a much better warrior than diplomat. It's hard for me to trust you."

"As it should be."

"It must be hard for you to trust me as well."

He seemed to consider this and sat back, looking to Gael now. When he returned his attention to me, he spoke in a quieter and more casual voice. "I'm a skeptic. It's true. Gael came around to you before I did. We've watched you, Max, and you are very consistent in your traits. You will do anything for your people and that one fact rules every moment of your life. While I cannot claim to trust very many people in their relationships with me, I can trust their nature. A liar will lie. A loving parent will care for their child. The protector of her people will protect."

Man, it really was hard to resist being pulled into his good-nature. I felt enthralled as I sat beneath the beautiful dome ceiling and smelled the freshness of the sliced fruit. "Just say it, your highness."

"Whether or not I can trust you, I can trust your behavior. You will never put your people in harm's way. If we make a treaty, you will honor it. You won't bring the wrath of a kingdom down upon your people."

This was an accurate assessment and it made me realize how easy to read I could be. "So why should I trust your treaty?"

"Because you can kill me at any time."

I blinked at his words, quickly glancing to his guards and finally to Gael. These were powerful people. I didn't feel confident at all that I could.

He sat forward and lifted his hand. "I'm not trying to be overly dramatic by saying that. I just feel it's true. You could travel to me any time you want to and I believe you have the skills to ultimately kill me if you so choose. My warriors may strike you dead after. It's difficult to say whether you would survive the effort. But breaking a treaty with you, betraying your people, these are things which I truly believe place my life in jeopardy. It is an inopportune time for me to die."

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I could not help but laugh and had to snap my mouth closed. "Inopportune?"

"We have no suitable leader to take my place and we're facing many dangers. Not only do I want to live because I value my life, but I cannot abandon my people here without someone to take my place. You and I share something in common. Our people depend upon us and they are in danger."

My heart wanted so badly to trust what he said. It made sense to me. Why would he send people halfway around the world to pick a fight with presumably one of the most powerful people in the world? Especially someone like me who was so dedicated to my people? He could have a motivate, such as taking over the valley. But why would he want the valley? We had looked into him and he'd never made any move to acquire new lands. He had contented himself with taking care of the kingdom he had rather than trying to expand it.

I looked to Wren now, because while I could trust Piercey's mind and Nash's heart and Leif's loyalty, it was her wisdom that had always given me peace when I felt uncertain. Wren didn't claim to have answers very often, but when she did, I trusted her implicitly. She never spoke unless she was certain.

She held my gaze for several seconds and then she nodded. No more needed to be said. Wren trusted them enough to at least continue this conversation.

"Let's talk actual logistics. Then I'd like to conference with my people."

----------------------------------------

"I want to hear from everyone." I crossed my arms and shifted my eyes from one person to the next.

Piercey clapped his hands and sighed dreamily. "Well, as I'm sure you know, I'm in love. I would like to move here immediately and become a member of this society. Think of the time I'd have for science. I imagine there's so much time for science here."

Leif rolled his eyes. "You've been so easily seduced. I admit they have a few things going for them. Their riches for one."

"Watermelon for another," Piercey added with an edge of frustration and sarcasm to his voice.

"We don't know them, though, and we have no reason to trust them. They want to come to our home. They want to learn our skills."

"And teach us theirs," I added.

Wren lifted her hand as if to calm Leif. "He's right. However, no one survives alone. We're stronger for our families, our neighbors, our village. Our people. Our valley is changing and it's as important to find our allies as it is to identify our enemies. Consider Nash. What if we had followed after Leif's paranoia? He'd likely be dead."

Nash shrugged. "She's right. Alliances are important and Leif obviously is a terrible judge of character." The sly smile on Nash's face reminded my heart that these two who I loved so dearly did not actually hate one another. "They also have plenty to offer, from their wealth to their skills."

"But," I said.

"But…" He pushed to sit on the table. "Their king knows how to work a conversation."

"Doesn't mean it's a bad thing," I said.

"You've made up your mind already." Leif groaned. "Why even ask what we think?"

I sighed. "I haven't. I'm sorry."

"When you want something, you try to force it, girl." Leif clasped my shoulder. "You may well be right. You have been in the past."

"You mean when you yelled at me for falling for Nash?"

"Particulars don't matter," Leif said. "You are not always right, though."

"So what do you think?" I looked to Nash now. He was so honest with me and so genuine. I truly struggled to imagine him every being deceitful. But he'd been a good spy and when we first met he had been incredibly charming. I knew that even Nash had been interested in me from the start that he had no more started talking to me for that attraction than I had him. We both had wanted to fight together. He'd been very convincing. So his opinion of the king mattered a great deal to me. Nash wouldn't be mistrusting as a rule like Leif but he may see through the charm better than I would.

"I'm not sure to be honest." Nash considered his words a few seconds more before speaking. "Good leaders are sometimes good manipulators. They use their skills to inspire and influence rather than control or trick. But it's hard to say what he is without learning more about him."

"Here's what we do know," Piercey said. "He's agreed to help defend the valley while his people train at the Sacred School and to teach our students how to portal. That's exactly what we need."

"Exactly," Leif said. "He's giving us a deal we cannot resist. That's dangerous."

"That's hope," Piercey countered. "We cannot afford to pass this up. Max is killing herself out there. Do we even have a choice?"

"We always have a choice," Nash said. "We have to or we're primed to be taken advantage of."

"He's right," Wren said. "We can't take it out of desperation. If we get neural implants then we can help to defend the valley from the king and his people if they are up to no good."

"We need a termination clause." Piercey stalked back and forth. "Both sides need to be able to back out of the agreement if our relations become tense, our interests no longer align, or we become suspicious of foul play."

While they continued to talk, I replayed the conversation in my mind. "You know it isn't the king I trust. It's Gael. I don't know him well but I trust my gut. He has honor. If we want to know whether we can trust the king, we need to see his kingdom and meet his people. And we need to see how they conduct themselves in our homes."

Piercey nodded. "So the next stage of negotiations would be to spend some time in this kingdom and then to invite them back to the valley."

"Yes. But we need to get to Elias's world," I said. "Once we return, we'll be busy with the new neural implants."

"I can take care of this next step."

"So what do you think, everyone? Should we take the next step?"

Leif rubbed his chin. "We won't be making any promises?"

"No promises," Nash said. "I think it would be premature."

"Agreed," Wren said.

"It's settled. We'll continue getting to know each other."

Time would pause in this world while I took Nash, Leif, and Wren to Elias's world to get the neural implants and to deal with whatever situation awaited us there. But it made me feel better to know that Piercey would handle the business in this kingdom on his own, regardless. I needed to take a few things off my plate.

"Let me know who you want me to bring here," I told Piercey. I didn't want to leave him alone halfway across the world.

This could be exactly what we needed. Elias had brought hope to us by his willingness to share the neural implants, but he'd also brought a threat. If Gael's people came through and helped like they said, it would let me focus on dealing with Elias's guild and on finding a leader for the valley. If the king and Gael betrayed us, though, it would be disastrous.

I closed my eyes. There were too many problems. I had to trust my friends to help. Nash was right the night before when he'd said I had to let others help take care of the valley. My whole life, I'd fought tirelessly beside my fellow warriors. I needed to do the same now with the political affairs.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming here with me. I need each of you."

Wren drew me into a hug that brought warmth to the deepest reaches of my stomach. Leif kissed my temple. Piercey hung back but I could see from his look that he offered all the support. Once my friends moved away, Nash took me beneath his arm.

"Let's go start our next journey," Nash said. "I know it's not what we expected and it's far more dangerous than we'd like, but it might be just the answer we've been looking for."

"I don't know. I really don't." I squeezed him around his waist and looked out the window. "I'm ready for the three of you to have power, though."

I really needed them.