I watched the coast until I could no longer make out individual trees, then turned away. As I pulled my attention back to the deck of the ship I was on, 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 that. 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 smiled. “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 used since the battle.
I stretched a little, enjoying the feeling of being back to normal, then glanced at Elia. She didn’t look quite the same as 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 have shrunken 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 at the ocean and 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.
The conversation was awkward, considering no one seemed to want to volunteer too much, or private information, and it dried up quickly.
We traveled for some time in silence. I suspected the two Adzurians were talking telepathically, judging by the little twitches in their facial expressions. If at least one of them was in the seventh stage, that would make sense. They seemed content to stay there on the deck, and I didn’t want to leave, either. Elia was reading through some tattered sheets of paper she’d taken from her storage ring, perhaps an inherited technique manual or something similar.
I was just considering the best way to ask if she was okay when I felt the brush of another mind against mine. I stiffened for a moment, then closed my eyes and focused on it. The sensation came from below.
‘Imperial Princess. So you return to the sea after all,’ a mental voice said, an undercurrent of emotion and concepts accompanying the words.
I cocked my head. ‘Flame-In-Dark-Waters? Or …’ The voice sounded familiar, but not quite right.
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A rumbling chuckle echoed through my mind. ‘I am his son, Light-on-the-Surface.’ I got faint impressions of the waters of the upper ocean, close to its surface.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ I said, making sure he could sense my smile and my sincerity in my mental voice. I was indeed happy to meet another sea dragon.
‘And I, you.’ There was a hint of amusement in his words. ‘If you consider this meeting, although I suppose I’ll have to give you that. I’m glad that you’ve kept your word to my father, and your people have stayed out of our territory.’
I relaxed a little, relieved that he was friendly and that the sea dragons didn’t seem to have any complaints. ‘Good. Was there a reason you wanted to talk to me, or were you just curious?’
He sent the feeling of a shrug, or whatever equivalent sea dragons used. ‘I did want to tell you that your enemies, the Zarian, have been sending ships across the ocean, and closer to your shores. They’ve also crossed one of our nesting places, and we’ve made it clear that these areas are off limits. Their fleet is smaller now, and they seem to have learned their lesson.’
I grinned. ‘Mother informed me about that, but thanks for telling me, all the same.’ I shrugged. ‘And I don’t mind you being curious, you know.’
For a moment, he was silent, and I began to wonder if I’d been too familiar. Then he laughed, a deep, rumbling wave that rolled through the telepathic connection into my head.
‘Is that so. I think my curiosity has been rather satisfied, little princess.’ He paused. ‘One thing, though. Do you know of anything that is happening related to the spirits?’
I raised an eyebrow, feeling a stab of concern at the question. ‘Not truly, except perhaps that Mior seems to have moved. Why do you ask?’
When he answered, his tone had lost some lightness. ‘Just an idle question. We have noticed that the spirits have been quiet lately.’
I frowned. ‘Too quiet? Like in the “quiet before the storm” sense?’
He sent another quasi-shrug. ‘I do not know. Perhaps, likely not.’
There was a hint of concern, even trepidation, in his tone. I found that entirely reasonable, when talking about trouble that could involve the Greater Spirits.
‘I will leave you here, princess,’ he said after a moment. ‘Fare well.’
‘You as well, Light-on-the-Surface. Safe travels.’
His mind withdrew, and I got an echo of his presence moving away before the mental connection snapped completely. I shook my head, looking out over the ocean, but too deep in thought to really take in the beautiful view. This was rather interesting.
Finally, I turned back around. “Where exactly are we going?” I 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 roughly a quarter of an hour, 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.
“We will meet them soon,” the Adzurian man said.
I straightened up, meeting his calm gaze. Perhaps it was the recent conversation with the sea dragon, but I felt something click into place in that moment. “You’re Ming Li, aren’t you? The ‘Black Knife’?”
To my eyes, he didn’t seem to fit the East Asian name, since, like many people from the Earth Continent, he looked more like someone from the Middle East. Perhaps that was why I hadn’t made the connection right away, though I’d all but given up on making sense of ethnicity in this world.
The Adzurian raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “Some call me that. I admit I was almost disappointed, thinking you hadn’t heard of me, but at least you did put things together now.”
“I really didn’t hear much about you,” I countered. “Just a passing mention in a book.”
That was true, although I knew I might have heard of him before my soul journey, too. Ming Li was perhaps the most famous person with darkness affinity qi in the world, if you didn’t count Mother. From what I’d read, he was indeed a mercenary, or, I’d guess, occasionally an assassin. Well, he looked like it. No one seemed to know if he was in the seventh or eighth stage, which was pretty impressive.
He sighed. “Ah, the vagaries of fame.”
I glanced at the other Adzurian, who hadn’t spoken up. I didn’t know who she was. Probably a friend, lover, apprentice, or other companion. Well, it doesn’t really matter who they are, so long as they get me back safely.
He didn’t seem inclined to say anything else, and by now the ship we were meeting was getting close, so I turned my attention back to it.
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 took a closer look at 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 that 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, I glanced at the others. The two Adzurians still hung around, presumably to bid me farewell. 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 my favor like that.
The Black Knife bowed. “It was our pleasure, Princess Inaris. I’m confident that our paths will cross again.”
“Perhaps.” Hopefully not because you take a hit on me. I smiled and nodded at them, before turning to leave.
Imperial soldiers had lined up at the other side of the bridge, though 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. Right now, 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.”