"Ugh, sorry about that," Zach mumbled as Riley helped him walk on unsteady legs. She had to hold much of his weight as he climbed the stairs out of the ship's passenger area, but at least he could finally focus his eyes and think straight.

"It's not your fault," Riley replied. "Link sickness just happens to some people. From what that Bridge said, it's because you have a strong affinity for connection magic. That's a cool thing, right?"

Zach smiled at her awkward use of 'cool'. He'd spent enough time around the Princess's maids that they'd picked up some of his modern-world lingo. The Princess had learned a lot of it during her years in the other world, but she'd been far more careful with her speech since her return and hadn't propagated any slang, at least as far as Zach knew.

He said, "Yeah, it is pretty cool. Since I got to this world, I've wondered in the back of my mind if I would be able to do magic, but I wasn't confident enough to look into it. But now that I've got proof that I could be good at it, maybe I will."

Riley smiled, then said, "Don't go thinking it'd be easy though. It takes extensive training to do magic well. I even brought some books on this trip so I can keep up my studies and stay on track to being a mage someday."

"Oh, you're not satisfied with being a conjurer forever?" Zach asked with a grin.

"Making ice and lighting up lamps for the rest of my life? No thanks. I want to be an adventurer, defending the edges of civilization against monsters."

"Whoa, that's exciting. How come you never mentioned this before?"

Riley shrugged. "It didn't seem like a reasonable dream. But now that I've traveled thousands of miles outside of the kingdom like this… that dream feels possible now."

Zach opened his mouth to reply then closed it when he saw his surroundings. They had reached the deck of the ship and Zach could finally see the city of Okwata. He stood about 15 feet above the waterline and had a clear view of the city, but he would definitely not describe the view as 'good'.

From the far riverbank to a massive lake in the distance, Zach saw nothing but ruin, just brick walls and wooden beams jutting out of the vibrant green swamp. Vines and small trees had grown on the old structures and reclaimed them for nature. Many of the buildings had once been painted white but most of the paint had chipped and weathered away, revealing the raw red brick beneath. Stagnant water was visible between the buildings, where roads had once been.

"Oh damn," Zach breathed.

Riley's reaction was similar. "People still live here?!"

"Yes. They had nowhere else to go," Alexia said as she stepped up to Zach's side. "But it's not as bad as it looks. You're looking at northern Okwata. The portion they rebuilt is behind you."

Zach spun around and faced what he assumed was south. On this side of the river, the city looked much different. Some streets were still flooded and old buildings lay in ruin at the fringes, but new construction stood out prominently. Entire houses and multi-story buildings had been constructed over the old wreckage, built on solid stone platforms too massive to have been placed without magic.

Stone bridges connected the raised structures, providing travel over the swampy land below. Zach could see people walking from building to building or paddling small boats through the flooded alleyways. The sun was bright overhead but puddles on the high ground and dark clouds in the distance suggested that it had recently rained quite heavily and the city's current flooded state wasn't necessarily the norm.

Beyond the rebuilt city, a grey stone wall at least four stories tall ran from the river to the sea, protecting the city from land-based threats. It was smaller than the Gwendolyn Wall back in New Albion but it was nonetheless an impressive feat of magic or engineering.

Zach needed help again to get down the long ramp to the dock, but Riley seemed happy to help. By the time they reached level ground, the Princess had joined them. Now she had a simple shawl covering up her regal dress.

"This way," Alexia said, pointing down the boardwalk. "We're staying in the Grand Hotel in the new city center, a short walk from here. A carriage would draw too much attention to us, so our luggage will be moved in later."

Princess Evelyn seemed equally shocked by the terrible state of Okwata, but she was better at hiding it than Zach and Riley. She smiled and said, "I've been told the city center is very nice."

Zach and Riley nodded and followed Alexia and the Princess. Four guards in muted leather armor wordlessly fell in behind. The rest of the guards had already accompanied the other diplomats and their servants while Zach had been suffering from link sickness.

The road from the dock followed a natural ridgeline of raised earth as long as possible, then rose up on a stonework bridge twenty feet wide. Beggars and passersby stared at the group of visitors but none of them recognized Princess Evelyn. While the Evy coins that featured her face were sometimes used in trades outside of New Albion, these people were far too poor to have ever seen one.

As they got deeper into the city, the architecture changed. Simple square brick buildings gave way to brightly painted towers with rounded corners and terracotta shingle rooftops. Zach thought the walls looked like poured concrete, but it was hard to tell under all the paint.

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Alexia pointed to a massive building that sat squat and pretentious in the path of the main road, forcing it to divert around. A crowd of hundreds of people and carts filled the road as it arced around the structure. "That's the Grand Hotel. There's a street market just outside, but I advise against eating anything outside the hotel. And watch your valuables."

"The lady's got some good advice."

Alexia spun around to face a robed stranger standing in their midst. He had greasy black hair and a pointed goatee and his eyes were dark and sunken. He was tall, muscled, and did not look friendly at all.

Where'd this guy come from? And how'd he get past the guards? Zach thought as he glanced around, looking for their guard escort. He saw them fifteen feet away, being swarmed by dozens of beggars dressed in rags and asking for money.

The man spoke again, "But I've got even better advice. Give me your valuables, so I don't hafta kill ya." He grinned, showing a mouth missing several teeth. The ones that remained were dark and crooked. Then he lifted a hand from under his robes, holding a glinting dagger nearly ten inches long.

He thought the group of three women and a scrawny man would be easy marks. He was dead wrong. In the blink of an eye and with a sickening crack, the man's wrist was limp and twisted in an unnatural way and Alexia had the dagger pressed to his throat.

To Zach's left, Riley stepped between the man and Evelyn, then dropped into a combat stance. Like all the Princess's maids, she had trained with Alexia for situations just like this one.

"Did you pay those beggars to distract our guards?" Alexia hissed into the man's ear. "Answer me now, or you bleed out on the cobblestones."

"Ah! Yes, I paid them! Who the hell are you?!" the man cried, clearly in great pain. Alexia didn't care in the least. She pressed the knife closer to his neck while she repositioned and wrenched the man's unbroken arm up behind his back. She had him fully incapacitated, despite the hundred pounds and a half-foot of height he had over her.

Alexia turned to Zach and said, "Get our guards over here. Kick the beggars in the face if you have to. They accepted the risk when they took this cretin's offer."

"Yes ma'am!" Zach replied automatically, even though he had no idea what exactly he would need to do. He turned and ran toward the guards. Thankfully, he found the beggars already scattering. They must have seen that the mugging attempt had failed.

Zach returned with the four guards seconds later. One of the guards said, "I apologize for the lapse in our protection. I'll take full responsi—"

Alexia cut him off. "Apologize later. All four of you, take this man to the guard barracks three blocks east. Watch your backs in case he has friends." Once the man was safely held by the guards, she glanced at Zach and Riley and said, "Let's move."

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

Back in New Albion, Eloise sat alone in the Princess's bedroom. On the table before her was a notebook open to a blank page and a pen at the ready. She tapped one foot on the floor and twirled a long black curl of hair around one finger. She was fretting. The Princess should have contacted her by now.

"Eloise? Can you hear me?" The voice sounded like it was right behind her, but it was actually in her head. It was the product of the Farspeak spell, the most basic of connection magic. It used a personal bond between people to send the user's voice to another, regardless of distance. However, it only worked if both participants knew the spell, and due to the Gatehouse's monopoly on connection magic, very few had the knowledge.

"Yes, I can hear you!" Eloise blurted, then lowered her voice and said, "Sorry, Princess. That was probably painful."

From 1300 miles away, Evelyn whispered, "It's okay. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I must have worried you."

Eloise let out a breath and felt herself relaxing, at least a little. "But you're safe? That's what matters." She couldn't live with herself if the Princess came to harm on this mission after Eloise helped convince the King to allow it. Her ability to keep in touch with Evelyn was crucial to the King's decision to let the Princess leave the kingdom.

"Yes. We had a bit of a scare with an attempted mugging, but Alexia handled it. Uh, don't mention that to Father if you can…"

Eloise felt her pulse quicken at that, but she trusted Princess Evelyn. If she said she was okay, she was okay. "Alright, but if you come to any actual harm, I have to tell him."

"Of course. I guess I'll deliver my report now," Evelyn said. "We're safely checked in at the Grand Hotel and their private security force will be coordinating with our guards so we have 24 hour coverage. All members of the entourage are accounted for and booked into adjacent rooms on the private top floor."

Eloise jotted that down in her notebook, then asked, "And have you made contact with their diplomats?"

"Not yet. A messenger was sent to the governor's palace, but we haven't heard back yet."

"Governor? That's what they have instead of a king?" Eloise asked.

"That's right. The citizens elected him two years ago. I've heard nothing but good things about him."

"As if they'd let a foreign ruler hear anything else," Eloise grumbled.

"Eloise… remember to watch your tone."

"Yes, my apologies, Princess."

Evelyn chuckled. "I don't mind it, but I worry that you'll get yourself into trouble again."

Again. The word pricked at Eloise, as if it was her own fault that that terrible man had ruined her life. He'd been a monster, a tyrant. Standing up to him was the right thing to do, and sugar-coating her words wouldn't have saved her career in the Gatehouse.

She shook her head and soldiered on. "Of course, Princess. Do you have anything else to report?"

"No. I'll check in again at sunrise, which I guess will be even earlier for you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eloise asked.

"Hmm, I don't know this world's words for it, but I'll try to explain. Because I'm further east now, I'm closer to the sunrise so I'll see it about an hour before you."

"Ah, I think I understand." It was surely something Eloise would've already learned, if she'd been allowed to continue her magic education. Instead, she'd been thrown on the streets and banned from ever working as a Gatehouse-sanctioned Farspeaker, let alone as a Bridge. Her dream had been crushed and her reputation destroyed forever. All for refusing a marriage proposal from a man who treated her like his property, like a gemstone to be polished, paraded, and possessed.

Eloise felt her jaw tighten at the memory. Once, she would have felt sorrow. Now only fury remained.

But the Princess gave Eloise a chance and hired her as a maid, and even found a way to put her unlicensed Farspeaker skills to use. Evelyn had used her status as Princess to force the Gatehouse to teach her the spell, so she could communicate with Eloise anytime, anywhere. They spoke often that way, when Evelyn couldn't sleep or while Eloise was doing mindless chores.

Eloise was actually smiling for once as she said, "Have a good night, Princess, and make sure to enjoy yourself."

"I will, especially if I can convince Alexia to let me see one of Okwata's famous musical plays. Good night, Eloise."