They had made it. Somehow, against all odds, they'd made it.
Elly had refused to rejoice when the Mirranian ships found them, but relief had been there. She'd refused to show relief when their emissary said the marriage would proceed as agreed, which meant her people still had a future.
She'd even refused to smile when her mages reported land close by, though at that point even Ness had rolled her eyes. Elly hadn't caved, though. And she wouldn't, not until her feet touched solid ground. Until the horrors of the ocean were firmly behind them, and what remained of her fleet sat safely in their 'Redwater bay'.
Six hundred ships carrying a little under forty thousands of her people on them, a fraction of her once prosperous Kingdom. An army forged anew through war, tired and wounded, her own political power lower than ever.
Elly and her people had no other option but to hope for the best. It was something she rather hated—rather despised—but she would do her duty. A lifetime of preparing for war, followed by fighting in one, had taught her how to endure.
This travesty, though, still made her consider throwing both herself and Ness into the sea.
"You look stunning," her handmaiden praised, Elly shooting her a disgusted look. Hating dresses was beneath her, but at sea? Madness. "Your dashing Prince won't know what hit him."
"He's not my anything, let alone dashing."
Ness tsked. "The King said the Prince had changed, yes? Grown more mature?"
"Yes," Elly ground out. "He also said he'd explain the next time we'd talk, and then promptly never contacted me again. A short, vague message about being ill before absolute silence."
Ness raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "No news is good news. But as much as I know you'd like to wear armor, there are expectations. Traditions."
"Heels are annoying to walk in."
"I've seen you balance yourself on your big toe alone, don't complain. We're sure he's roughly six feet, right?"
"So the King said."
"Good, good. We can't have you towering over him. Gods, this will be amazing."
Elly sighed deeply. "You're reading too many story books, Ness. There won't be love, let alone an instant connection. I'm hoping that I can work with him, and if we can be friendly I'm counting that as an absolute win."
"If you shut yourself off from the possibility it'll never happen," her handmaiden lectured. "Now come on, we're entering the Redwater bay. I want to see it!"
She followed her handmaiden with another sigh, making a show of stumbling on her heels until Ness was gone. Elly straightened, balance shifting until she was walking comfortably. Because her handmaiden had been right, of course, and she could balance on just about anything, but admitting that was out of the question.
Just like the fact that being pretty was a guilty pleasure unbecoming of a soldier, let alone a general.
When she finally followed Ness up the stairs and onto the deck the Redwater bay spread before them, and she was thoroughly disappointed. Looking back she saw the entrance, like an enormous hand had scooped the bay into the land, but inside was just water.
Their guides had said they kept the bay clear of monsters. Hunted down any that entered, mages monitoring the entrance for any that tried. Fishing was good here, apparently, and as Elly looked she saw proof of it.
They barely looked like fishing boats. Those were small, comparatively speaking, and not meant to face any rough weather. These ones looked like merchant vessels with fishermen on top, giant things leisurely floating through the bay and catching all the fish they could need.
The vessels looked old, too. Well maintained, no doubt by druids, but old. Maybe even from before the sea had turned deadly, back when intercontinental trade had still been a thing.
Carl walked out from his own quarters, halting when he saw her. Elly shot him a look—one that made it very clear what would happen should he make a singular comment—and the captain moved on after a second.
Smart man.
She could have spent hours sailing through the bay, maybe even days, and used that time to come to terms with her immediate future. Used it to ensure her soldiers knew how to behave, that what nobility she had left was properly unified, that her equipment was properly stored and wouldn't get lost.
Instead it seemed to take only minutes until her ship started slowing, and Elly used her Life Enhancement to take a proper look at the welcoming party. And the Prince, her husband to be, was not the first thing she noticed.
It was the woman next to him. The pair of them stood further ahead from everyone else, seeming strangely isolated. Guards were behind them, wearing the kind of armor that looked both functional and impressive, and what she could only surmise to be mages were behind those.
But still it was the woman that she spotted first. Beauty that her instincts called unnatural was draped over the stranger, her eyes seeming to light up at whatever the Prince was saying. The woman wore a dress herself, one that made Elly's own attempt at wearing one seeming almost child-like, and she found a frown coming over her features.
A succubus. The Prince had brought a succubus to greet her. That was certainly one way to make an impression, assuming it wasn't an insult.
Assumptions are the death of logic. She shook her head.
Taking a breath, and setting the issue aside, she took in the party more thoroughly. There were nobles, of course there were, and they seemed split into three parties. More guards, more mages, a motherly looking woman whose nose was shrinking and growing even as she watched.
What?
Blinking and ignoring that with some effort, Elly turned her gaze back to the Prince. A Prince who'd since stopped talking with the succubus, looking her way. Not seeing her, certainly, since she was still quite far away, but looking at the ship.
And the Prince, to her eyes, looked nervous. Apprehensive, even, though not quite hesitant. He didn't scowl, did not behave like the child the King had warned him to be. Apprehensive but determined, she would say.
The ship moved closer, and closer, and soon enough his eyes started tracking the ship more purposefully. Then they started tracking her, and the instincts she'd spent years honing sent a shiver down her spine.
She, as the premier Life Enhancement specialist of what remained of her continent, was closer to nature than most. Close to life itself, that well of energy all living beings had. She herself had fused with that energy to the point where she could barely tell what was her own instinct and what was read through the energy.
She used it to read people. To gauge their intentions, their strength, their mood and more. It was the main reason she had done as well in politics as she had, despite having no gift for it. And now those instincts told her of weight.
All mages had it, to a point. That well of magic that could bring forth great destruction and soothing health. Energy that could create and destroy, heal and harm. But none of her mages had ever felt heavy to her. None of them felt particularly dangerous.
The Prince did. More than dangerous, he felt attuned. Favored in ways she could not name. Elly swallowed, mentally throwing out everything she'd been told about the man.
Something had happened, for she did not think the King had lied, but Elly had no idea if this was good or not. Because powerful mages were exactly that. Powerful. And she had seen power give rise to evil. Seen it used to justify atrocities, to do as one wished without consequence. Power, in her experience, could be used to destroy much easier than it could be used to create.
Evil wasn't a word she'd put much stock in, before. But after what she'd seen, what had been done to her people, she knew evil existed.
And he was still looking at her. Not checking her out, which was something she honestly didn't have much experience with in the first place, but just looking. Calculating, assessing, measuring. And that was a look she knew all too well.
Well. She thought to herself. That throws the plan of 'manipulate him into letting me run the Kingdom' out the window. Ness really didn't think that one through, nor was she great at manipulation in the first place. Reading people, yes, but not everything that came with true deception.
She would have liked to have half an hour to study him, to bring her thoughts in order and maybe grab a sword. Yet her ship, the treacherous thing, kept moving onwards steadily. Docked after a matter of minutes, and Ness moved to her shadow as Elly made her way over towards the dock proper.
Twenty eight steps. That's how many she took on solid ground before she was forced to a halt. Well, propriety demanded that people get out of her way if she'd simply continued moving, but the point stood.
"Princess Elenoir Marsennius," Ness said, tone echoing. Any playfulness was gone, as it always was when they weren't alone. "Crown Princess of the Caldir Kingdom, General-Commander of the Royal Army and Heir Apparent to the Throne. Conqueror of the Seven Fields."
An older man took a small step forward, someone who Elly recognized as Duke Helios from the King's description. "Prince Marcus Sepsimus Lannoy, Crown Prince of the Mirranian Kingdom."
No titles?
As a powerplay it could work both ways, but as the Prince closed the distance and Elly mirrored the movement she found it more likely he simply hadn't yet done anything of note. She stopped some feet from him, the distance from their parties allowing them a semblance of privacy.
The Prince bowed his head, eyes tracking her as he introduced himself, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Call me Marcus."
"Elly, an honor," she replied, curtsying. His eyes narrowed in consideration at the grace displayed, flickering to her hip. Checking for weapons? "I'm happy to set foot on solid ground, and I thank you for your hospitality."
There was silence for a few seconds, then Marcus sighed. "Forgive me if this comes across as offensive, but do you mind if we drop the pretense? I'm not good at wordplay and frankly, I don't think pretending to be people we are not will help."
"You wish to speak bluntly?"
"Please."
She considered it, lightly tilting her head before speaking. "Why did your father stop talking to me? He was our only link of communication, and I don't appreciate being cut off without warning."
Marcus sighed, a brief moment of surprisingly painless stress going through his eyes. "He's sick. Not actively dying, or so the healers say, but to put it simply, he's getting old. He needs to dream to contact anyone, and he can't dream while taking the medication that is keeping him alive. A question for a question, then. I've been told you're an accomplished warrior. A soldier. Are you?"
"I killed forty-one sea monstrosities on the way over, and before that fought in a war. Have you fought, Marcus?"
"Longer than I ever wished to," he replied, the immediate reply making her blink. That didn't make any sense, but the brief darkness in his expression was very hard to fake. "It is a long story. A camp has been assembled to help house your people, but that assumes they will behave. Bluntly speaking, if your people run off into the Kingdom the nobility will be very upset."
"My people have spent what feels like a lifetime on the sea. They are tired, wounded and afraid. My people will do nothing but rest and praise the Gods that they are alive. Or perhaps the ground under their feet."
"Fair enough," Marcus replied, shifting. "Be aware that the political situation here is somewhat fluid. Many will try to bribe, intimidate or flatter you into joining their side, and the two non-Loyalist factions aren't leaving until after the wedding. Even the Loyalists, which you have the least to fear from, will not be able to resist the opportunity."
"I can handle myself."
"I don't doubt it. But I have less doubt they will approach your people, too. People that, as you say, are tired, wounded and afraid."
Elly resisted the urge to narrow her eyes. Yes, whatever the boy's father had said was very wrong indeed. "Some will be swayed, undoubtedly, but what nobility remains stands behind me. Trust me on that. So does the army, and I don't think your people want my mages. Not if what I'm feeling about you is true."
"You can feel matrix potential?" he asked, surprised. "That's a rare skill in those who cannot wield magic themselves."
"It was important to learn, and Life Enhancement gave me the potential. If we're still being blunt, I hope you don't expect me to wear a dress very often. Or at all, if I can get away with it."
"I don't care to dictate what you wear even if you'd let me, which I doubt," Marcus smiled, and Elly was struck by how bland the prince looked. Bland but honest. A somewhat mean thought, she'd admit, but it was true. The Prince was just so very average looking, though tall. "And I do think that's enough bluntness for the moment. Some might think we're conspiring."
"Are we?"
Marcus shrugged lightly, tone turning serious. "I'll tell you what, Princess Elenoir Marsennius. I will give you my assistance with whatever you require, so long as you do the same. An alliance, informal though it may be. One enforced by the spirit more so than the letter."
"Well, Prince Marcus Sepsimus Lannoy, that sounds perfectly acceptable."
He bowed, she curtsied, and as Elly turned she saw Ness' eyes all but sparking with glee.
Well, that went better than expected.
REPLACE WITH LINE BREAK p^o^q REPLACE WITH LINE BREAK
Elly slowed as she came to the door, her leather boots perfectly silent on the stone floor. She was glad to be out of that damned dress, not least because it had taken nearly twenty minutes to get out of it to get to bed. At least she had her own wing.
Her own rooms, her own guards, her own servants and her own handmaidens. Duke Hargraf, who she was coming to understand was not an ally of the Prince, had tried to insist on some ancient protocol. On isolating her by providing all the assistance under the guise of hospitality.
The Prince had looked at the man, utterly silent, then moved on as if the Duke hadn't spoken. A bit blunt even by her standards, but she appreciated the gesture. Not that she would have accepted the isolation, but all the same Marcus' intervention allowed her to remain 'neutral' for a little longer.
She'd woken up early, her first night's sleep in a good bed not nearly as restful as she'd hoped, and an hour of exercise later she'd slipped away from her people.
Guards and servants and more were all well and good, but they tended to ruin any chance at stealth. And Elly had always found that meeting people when they didn't expect her allowed for a certain advantage. Allowed her to see their true selves, if only a glimpse of it.
A muffled curse rang from the room ahead, shortly followed by the sound of flesh hitting stone, and Elly raised an eyebrow. She sharpened her senses, finding the room was filled with rapidly beating hearts and the smell of wood.
Elly entered, because there was only so much she could interpret from sound alone, and found just about what she'd expected. The Prince, laying on the floor with what looked quite clearly like a broken jaw, and a nervous woman hovering nearby.
A woman that seemed built for war, covered in scars and all. An instructor?
"Princess," the third voice said. The succubus. Of course. "I see you have risen early. This isn't what it looks like."
Marcus grunted, climbing to his feet and forcing the words out through what seemed to be considerable pain. "It looks like me getting my jaw broken. And no, Tiena, you won't be punished for that. I asked for a full-contact spar, I can deal with the consequences. Elly, good morning."
"Marcus," she replied with a nod, watching his hands glow. It, presumably, dulled the pain as he healed himself. "I was only exploring the castle."
The Prince shrugged. "Do as you please. I expect you'll be busy settling your people for a while regardless, so planning anything more seems premature. I, as you might expect, am rather busy myself."
"With what?"
"Currently? A meeting with potential investors. Quite frankly, my Academy is bleeding money, and the Royal Treasury can only support it for so long. Until it starts paying for itself, investors will be needed to bridge the gap. Which in turn comes with political strings, and thus the need for meetings."
Elly hummed. "Well, I suppose it can't all be tense meetings on wooden docks. I will leave you to it."
"You could join him," the succubus suggested, shooting the Prince a small smirk. Vess, that was its name. "It would be a good introduction to Mirranian politics for the Princess."
Marcus smiled a smile that was clearly forced, seemingly more upset at her meddling than the suggestion itself. Elly could relate. "That's a fantastic idea, Vess. Would you be interested, Elly?"
"I would be honored," she said after a moment, not finding a good excuse quickly enough. "I will wait for you to clean up."
Vess all but shepherded her outside, the instructor following them, and enhanced senses let Elly catch the splashing of water. She let it fade, not interested in hearing more.
Elly glanced at the succubus, who noticed her look and raised an eyebrow. "I can't read minds, Princess. If you wish to ask something, ask. I am not easily offended."
"How old are you?"
"Three centuries and change," Vess replied, shrugging delicately. How does someone even shrug delicately? "That was not what you wanted to ask."
Glancing at the instructor, who took that as her cue to leave, Elly tsked. "No, I suppose it wasn't. Why does the Crown Prince have a succubus on retainer, and why do few people seem to care?"
"The latter can be answered by the Prince's youth, which we don't have nearly enough time to get into. In short, I am one of the more tame things he has summoned, and the fact few knew of my existence until quite recently helped. As for the former, you're asking if I have seduced the Prince with my charms."
"Have you?"
Vess smiled a smile filled with amusement. "One day, maybe soon or maybe not, you'll understand why that is a very funny question. But to actually answer, no. No I have not. Couldn't, in fact, which is one of the main reasons I am still here. He is interesting."
"I see," she replied. She didn't. "Any advice?"
"With the understanding that I am, in fact, biased? Be blunt. Marcus is busy, ambitious and powerful. The more direct and clear you are, the easier it is to get him to do something. Trust me, if you somehow manage to anger him it will be easy to notice."
Elly hummed, inclining her head. "Thank you."
"Giving advice is the second best thing I do."
The door opened, Marcus striding out looking much more put together, and he nodded toward the hallway. "Ready to go?"
Elly nodded, Vess shrugged, and then they were moving. The Prince, the Princess and the succubus, off to talk to nobles looking to invest into a magical Academy.
Play nice, don't be overbearing, let the people settle.
She chanted the mantra inside her head as she realised she had to integrate into an entirely new political sphere, find out why her instincts were warning her about a man who could barely swing a sword, then try to find some way for her people to learn the local language.
At least the sea brought problems she could solve with a sword, she thought.