Alexia despaired. She gazed into the catastrophe crashing toward her. The Bearbreakers would press their advantage long before King Gideon returned. The soldiers she healed in Mirrevar, the Sentinels she rallied in Maypine weren't the stop gap for a peace treaty, but for Heron and Daravon armies that would arrive too late. Worse, she knew who the king would make the spearhead of that army. She'd lead thousands to the Great Eagle Bridge, then have to burn her way in. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She really would be Zander's enemy when she returned.

Focus on what you can control, she told herself. But right now, that list seemed to dwindle. She couldn't help the Redeemed Men if the king was gone. She couldn't even see her parents as it was her mother's cousin getting bonded. If she rode back to Mirrevar without any terms from Gideon, she'd be rejected as the witch that stole into Ferrickton and destroyed the town. Perhaps she could help keep the Sapphires alive, but that wouldn't help her make peace with the Ruby.

"I can't do this," she whispered to Azi. "Thousands will die, and I cannot help them."

"Listen, Bluerose, you can do anything, which means you can do this." She climbed to her feet, offering Alexia her hand.

Without hesitation, Alexia took it. Azi pulled her up with ease. Had she trained to be a warrior, she'd have been as formidable as most knights, Alexia didn't doubt. "We're going to reset," Azi said, "then we're going to figure out what to do."

Alexia nodded, relieved she could leave her fate in another's hands. For now. Squeezing on her best friend's palm, she couldn't think of a better hand to hold.

Azi was infamous for her appetite, easily eating more than any other two people Alexia knew of. Growing up in Saphirhold, Alexia must've heard the queen admonish the princess a thousand times that she'd get fat or leave anyone watching her appalled with her lack of etiquette. Eating, it seemed to Alexia, was one way Azi could rebel against the wicked woman. The princess would sneak into the kitchens, wreak havoc, and be sure that her mother heard about it.

No matter how much she grew, some things never changed. Azi bouldered into the kitchens, picked up the head cook, set him aside, and left with two pecan pies.

"Your mother will hear of this," Gale, the head chef, threatened.

"Not my mother! What ever will she do? Spank me?" Azi handed Alexia a pie, then smacked her own bottom. "I'd like to see her try."

Less than a degree later, forks in hand, delicious pie in their mouths, they were giggling under the acacia. Ever the place where they hatched their plans, the great tree had a thick trunk that tapered off as it split in two every few feet, spreading as wide as it was tall. The canopy was like a giant parasol of red flowers and green leaves, stripping all the gold from Alexia's hair in its shade. Alexia admired the flowers. They were in all their glory, blooming perfection as if Celegana herself personally saw to the tree's blossoming. Typically, the flowers came in late winter and were withered and fallen by spring's end. To endure this deep into the heart of summer was a welcome miracle.

"You like them?" Azi asked, her voice deep with pride.

"It's inspiring how they've endured this long into the season." She looked Azi in the eye, the princess smiling as if she was pranking her. "When I look at that, pecan pie in my belly, I can remember there is beauty in this world."

Azi nudged her. "You're welcome. I did it for you."

Alexia grinned. It was just the sort of claim Azi would make to ruffle Alexia's feathers. She must've found a wizard willing to preserve the blooms with a regular stream of Celegana's divine energy. "Did you?"

She set down her fork, an oddity for her with so much pie undevoured. "You don't believe me?" There was a hint of hurt in the princess's voice.

"I believe you ordered a wizard to keep the blooms alive."

"This might surprise you, Alexia, but wizards aren't the only ones who can perform feats of wonder." Azi tsked, trying to sound playful but Alexia knew better. "I never thought you'd be the one to doubt what I can do."

Alexia hesitated, crushing the impulse to defend herself. "How did you do it?"

Azi took a bite, speaking with a mouthful of pie. "I listened to her." She swallowed. "Aren't you always going on about how if others listened more instead of needing to be heard, the world would be at peace?"

Azi winked. The flutter in Alexia's stomach had nothing to do with the pie. She lowered her eyes, feeling a sense of infidelity toward Zander. "What did the tree say to you?"

"Trees don't have much to say besides what they need," Azi said. "All this one wanted was to be touched by a hand that cared for it. Funny, isn't it? What a little bit of affection can do for one's growth? Perhaps I will bloom when I'm finally being touched."

Alexia caressed Azi's cheek, infusing it with Leverith's spirit. She'd allowed herself to do this thousands of times, sampling the hidden feelings of love she harbored. Azi lit up like a lighthouse. "It's true," Alexia whispered. "You're blooming right now, and you're far more wonderous than this acacia."

"So, you believe me?" Azi said, cheeks flushed. "That it was me and not some wizard that kept these flowers alive?"

Azi's talk of communing with plants wasn't new to Alexia. She didn't doubt her best friend had the biggest green thumb in Leveria. The Princess's Garden at the Arcanium was the most beautiful arrangement in the Sapphire Kingdom. But she couldn't have infused the acacia with Celegana's energy, which it would've needed to persist into summer like this.

"I believe everything you touch grows toward wholeness," Alexia said, choosing her words carefully. "That's the kind of person you are, Azi."

"You know, Alexia, I never doubt what you're capable of."

Alexia lowered her eyes. She twiddled her thumbs.

"There will come a day," Azi said, "when you all see how foolish it was to underestimate me."

Hammered all her life with criticism by her mother, Azi needed a friend who didn't question what she was capable of. She needed the same friend that she'd been. Feeling like she'd just had a pie pushed into her face, Alexia said, "Then I've been a fool today."

"I can forgive you if you promise to learn from your mistakes," Azi said, more genuinely playful now. "After all, the best way to grow is through our mistakes. Nobody, not even the legendary Alexia Bluerose, can be expected to get it all right on the first go-around."

"I won't underestimate you, Azi. Never again in this way." She offered her pinky finger. "I promise."

Azi, beaming, entwined her little finger with Alexia's. "It is a good thing you're not a rockhead, my beloved bestie, less you may've found my pie accelerating toward your face."

"Impossible," Alexia said, restrained laughter tugging at the corner of her mouth. "You wouldn't waste the food."

"Underestimating me again?" Azi shook her head, unable to shake off her perfect smile. "I thought we were past this?"

Alexia sucked in her lip, trying to think her way out of the princess's web without getting further trapped. Fortunately, words came easy to her when it was just Azi. "I suppose you could do it. But you would instantly regret it, then lick it clean off my face."

"And wouldn't you enjoy that, Bluerose?"

The impish naughtiness was typical of Azi's humor. However, she smashed into a target she didn't know existed. Alexia lowered her eyes to cover the flushing in her cheeks, burying her face in her own pie. Azi sat beside her, their thighs touching. Alexia couldn't banish the image of Azi climbing atop her, laying her down, and kissing pie off her face. It was tantalizing, spreading warm tingles down her spine that raced to every corner of her body. Her own face must've been redder than the acacia blooms.

If only for a moment, she envied tamers for their ability to read minds. What would Azi think of her if she confessed these secrets? But that was foolish. And, as established, she didn't want to be a fool beyond today.

Azi wrapped her arm around Alexia's back. She fumbled her pie, fortunately it didn't flip.

"Jumpy today, aren't you?" Azi's own pie slurred her words. "I promise I won't pie your face. I swear it on, well, you." Azi massaged her back. "And I will let you know that I hold nothing as sacred." She swallowed. "You're divine, sister. And not just because you harness eight of them. You're a good seed, growing in all the right ways." Azi kissed her cheek. "Leverith! I missed you."

Alexia rested her head on Azi's powerful shoulder. "I love you too, Azi." That was as close as she would let herself go.

"And I," Azi took a humongous bite that would've embarrassed any other woman Alexia had ever met, "love pie."

Laughing together didn't drive out the image of Azi laying atop her, kissing her cheek more sensually. Alexia tried to banish it, but the princess made it impossible when she took Alexia's hand in hers, and laid down, her body so close to hers. Alexia reclined beside her, intertwined finger the closest she could ever get to thousands of daydreams. It hurt to keep quiet, the secret eating away at her insides, screaming to be let out. If you loved someone, you should let them know. But if you loved someone you shouldn't, what did you do?

Her mind jumped right to the worst case: Azi would expose her as an anathema, and the only thing Alexia would be able to kiss was goodbye to her dreams of peace because Leveria wouldn't follow somebody who loved people born the same gender as them. Almost two hundred years since Maddeck Eckhard stopped hiding his heart, and still Leveria wasn't a place for such love.

Alexia knew Azi likely wouldn't go that far. She was more open-minded, or rather less rockheaded as she'd put it. But the chances that she'd reciprocate her love felt about as likely as the Celegans negotiating a peace between the Ruby and the Sapphire. Azi loved men, even if none of them seemed to love her back yet. She read more romances than anyone else Alexia knew. Granted, Alexia only knew a handful of people that read much at all. Azi gushed about the male leads, often wishing they could come to life and ride her away on a white horse.

Most likely, the princess would accept that Alexia was inverted, biverted, or whatever term best fit, but things would change. This beautiful friendship would turn into an awkward mess. They wouldn't be able to have moments like this. Azi would hold her hand less, hug her less. She certainly wouldn't give her any more kisses on the cheek. This bidirectional ease of words would cease to exist. Where once was a river flowing both ways freely, would be a swamp where Alexia's feet would get stuck at every other step. She didn't want this. Better to go on as they always had, with her carrying this secret that made it impossible to feel like she was true to herself.

But that was an old pain, a familiar one. Even after Zander, she couldn't make it stop hurting that the person she loved most didn't love her the same way. She'd hoped the feeling would be quieter, but now it was steeped in shame that she was untrue to him. She couldn't force these feelings into a permanent slumber, couldn't bludgeon them or burn them away. She did what she always did. Keep quiet. Ride the wave of affection and arousal until it passed. Repeat. She'd done it a thousand times. She'd just keep surfing until these feelings stopped flooding into her. Maybe someday, after years spent with Zander, her forbidden love would cease to flow at all.

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Alexia could dream. At least she was good at that.

For once, she was grateful for the sheer volume of people who lived in the castle. Though the acacia was in the center of a courtyard, off footpaths, it could be seen from the adjoining grounds. Flocks of well-wishers approached her, from her father's assistants to Sapphireguard squads to maids. Fifty people welcomed her home, congratulating her success against the ogres in Fritjof or her "victories" in Vulcan, Mirrevar, and Ferrickton.

Her yearning for unreciprocated and unexpressed love was blown astray by yearning for solitude. Her bedroom became the daydream, door locked, window shut. She was tired, but kept smiling for them, giving short, but sweet, responses.

Azi, bless her, knew her well. She drove them away, taking the blame herself by shouting that folks could get a turn after she was done with her.

"Keep the acacia clear," Azi ordered Gyan. "We're planning how to stop the rockheads from destroying the world."

Alexia didn't know that it was possible to shake one's head and nod at once, but Gyan managed the awkward movement. They were left alone, given space to scheme.

Azi tended Alexia's ideas like they were flowers in her garden, listening, asking questions, and offering insight like she was born to nurture scattered thoughts and soothe the anxiety that hindered their growth. A few things became clear. Ruby and Sapphire had agreed on brief truces in the past during times of crisis such as the Great Famine or the Year of the Yasmar—which they decided was likely Celegan-influenced. If they could provide enough evidence to convince Gideon and Adameon that the Celegans were attacking, that could be enough for an initial armistice.

A more permanent alliance would require more than external threat though. They'd need internal cohesion, a way to connect Ruby and Sapphire who hadn't collaborated on anything since the end of the Leverian dynasty over seven centuries ago. Joint military operations would bring them closer, as it had Calden's Caravan and the Redeemed Men. But while that would go a long way for people in those joint units, it wouldn't be enough for the archlords in their castles far from the battle lines.

The Ruby and the Sapphire needed to learn how to love again. A royal bonding would be necessary. Azi volunteered herself for the younger Crown Prince, Adamo, or the king's nephew.

"The prince is said to be handsome and even-tempered," Azi said, "and Jaseon a respected leader among the Rubyguard." She blushed. "I've also heard he's quite the heartthrob."

"They probably say the same things about Halius over there."

Azi gagged. "Why'd you have to say that?"

"Because not everyone with a great reputation is like Prince Perfect in the romances you read."

Azi shook her head. "Why not?" She did a dramatic swoon. "Oh, Jaseon, where have you been all my life? I've been a fish out of water, and you've brought me the sea. Oh, see, kay."

Snorting, Alexia dashed onward. "Halius and Sebreena. That is a match that both kingdoms would swoon for."

"You just want to get Halius off of you. I mean, I don't blame you, I wouldn't want to be in the ogre's sights, but don't you think trusting Halius with sustaining peace is a bit rash?"

She had a point. Halius, though the storybook prince on the outside, would be unpredictable. Much for the same reason Alexia didn't suggest Serapheena Ruby for the match. The fire-haired princess was said to be vicious and ugly, not that a person's appearance should matter. She could trust Azi to go in with good intentions, but could she count on Adamo or Jaseon to love her back? If they didn't, Azi could be vicious herself. Alexia was just fortunate to never be her target.

"You're thinking I can't be trusted to keep the peace either," Azi said. She was uncannily perceptive, a master at reading Alexia's mood and the color of her thoughts.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alexia lied. "I promised to believe in you. I don't trust Adamo or Jaseon with your heart." She looked up. "The last thing I want for you is an arranged marriage."

Her face slumping, Azi nodded, having grown up victim to an arranged marriage that had every reason to be straight out of her romance novels. Gideon had saved Hellena's life by conquering the Spider's Head and then trading it back to the Ruby for the captured Zafirton where she was being held hostage. The arrangement was wildly popular when it was made, thought to be a way to heal the wounds caused by the Ruby taking Zafirton while giving King Ezekiel's second son a match fit for his military accomplishments.

"You're beautiful head is right too," Azi said, Alexia feeling her sorrow. "It might be best if we could meet first. A grand ball of some sort where we could also pursue bondings between heirs of the holds."

Alexia shook her head, vigorously. "Too risky. We might as well put Rubi's blue flame in the room with you all and offer a prize to who can detonate it fastest."

Azi snorted. "You're right again. Damn you and your insufferably wise and pretty head, Alexia Bluerose."

"You're right too," Alexia said. "The archlords bear too much enmity even if Ruby and Sapphire can unite. Tandande and Roswell. Haliae and LaGrett. Dalardor and Bluvein. Celvine and Arpione. We need to find a way to blend them."

They proposed several potential solutions. Favors could be exchanged to encourage Ruby-born to attend the Arcanium while Sapphire-born attended Leverian University, highborn families could take youth as squires from across the old border lines, trade agreements, and, of course, bondings. This would be a slow process, with many bumps, but in time the solution would be finding creative ways to turn the page on old rivalries. Perhaps they wouldn't send a Celvine girl to be wed in Northold, but there was nothing wrong with sending an Arpione girl to Meridian. The more melding they could do across the current dividing lines, the harder it would be to justify returning to the Gemstone War.

But the Celegans threatened far more than the inverted heart they called home. They'd already destroyed every other society in Vesarra, the largest continent in the world. Volqor, Kavova, and the Mahogany Isles might be under attack too. Even if they weren't, they'd be next. If the rest of the world didn't want to see their legacies end like the Sun Priestesses of Isihla, once the wealthiest monarchs in the world, or the Gidiite Empire, once the mightiest warriors, they'd need to bind together.

Volqori numbers might be the smallest of the three international powers, but the dragon warriors and dragon knights were the best fighters in the world—assuming tamers hadn't discovered how to seize control of dragons in the last two centuries. They might also be the hardest to secure because the Fire and Ice tribes were currently at war, led by champions renowned for their brutality. The Sapphire also had poor relations with both, not even being permitted an embassy in Loxzua or Ozyeeq since Theos Stormkin killed Queen Kaidaxus. Though Alexia's father had bemoaned this, his attempts to improve relations had been ignored by Volqori who often saw Leverians as soft and pathetic.

Alexia's grandfather fled Kavova and became an Azureknight. Her father, and even perhaps herself, might be able use their lineage to make connections with Kavovan governors. The governors prized beauty and wealth, making easy targets for trade alliances and marriages.

"We're going to run out of bachelors and bachelorettes by the end of this," Alexia joked.

"Less to gawk at you, Bluerose."

"What a shame. Unfortunately, there will be less bachelorettes too, which means those left behind might be gawkier."

Azi chuckled. "Maybe some might even gawk at me then."

Alexia wanted to say she'd gawk at her. She settled for, "Only if we leave behind some smart ones."

"With plenty of wrinkles on their brains!"

Alexia wagged her finger. "Send the rockheads to Kavova."

"All of them."

Between the laughing and the planning, they acknowledged that no matter how many young, glamorous, rockheaded Leverian heirs and heiresses they offered, the Kavovan states were decentralized and viciously competitive. Unifying Kavova would be, if anything, more challenging that unifying Leveria. Governors would capitalize on their rivals for committing to an international war, even if that war ensured that Kavova would have a future beyond Celegan genocide, rape, and enslavement.

The Mahagans had the closest connection with the Sapphire Kingdom due to their proximity, their apotheosis of Queen Alexia Leveria, their adoption of the Love Queen's language as their unified tongue, and their stable centralized government. But they offered the least military support of the three international powers. Still, gaining the skills of Mahagan bondpairs could only help the world defeat the Celegan threat. They already had a legacy of fighting the tamers, with both Captain Bakari and Captain Yaha having been pivotal in battling Gurgaldai ezen Celegan.

"That settles it," Azi declared. "We're visiting the Mahogany Isles. Remember when Sultan Leono visited Saphirhold?"

Alexia nodded. "How could I forget? You slobbered over him every chance you had. I was concerned that you might perish of dehydration."

Azi grinned. "That bare chest advanced my development at least a few years."

"Sultan Leono has a son. I did my best to avoid him, but I think he's around our age."

"Leoquo," Azi said, staring up at the cloudless sky, hands planted on the ground behind her, chest pointing up as if exposing her heart to the heavens. "Leoquo Mahagan."

"Same name as the First Mahagan," Alexia said.

"And the first Ma-hog-in-me," Azi said, biting her lip.

"Have you read Love Across the World?"

Azi sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll make him dive to the bottom of the sea to get me a pearl."

"They only do that to create a Mahagan bondpair, Azi. I don't think you'll be wanting to jump off a cliff."

"You trying to Everrain on my dream, Bluerose?" Azi twisted her neck just enough to give her a dashing side eye stare, amplified with the raising of her bushy eyebrow.

Alexia folded her arms over her chest, then bumped Azi with her shoulder. "No," she elongated the word to lighten her challenge. "That would be underestimating you and I don't do that anymore."

"That's right," Azi agreed, her voice dreamy. "A diplomatic quest. Me and you, sailing to warn Sultan Leono and Emir Leoquo of the Celegan threat and seeking an alliance of our people. If a handsome emir should find it appropriate to dive to the ocean's bottom to offer the wayward princess a pearl, who are we to stop him?"

Alexia gazed up into the canopy, recognizing jealousy's claws gripping into her side. She wished she could shed such an unworthy feeling. It made her want to dismiss Azi's dreams, to call them irrational. She held her mouth shut, knowing that Azi had never once dismissed a single dream of hers. Then, remembering an old trick her father taught to deal with her anxiety, Alexia said the opposite of what she wanted to say to change her feelings.

"I would love that for you, Azi. Mahagan boys are taught to be affectionate before lustful, to listen before talk, and to have absolute devotion to their mate. You deserve that in your lover." She swallowed. Focus on what you can control. "And, devoting a span of our time to see if we can enlist the support of the Mahogany Isles seems the best thing we can do while we wait for your father to return."

Azi loomed over her, her hair draping them. "Why do you sound so sad about it then?"

Alexia found the lie easily, for it was full of truth. "I just wish there was something I could do about Mirrevar."

"Me too, Alexia. Me too. I say we step around my mother and brother on this, and have your father approve of the mission. The Bluerose is always out to further any alliances that bolster trade."

Alexia hesitated at that. She loved her father, but was not at peace with the royal steward after he sent her to Ferrickton and brokered a betrothal to Halius. "Or I can get it approved by Master Theos? The Mahogany Isles are legendary to cognitive-affectomancers just as Mirrevar and Balbaraq's Gap are. After several moons at battle, I could feel the Rains of Dalazuli to renew my attunement with Dalis and touch the winds of the white shores to deepen my bond to Zafrir. Cognitive-affectomancer pilgrimages to Caleel are common. Most who serve aboard ships are required to experience this very early in their training."

Azi flashed an impish grin. Her dreamy voice made Alexia giggle. "And I am going there to study nature. How things look and how to make them grow. You know, research, Master Bluerose. Important field work for the Arcanium's youngest Master Herbology in history."

"The most important field work in the Arcanium's history perhaps."

The smile that flowed over Azi's face was as natural as the ocean breeze blowing leaves on the acacia. In the distance, Saphirhold's inner gate opened. This mundane experience had happened about twenty times since they sat beneath the acacia to scheme, but this was the first time it was accompanied by a voice with a thick Islander accent.

There were seven Mahagans in the entourage. Three were muscled women carrying spears that were longer than they were tall. The women wore lion hide over their breasts and lion breeches that went down to their shins. Each had a pearl necklace dangling on a seashell chain. Their hair braided, colored like their skin, a deep black much like obsidian. They were pleasant to look at, as far as Alexia was concerned. More importantly, they were Windjumpers, meaning they could essentially fly short distances using their unique Mahagan attunement with Zafrir.

If they were Windjumpers, then three of the Mahagan men were their bondpair Waterrunners. Indeed, three of the men wore vests with colorful plumage and shin-length lion-hide breeches. They were shaved from head to toe, in the Mahagan tradition. Unlike the women, the men carried shorter spears and had sheathed scimitars at their waists. They couldn't soar through the air, but running atop water, breathing beneath it, and moving with an inhuman fluidity was also amazing.

Azi tugged at Alexia's sleeve. "See the one with the lion cape?"

The seventh member of the Mahagan entourage was the most distinct. Like his male peers, he wore a vest that opened at the chest but left his sinewy abdomen and pectoral muscles exposed. His attire was brightened with the plumage of quetzal's and at least a dozen other tropical birds. Indeed, he alone wore a lion cape, just as Sultan Leono had when he visited Saphirhold. Unlike the other men, this Islander wore a seashell necklace with a large pearl at the bottom. His hairless head accentuated his very handsome face. It was his cheerful voice that carried his accent to the acacia, if not his words.

"I see him," Alexia told Azi. She turned to see her friend and found her eyes wide, her other hand over her heart. "I'd guess that's Emir Leoquo himself." She frowned, jealous of the obvious attraction Azi experienced toward him. "It looks like our field work expedition has come to us."

"He's spectacular," Azi said, tightening her grip on Alexia's hand so much that it was starting to ache.

"The Lion Prince."

"The Lion Prince," the princess repeated. "Let's go change the world."

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