Erlos caught sight of Alexia first. He pointed her out, a rolled-up parchment in his hand. Then a stampede of grateful men rushed down the boardwalk.

Dockworkers and sailors parted for them as all seventeen of them charged headlong for her. A blissful, peaceful mood fell over her. She knew it was a calm before the storm but tried to only look at the here and now, and savor the sweetness of this tremendous moment.

Sir Garrond tried to force the happy crowd off her, sending Jem flying like a domino through the others as they surrounded her.

"At ease, Sir Garrond," she called, as the gaggle of guardsman who weren't dressed the part staggered to their feet. "These are my guards. The Redeemed Men."

He grunted. "One at a time, hands where I can see them."

"As you command, Sir," Erlos said, claiming the first turn. He spread his great big arms around her, squeezing with all his might. "You did it. Bless you thirteen times. We are free."

"And we are yours," Jem promised, staggering through the dogpiled men. A dozen men echoed him.

She tried to stay in the moment as they bombarded her. Even with Garrond's restrictions, their energy shot toward her like an arrow piercing her ability to stay present.

Bam and Sein shouted competing stories about their last few days, both salted with hyperbole. They drowned out the more intimate greetings of the person taking their turn. Most of them hugged her, and she happily shared in their joy, feeling herself smile even as she was unable to conjure more than a few vague words for each of them. Nico kept his hands up, where both Garrond and Alexia could see them, but she dove in for a hug. Temos spoke excitedly; even though his speech was distorted, working with half of a tongue, many missing teeth, and the challenges he was born with, she understood his joy.

These are my people, she thought, ensuring they each got a piece of her.

When she was done, her focus drifted to Garrond, expecting to see his cold gaze flicker away from her as if letting their eyes meet would set him aflame. Arms crossed, face stoic, Garrond watched the Redeemed Men—and the Innocent Boys—as if measuring them on scales only he could see. When he was done, he caught her staring and met her gaze.

She worried about how she measured on those scales. Alexia smiled at him. Garrond's scales remained unchanged, not even the twitch of a lip. She swallowed, humbled by how much of a shield her pretty smile had been for her throughout her life when she finally found someone that didn't see it. Or at least didn't see it as endearing. Her smiled couldn't endure the cold scrutiny. Not that it mattered.

Following the Redeemed Men further along the boardwalk, she tried not to feel hopeless. Everyone could change. She just had to keep trying until she found a way to reach him. Sometimes the breakthrough was just on the other side of those most hopeless moments, just as the night was darkest just before sunrise.

Leoquo Mahagan's Sea Lion was in the center of it all. A great galley made of reddish-brown mahogany fitted with sails, oars, and arbalests, Sea Lion was the flagship of the coalition. Even though her father was head of the kingdom's spy network, it only took one wrong word to Halius to send her whole plan to the bottom of the ocean. While she might not remain aboard Leoquo's vessel, it was where she hoped to begin the journey just to reduce the likelihood that some Sapphire would try to keep her from sailing to the southeast seas.

Every eye upon her added to the usual anxiety she felt to be seen. Between her scanty attire, the kingdom's most famed knight armored in his meladonite and wielding his famed blade, and the old geezer wearing a coconut shirt and red trunks, word would spread toward Saphirhold with all haste. They didn't have time to delay.

"Doth my eyes deceive me?" Emir Leoquo Mahagan called out, his heavy accent carrying over the busy harbor as he stepped with practiced sea legs down the gangway.

"If you don't trust your eyes, try your arms." Alexia opened hers.

That charming smile strapped on his face, Leoquo stepped into her embrace. Three taps on the back, then they pulled apart. The puff of his cheeks, the shine of his pearly teeth, made her feel welcomed and warm. Between his earnestness, his passion for his people, the warmth he shared with others—especially Azi—Leoquo Mahagan was racing to become one of her favorite people, despite him being as charming as she was shy.

"I thought the Sapphire prince was going to lock you into his chest and hoard the key!" He cocked his head at Theos and his unique garb as he awaited her response. Theos furthered his cause by deciding that would be the right moment to pick his nose and then eat the booger. Leoquo tilted his head further, raising both eyebrows at Alexia, scandalized like a Mahagan in a Leverian brothel.

Alexia swung her arm toward her mentor. "This is Archwizard Theos Stormkin."

Leoquo laughed, his rumbling leonine. "Azi has told me of your archwizard. It is my pleasure to see the legend in person." He offered his hand.

"Everything the princess says about me is true," Theos said, wiping a ripe booger on his trunks before accepting Leoquo's offer of friendship. Leoquo grimaced, his eyes drifting down to the booger.

He subtly brushed his hand against the back of his lion-hide pants. The emir cleared his throat, eyes swinging back to Alexia, his smile faltering. "I realize I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Are you here to see us off or—"

She took his hands. "I'm with you, Leoquo."

The Mahagan's jowls quivered, before setting like stone in plaster. Tears glistened in his eyes. He put his hand to his heart and Alexia knew that her presence meant the world to him, that the great burdens he carried on his shoulders would be shared with her.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Thank the Fourteenth," he said, his voice choked. He looked from Alexia, her Redeemed Men, the archwizard, and the commander of the Azureknights. "Your names will forever be recorded in our songs as heroes. Love Queen bless you all with her goodness."

Ignoring Esrak teasing Bam about finally making it as a legendary hero, Alexia swung her eyes toward the harbor. The number of ships gathered into this makeshift armada was awe-inspiring. Halius had committed a majority of the Sapphire fleet, including The Blue Lance, the flagship of the king's navy. There was Leoquo's Sea Lion, three additional Mahagan galleys, four Kavovan trading cogs, several ships that the Bluerose had paid to help transport islanders to Cherin's Point, and one ship from both the Ice and Fire tribes of Volqor.

Sailors from every continent beyond the Celegan-conquered Vesarra had assembled to help the Mahagans. The symbolism didn't evade Alexia's notice nor did its import pass her by. With the exception of the Ruby Kingdom, every major power was coming together to fight the Chimaera. They would let Daichin ezen Celegan see that he was indeed unifying the world. But not the way he'd planned.

She gestured toward the fleet. "Your people are going to have to make a lot of songs, Leoquo."

The prideful smile was becoming on his strong face. "Yes. While we were awaiting the outfitting of the Sapphire fleet, three of our wayward vessels ventured into port. Our people are free. The sultan doesn't command with the authority of king or archlord. We guide and provide mediation between the clans. Yet, knowing the dangers, all three captains and their crews offered their help without hesitation."

He pointed toward two ships that were on opposite sides of the armada. These ships were the most distinct, with dragon symbology on their masts and figureheads, and sails that furled sideways like wings rather than over the deck of the ship. "We met with the captains of rival Ice Tribe and Fire Tribe ships. The Sea Drake and Syra's Glory boast that they will defeat more beasts than the other. You should've seen the way they glared at each other, Alexia. I expect that Captain Therix and Captain Undaxa will be settling their differences by the end of this. On a very sturdy bed—"

"Leoquo Mahagan!" Alexia was scandalized. "Has Azi corrupted you this much already?"

He had such an infectious laugh. For a few moments, he wasn't the prince responsible for preventing the extinction of his people.

Leoquo patted her shoulder. "You will feel the sexual tension between Undaxa and Therix, no matter how many boats they're separated."

Alexia blushed, imagining the naked wrestling of a blue-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned Ice Tribe man and the red-haired, red-eyed, tan-skinned Fire Tribe woman who could both lift a horse cart over their heads with bodies that greatly exceeded the strength of their appearances. She'd read The Warrior's Pride enough to look forward to observing that showdown.

"Besides," he continued, "our mutual friend hasn't corrupted me. Without her, this expedition wouldn't have either Volqori ship, and she was the one who suggested we offer the Kavovans favorable trade agreements with our settlement at Cherin's Point."

"Kavovans do like having any advantage on their competitors they can get," Alexia said.

"The point is," Leoquo said, his tone meaningful, "without Azurianna Sapphire we'd all be flailing around in the water. She is the ground beneath our feet."

Alexia put her hand over her heart, hoping that the emir could make an exception to Mahagan tradition. If anyone was worth it, it was Azi. "Azi has always been the ground beneath my feet," Alexia said. "The Fourteenth favors you, that she might do the same for you and the Mahagan people."

"The Fourteenth favors us," he agreed. "She saw this day and the ones that will follow. When the First Mahagan," he flashed his teeth in a glorious grin, the manner in which he accented his name was full of pride, "a man named Leoquo the Lion, asked when Alexia Leveria would return to the Isles, the Fourteenth went into a trance. Her eyes became a resplendent, glowing purple and she sang, her voice clear as the water and strong as the wind, 'When the sun sets on my life, another sun will rise. When the Isles see strife, Alexia shall return with new eyes. When the lion's roars cause unspeakable sores. When the empagong sing a vile song, Alexia will not be long. Fear not, Leoquo. Love will never let go. The Mahagan are born to be free. From now til the end of eternity.'"

Every pair of eyes within earshot seemed to focus on her, waiting for how she'd respond. Leoquo's bondpairs, Redeemed Men, even Theos Stormkin, Bam, and Sein were quiet—something she doubted the Love Queen could've ever foreseen. The Mahagans aboard Sea Lion put their hands over their chests making a sign of fealty. Shivers ran down Alexia's spine, as she absorbed the meaning of the words. The Lion Prince pinched his face, tightening his features to keep from showing the depths of his sadness and how much he believed that she might be the answer to his people's suffering.

Alexia's greatest hero, a woman born more than a thousand years ago, had looked forward and seen her. In this moment. She reached for her sternum, for a locket that ought to be there: the symbol that she was the Sunrise foreseen by the Love Queen.

"I am not the Love Queen," Alexia said, bowing to Leoquo, "but I will not let go of the promises she made to your people."

He bowed to her. "Nor will I. I must prepare for our departure. You are welcome aboard Sea Lion."

She gestured to her companions, now numbering nineteen. "If you have space for all of us, I welcome your invitation."

"I'll leave that to Makeba and Chikondi," he said, grinning as he led her procession up the gangway.

Mahagan women leapt from dock to deck to deck to dock, clearing spans of fifty feet as though they were simple as jumping up a single stairwell step. The sensation of Zafrir's divine energy pulsing around her as the women channeled was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She followed Leoquo, her mind taking in the weight of the Love Queen's prophecy.

Captain Makeba and First Mate Chikondi helped Alexia and her entourage find quarters and get situated while Leoquo went to speak with the captains of the other ships to prepare for final departure.

While Garrond discussed modifications to Alexia's safety plan with the Redeemed Men and Theos inspected the ship's rigging, Alexia settled on the prow of the ship. She kept her eyes on Saphirhold, rising over the hill Azureale. But she couldn't spare thoughts for Halius and whether he'd catch her. Boarding the boat drove a spike of truth into her heart. Now that she was here, going was far more frightening than staying.

Even if they succeeded, the price would be monumental. She didn't feel as strong as some prophesized hero with all these doubts ricocheting through her mind. She was just a woman, barely more than a child, and she was responsible for helping more people than lived within Dalis's Wall. What if Theos died? Or every one of the Redeemed Men? What if she couldn't save any of the Mahagan? If Leoquo was killed before her eyes and she had to come home and explain her failure to Azi? What if Alexia couldn't even return, captured by the Chimaera and his shadow. She was sailing into Zamael's Hells, where tens of thousands of beasts would attack, where an invisible man could snatch her in an instant, where a creature capable of destroying entire armies awaited.

Garrond lingered near, arms folded and eyes on everything. When the statue himself raised his eyebrow toward the gangway, Alexia received her first alert. The second came in the form of a series of excited squeals. The bouncing form rushing toward her wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt tucked into blue sailor's slops that stopped halfway between her thighs and her knees, and an unbuttoned blue vest, was the final clue that Princess Azurianna Sapphire didn't plan to just send Leoquo off.

The princess meant to join the expedition. And Alexia needed to stop her.

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