“Nothing new, though the blasted snakes remain a nuisance. Bite at the workers, but that spirit trick still works. Splash it on their faces, and the slithering things pull back quick.”
My brow knit as I glanced at Nienna, who only smiled. Snakes, then. Harmless enough, apparently.
“I notice your dragon stayed behind,” Barchalk added.
A flicker passed over Nereus’ face. He brushed a leaf from the map on the table. “Argos is… reluctant to linger.”
I made a quiet sound. “They sense danger—but are content to leave their riders here?”
The king’s gaze turned sharp, and his tone lost its warmth. “If I believed there was true risk, I wouldn’t have brought my daughter.”
Nienna’s grip tightened—a silent plea to let it go. Perhaps Draconis trusted their dragons the way we trusted our gods. But I questioned it. Where they saw guardians, I found creatures with instincts sharper than words.
I held my tongue and leaned closer to study the map.
The northernmost shore, where we docked, sprawled out in precise detail—but to the south, the ink faded into emptiness. Eastern and western coasts had lines and names, but the interior remained untouched. The blank space hinted at a single truth—they never strayed far from this point.
“One day, we’ll send cartographers deeper,” Nereus said, noting my study.
“We’re still mapping northern Radaan,” I replied, understanding all too well.
Barchalk let out a wheezy chuckle. “We’ve lived on this planet for countless years and have yet to see it all. Strange, isn’t it?”
I sank into a sun-bleached chair beside Nienna. “Why haven’t the other islands pushed to settle here?”
“Dragons,” she answered. “The wildlings fly south. The islanders know what they become without a rider.”
“End up like Prince Adoni.” Barchalk spat at the ground, then winced and darted a look at Nienna. “Begging your pardon, Your Majesty.”
“It’s the truth,” Nereus said. “We hold the Wild Shores because we have the airpower to force our way here. No other island nation can claim that. If it came to war, they’d sit on the water like kindling.”
“But we wouldn’t strike without cause,” Nienna added.
Her father and Barchalk exchanged a glance. The land was rich, tempting—a valuable resource worth fighting for, if Draconia hadn’t already laid claim. I rested a hand on her thigh, subtle but firm. She didn’t want to go down that road.
The rest of the afternoon passed in talk of trees—measured clearing, careful strategy, rotations and cuts. Nienna answered questions when they came, always polite, but her gaze kept drifting past the tents, toward the untouched forest, thick and shadowed.
We dined on the beach. The workers erupted in cheers when they discovered we’d brought Radaanian grain. My men chuckled. Simple bread, nothing to us—yet it raised spirits like fire on a cold night.
As the sun dipped below the water, I left Greaves with our mantles and slipped away with Nienna. The breeze nudged her skirts, tugged at my sleeves. We rounded a bend in the dark shoreline, out of sight, where she dropped onto a smooth stone and yanked at her boots.
“They won’t eat you?” I asked, lowering myself beside her and peeling mine off. “No tiny monsters waiting in the water to poison your feet?”
She laughed, already standing, wriggling out of her trousers. “Oh, you’ll be plagued for sure.”
“There are worse ways to go.” My voice deepened, body heating, as she bent over to step free of them, knowing there was nothing beneath that dress. But this moment wasn’t about me. She had waited her whole life for this—freedom, wild waves, and sky.
“You’ll meet your end as an old, old man,” she said. “In your sleep, next to me.”
“You want me to die in your arms?” I rolled my trousers to my knees, smirking. “Sometimes I swear my heart will burst with you.”
She glanced back, smile curving. Mischief lit her face. “Your heart is that full?”
I moved close, brushed my mouth against her neck, catching the faint salt on her skin. “I’ll show you tonight.”
She shivered, then bent to knot her skirts at the knees. The hem hiked above her calves as she walked into the surf.
We stayed out until blackness swallowed the horizon. Then the water came to life.
