Ser Nikolai was still talking about his new dagger when we made it onto the ship. He bribed the ferryman not to recognize him and to put us below the main deck where Willoughby and the group wouldn't see us. We walked too close together and with his arm around my shoulders. The motion yanked my hair, which he had suggested I wear down to play the part.

But he had been smart about the act. No one took a second look at me, and we were able to find a table near the front of the boat on the balcony. It wasn't a small ship, either, I was happy to find. There were at least three levels of various heights.

When the thing started to move, I nearly fell over. The dress we'd put on the Crown's account was tight within the bodice and left it difficult to stand soundly. I had gladly neglected boning of any kind over the summer, and two weeks before the social season was too soon for my delight, the ability to function aside. Even if it did suit me and feel better than Ser Braxton's clothes, it was green, and that made me think of the Duke.

Nikolai held me, making a comment as my spouse.

"Steady on, wife," he said. "You'll find your legs soon enough."

I stepped closer to the rail and looked over at the cresting water around the base.

"It's..." I couldn't find the words. "It's beautiful," I said.

"Is this your first time on the ferry?" he asked.

"This is the first time I've ever seen a boat," I confessed. "We always take the carriage to Chalke."

"What of the Riverlands? They're far closer and in between Ísfjall and Rothingham. They have boats."

"Ser–Sergio," I decided to name him. "You know I've never taken a river tour."

He nodded. "We'll have to change that," he said.

I rolled my eyes, batting him. "Oh, yes. Let's."

I steeled myself to creep closer to the sea and held on to the railing for life. "What keeps this thing from sinking?" I asked. "Aren't there... creatures in there?"

Nikolai shrugged.

"Well, that's comforting!"

Above us, Ser Fridrick's voice made a comment on the weather, and I leaped back toward the table to hide. Nikolai glanced at the ceiling that would have shielded me, then met my eyes.

"Friend of yours?" he whispered.

"That's part of Willough's party," I whispered back. "Fifty people on this entire ship, and he's above us?" I damned it. "Dumb luck."

"Sit down," he said. "He can't see you from here."

I nodded and heeded his advice.

Nikolai kept his voice low. "What is this dragon a metaphor for anyway?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "I said I didn't know."

"You say a lot of things," he said. "But I think you do. That's why it's so important."

"I... Even if I did, why would I tell you?" I asked. "I don't know you."

"But I'm helping you to see it?" He laughed. "I didn't have to, you know?"

"Oh, don't play Knight in Shining Armor, Ser...gio. You're getting a sword."

"Dagger," he said. "But I would've helped you anyway; not my fault you offered the blade."

I raised a brow. "Oh? And why is that? Your devotion to the Crown?" I teased.

He veered off, noting, "Because you seem like a fun sort of girl."

"Said no one ever, but thank you." I peered into the horizon. "I fear my days of fun are severely numbered now."

"Ah, yes. The Season is coming up. Will you be hosting it again this year?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes, of course. I'll host it every year for the foreseeable future."

"Good to know." He bobbed his head.

"Why is that good to know?" I asked.

"I just thought if somebody wanted to court you, that's a good place to start, yeah?" he said.

"Oh... Oh!" I nearly choked. "Oh, I... Uh."

"You're not interested?" he asked. "That's alright. I'll live."

"That's good..." I offered. "I'm sorry, I'm just not..."

"I'm too old for you?" he asked. "Or?"

"I'm... sure you're a little old for me, yes, but... You seem fine. It's just...." I paused. "I'm hopeful someone else will come this year."

"Then he is a very lucky man," he said.

"Sorry," I replied.

"You needn't be sorry for something you don't want, Your Highness," he said. "But I figured I might as well shoot my arrow, yeah? You'll never hit the target if you don't arch."

"Something like that," I said. "Speaking of, do you ever come to the Games?" I tried to change the subject. "They do archery, you know?"

"Yes," he said. "I know the sport, but I am not exactly a great bowsman."

"That's a shame," I told him. "I might have cheered for you."

He leaned back in his seat. "We've got about an hour," he said. "The ferry will dock at Keye; then, we'll need to move quickly if we're to grab our horses."

"Doesn't it make more sense to wait?" I asked.

"Not if you want to follow them." He smirked. "Easier to track a man if you know where it is he's going."

"He's going to Gosil," I said. "We know that."

"Ah," he sang. "How silly of me. Yes. What city in Gosil, then?"

"W-what?"

"Which city, then?" He started naming them. "Is it Blythe or Keye, or maybe just Eros?"

"I don't know. Which one's furthest south?"

"Eros," he said.

"Eros?" I scowled. "But we're headed to Keye."

"Yes," he said. "And from there, they will lead us north."

"I'm confused," I said.

"Shall I draw you a map?"

"Maybe!" I whined.

He laughed, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket and a pen off of the table. "The Ferry sails south twice a day. Once to Chiaf, once to Keye. When it docks at Keye, it's there for the night. In the morning, it makes its trip to Chiaf, then back to Locke. Make sense?"

"Yes?" I thought.

"This space here, this entire territory, allllll the way to Crild? That's the Duchy of Gosil," he explained. "Twenty towns and cities, off the cuff, that I could name."

"I had no idea it was so incredibly massive!" I said.

"It's the largest Duchy in all of the continent. Larger than any in Oreia. That's how they gained their independence during the War."

"But how does one man run it?" I asked. "The Duke is barely older than me."

Nikolai quirked a brow. "Have you met Duke Löff, ma'am?"

"You know him?" I was surprised.

"Yes," he nodded. "He passes through Harbourtown every year on his way to the Capitol. I've talked to him about my farm a lot. Though, now that I think of it, I didn't see him this season."

"He went a different way," I said.

Nikolai hesitated to say anything in response, and I realized I had said too much. When he did speak, he asked, "Is he well?" and nothing else.

"I think so," I tried to seem indifferent. "As well as one can be given the dragon and all?"

"Ah," the light lit above his head.

"No ah," I told him. "No, no ah. There's nothing to ah about."

"If that is what you'll have me believe," he said. "Certainly not that this dragon has anything to do with the Duke of Gosil."

"Sergio!" I snapped. "Stop it with your thinking. There's no ah to it. I'm not chasing dragons for dukes; I'm... The dragon is opportunity. It's... It's adventure. It's courage. It's being more than a pretty flower in a garden, on a mountain, surrounded by stone and ice and men who will only say 'yes, Your Highness,' 'anything you say, Your Highness,' but then stab you through the back the moment you turn around just to pierce your heart and never call on you again!"

He stared at me.

"Or something like that," I said.

"...Okay." He paused. "That's a lot to take in. Who in their right mind would ghost you?"

"Ghost me?" I asked. "What the Hell does that mean?"

"You know, when you stop talking to a girl? You just... evaporate into thin air, much like a phantom?" He exhaled. "Did the Duke of Gosil ghost you? That doesn't seem like him."

"No," I whined. "It was someone else. No, you know what? It was nobody, don't repeat that. No one ghosted me."

"There are many things on this trip I will not repeat," he said. "I'd like to keep my head where it is if it's all the same to you?"

"Why does everyone think they'll be murdered or hung for interacting with me?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't want to answer that."

I waved him off. "Well," I started. "Your confidence has been a strange development in this arrangement, and now I feel bad for tricking you into this trip."

"You tricked me?" he croaked. "You said I was too smart to be conned? Oh, bloody hell." The realization hit him. "That's on me. You know, Daniel's really got you narrowed down, I think. You're crafty, eh?"

"I wouldn't say I'm crafty," I said. "Coyotes are crafty. I just get what I want."

"Except for a visit from your ex, it seems."

I gasped.

"Sorry!" he hurried. "Sorry! That was too far, yeah?"

"Yeah, maybe!" I cried. "Wow! Well, I congratulate you on the absolute gall that took to deliver, Ser...gio. But–"

"No one's really around us," he said. "You don't have to keep calling me that."

I laughed. "Fine. But on one condition."

"Name it," he said.

"Compete in the Games this year?" I asked.

"And die?" He pretended to consider it. "No, thank you. I'll pass."

"You won't die," I said. "They blunt their weapons."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"No... But. Regardless, I'm going to tell Ser Elías you're a good fit, so he'll look for you."

"Ser Elías? The Lord Commander of the Queensguard?" He made a gagging noise.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked.

"Do not tell him I'll be there!"

"Why not? What's wrong with Eli?"

"Nothing!" he said. "Please do not suggest to him that I think anything is wrong. The man's legend!"

"A legend?" I cried. "Really?"

"Yes," he pressed. "A legend. Please. I will consider your offer, but I will never sleep again if I know that somewhere, somehow, he knows my name."

"Okay..." I said. "Nevermind then. I just thought it would be fun to see you again. Platonically."

"Ser Elías." He shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"I mean, if you were to put in for the Games, I would introduce you?"

His eyes were wide.

"I told you, I get what I want," I said. He opened his mouth, and I birthed the angriest face I could. "I swear to you, Ser, I am a lady, but if you make another comment on ghosts or phantoms, I will send you to the afterlife to be one!"

"...I was going to say we're close." He pointed to the shore.