Reyn felt she needed to have a brief word with the empress regarding transportation. While she was certainly within her rights to request Reyn's presence, Enfri could stand to recall small yet critical details such as Reyn's dislike of flying.

Face buried against the Rampart's scales, Reyn tried her best to pretend she was still firmly on the ground in Nadia.

"We've already arrived?" Starra asked in surprise.

"It was not a great distance," Almo said curtly. His deep voice seemed to rumble throughout Reyn's body whenever he spoke. "A few moments more, and I will set down."

"You will find no swifter dragon than Almo the Rampart," Krayson said. "His command of aeromancy is peerless."

"You put wards around us," Saveen said. She rode on her father's back in her human form, between Krayson and Pacifica.

"Necessary, young one," he replied. "Otherwise, you would be blown off at this velocity. Was it your witch sight that detected it?"

"Drat," Saveen snarled under her breath. "Witch sight. I keep forgetting I have that. I just noticed my hair isn't getting messed up as much as it should."

Krayson glowered at her in disapproval while Almo chuckled fondly.

The sixth and final passenger aboard Almo spoke up. "Where exactly is it we're going?"

Reyn looked over her shoulder at the young woman behind her. "Sandharbor, Lidya. It's a small village on Althandor's western border with the Espalla Dunes."

"And the Lady Yora... I mean, the Dragon Empress is there?"

Reyn narrowed her eyes, wondering just what the skindancer was plotting to need that information.

Or, she thought, just an innocent question being asked by someone unsure of what their future holds.

Reyn suppressed a sigh before facing forward. "She is."

Of all the shocks that came with Starra's return, that the quietly competent house maid Lidya was and had always been a skindancer was among the most nerve-wracking. Even now, every instinct Reyn had was for her to light some fire runes and burn Lidya to ash. But Pacifica spoke for Lidya and said she was telling the truth about her wishing only to live a safe and quiet life among mortals.

Reyn supposed that she could hardly expect acceptance from humans if she wasn't willing to give it to someone she was afraid of.

That didn't stop Reyn from having misgivings about where Lidya had acquired this new skin she was wearing. She was wearing the skin of an Altieri farrier who was killed during the renegades' escape from confinement. She had fair skin and auburn hair worn in a loose braid. Lidya's new face was heart-shaped with a wide mouth and button nose. The young farrier had been an orphan with no family and no close friends as anyone could tell, but Reyn didn't think that meant she deserved to be used as clothing for a skindancer.

The alternative was even less palatable, to ask Lidya to go about in her natural form. If the legion reacted poorly to a selkie and weres, Reyn could only imagine how they'd react to an otherwise human figure lacking hair, skin, and constantly bleeding a black vapor.

Starra held on tightly to Reyn's arm as Almo began to descend. By far, Reyn would have preferred riding on one of the Arcane Knights' dragons. Almo abstained from using a harness or other Aleesh equipment, and Reyn's nerves would have benefited from the added security of a tether securing her to his back.

"A request, Lord Rampart," Starra called. "We must avoid Melcian eyes. Might you allow me to layer my illusions to conceal our approach?"

"I've no reservations against it. Light essence has no effect on aeromancy."

By his leave, Starra began working somatics. Reyn couldn't tell if she was disguising them or making them invisible, but she assumed Starra was being thorough.

"Anyone looking will see nothing more than a flock of exceptionally fast birds," Starra reported.

"All this skullduggery," Pacifica murmured. "Barely out of one battle with the Crescent Legion and heading towards another."

"Won't come to that if we're lucky," Saveen said.

"Luck?" Krayson asked. "Why don't we have a small review of how luck has treated us lately."

"Oh, do come off it, Brother Joshuan," Starra scolded. "It's as much our fault as anyone's for not giving a sending as soon as we knew there were two Dashars running about."

"Rippling Moon and Dashar Two were in the same camp," he said. "A lot of our problems could have been solved if they'd passed within smelling distance of each other."

"Don't you dare blame Moon, master," Saveen exclaimed.

"Not blaming. Merely pointing out."

"I hate to say it, but it may be irrelevant," Pacifica added. "Dashar Two is off to Drok Moran, and Princess Maya is likely already plotting Dashar One's demise."

Reyn had her eyes clamped shut as she scowled. She wasn't fond of what they settled on calling the potential Dashars. It was too confusing. Then again, there was little about the situation that wasn't.

"I've already sent along our report to Her Majesty," Starra said. "If she decides to put us on something else, that's her prerogative, but I don't like leaving a task only half done."

"The false Dashar is a demon thrall for certain," Krayson said. "They need to be pacified."

"While I'm gratified to hear you taking up the cause, Brother Joshuan, I can't help but think you're acting so grumpy because Lord Ban denied your request for his betrothed's services so... shall we say... decisively."

"And I still say it would've been relatively safe to take Moon to Drok Moran and track down Dashar Two. It's not as if I suggested we take her into the Palace of Towers."

"No, it was Saveen who suggested that."

Saveen wrinkled her nose. "He didn't even give an answer."

"Didn't dignify it with one, you mean," Pacifica said. "Moon is still in Sandharbor, waiting on the Historian. If it means so much to you two, we can talk to her about it when we arrive."

"And go behind the marshal's back?" Saveen gasped.

Pacifica flicked her wrist dismissively. "Ban's protective tendencies are among his virtues, but they can be a bother just as often. Moon's a grown woman, and Ban has no right making decisions for her."

Starra interjected with a pointed comment. "I applaud your views on self-determination, my lady, but I should remind you that Rippling Moon is an Aleesh knight-lieutenant and Lord Ban's subordinate. He, in fact, has every right to make decisions regarding military matters for her."

Pacifica pursed her lips, unable to argue the point. There remained a look of vague disapproval about her, which made Reyn think she was upset with Lord Ban over something. Thinking back, it had seemed to come as a surprise for Pacifica to learn Lady Ascania was now an Opal Knight, but Reyn couldn't imagine why that would be a problem for her.

Whatever her reasons, it would wait. Almo beat his wings as he came in to land in a sparsely wooded area around a large homestead. It was a familiar sort of layout for Reyn, one with stables and a barn for raising horses. Reyn's mother had been a devoted horse-breeder, and Reyn couldn't help but feel a glimmer of nostalgia at the sight of a small herd of horses grazing in their pasture.

Landing sent a tremor throughout Almo's scales as he set down in front of a two-story farmhouse with an adjoining forge. However, Reyn wasn't ready to feel relief until her own feet were firmly on solid ground. Starra was her savior, assisting her with a steady grip around her waist.

"Are you quite alright now, dear one?" she asked.

Reyn's hand tightened over Starra's. "Immeasurably, mon trésor."

Starra blushed. "Bloody girl," she muttered. "You've no business getting me this flustered when we're about to speak with Her Majesty."

Once they were all down, Almo lowered his head to address his daughter. "Are you to stay here, little one?"

Saveen folded her hands in front of her. "I should stay with the others, at least until we know what we're suppose to do next."

Almo harrumphed. "As you see fit, my Bastion. If it's all the same, I will depart. You can find me with your sendings should you need me."

"You won't stay?" Saveen asked.

Almo grimaced. "If I stay, it will only lead to your empress being... nice."

"How horrid," Krayson muttered.

Almo fixed a single, yellow eye on Krayson. "Do not think I've forgotten your part in tying my dragonet to this foolery, Blood Runner. You blazing enabler."

Krayson scoffed. "And proud of it. If you haven't learned by now that Empress Enfri isn't what you fear, I feel there's no hope for you."

"My fate is my own, as my Bastion's is hers. I can stomach her following this Dragon Empress, but that does not mean I will. I assist you only for Saveen's benefit. Not Shan Alee's."

Krayson waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, clearly bored of hearing what must have been a common topic of discussion between them. "So you keep saying. We won't keep you, and you have my word I'll keep a watchful eye on your daughter."

Almo grunted. "See that you do."

Reyn covered her head as Almo's wings kicked up a small storm of dust and debris. By the time she opened her eyes again, the Eldest of blue dragons was already vanishing over the treetops.

"I think he's coming around," Saveen said as she watched her father fade from sight.

Krayson snorted.

"Come off it. He didn't threaten to eat you this time."

"I suppose I should be grateful for small favors."

Starra brushed the dust off her dress. "Yes, well, we can all appreciate a lack of blood runner eating. To say nothing of him bringing us so quickly." She took Reyn's hands and held them up between them. "Now, we should see to matters at hand. Shall we, dear one?"

Reyn looked down at her feet and tried her best to keep the shy smile off her face. Gods, but she was enjoying this, truly being in a relationship with Starra. Reyn adored this attentive side of her.

"This is hard to believe," Pacifica said. "I can still scarcely come to terms with Lady Starra finally wearing you down, Reyn."

"Don't tease her, my lady," Starra said just before a wicked smirk came to her lips. "But, yes. I did. I'm happy to say your former handmaiden is so much warmer beneath her spiky Gaulatian exterior."

"Spiky?" Reyn protested, though it fell on deaf ears.

Pacifica came forward to hug her. "I'm so happy for you. I know you'll be good together, and it means I'll be able to see you more often."

Reyn was mortified to feel her heart skip a beat as Pacifica held her. Whatever anyone said, it really was a weakness of hers to fall in love so easily. Though, the specifics differed significantly from one case to the next. With Pacifica, it had been head over heels from the first words they exchanged and quickly became an all but fanatical devotion. With Starra, it'd been something of a reluctant and inexorable sinking into quicksand with a warm homecoming at the bottom.

There were loves Reyn could set aside, as with Princess Jin. Others she would likely never be free of no matter how hard she tried, as with Darian. Reyn almost wished a selkie's heart could be as fickle as many of the fairy tales painted them out to be. Love may have been infinite, but so was its ability to harm the heart that bore it.

She pulled away from Pacifica's hug and inclined her head to her. "Thank you. I am grateful to have you as my friend, Pacifica."

"Oh," Saveen exclaimed. "That reminds me. Master, could you tell me what a harem is?"

Krayson rounded on her. "I'm sorry, a what?"

Reyn would have given a lot for a spell to preserve the image of Krayson's aghast expression in her memory for all time. If she were a painter, she'd have made it her masterpiece. It only grew more priceless as Krayson became aware that everyone was looking at him and expecting an answer.

Fortunate for Krayson's red face, the empress came to his rescue. She came out of the front door of the farmhouse and hurried to greet them. Kolbat, the Lady of Pearls, accompanied her.

"Of all the things," Enfri said in a scandalized tone as she walked up. "Just what were you all teaching Saveen in Ecclesia?"

"Nothing, Your Majesty," Reyn replied. "We thought it best that her primary instructor provide such answers."

That didn't seem to satisfy Enfri much. Kolbat had an irreverent twinkle in her eyes, however.

Reyn traced an eye over Enfri's choice of wardrobe. The empress was attired more like a farm girl than royalty. Her dress was sturdy cotton that wouldn't be too warm as the weather approached summer, and Enfri had her hair tucked away beneath a large shawl. Most distressingly, her hands were covered in dirt. Reyn tried to ignore all that and get to the matter at hand.

"And who's this?" Enfri asked, looking to Lidya.

The skin on Lidya's face blanched white, and she looked as if she were about to throw up.

Reyn stood straight. "She is one of several topics we must get to, Your Majesty. If I may begin?"

"Right to business? Wouldn't you rather..."

"I would prefer to take my mind off the journey."

Enfri seemed reluctant, probably wanting to ask Reyn how she was doing after having her heritage outed to the entire legion. There was more than just the flight to Sandharbor that Reyn would prefer to take her mind off of.

"Not much in the way of conference rooms here," Kolbat said. "We'll have to make due with a privacy ward."

"Sufficient," Reyn said while drawing forth her amulet. She lit the proper sequence of lines within the fractal imprint. Once the ward fell around them, she began her terse report. "Kroja the Taskmaster is not far behind us. She and Paladin Daylen are carrying Princess Nkeoma and her retinue aboard the harness. Garret's being carried in his prisoner wagon in the Taskmaster's talons."

"None too gentle about it, I hope," Starra added.

"The fey are coming at speed," Reyn continued. "The Lost Company Tribe and the Frozen Waters Clan will arrive first with the rest coming soon after. Goblins and orcs can travel as fast as light cavalry when there is need, and Lord Bannlyth believes they will arrive an hour after the Taskmaster."

"Good," Enfri said. "The sooner we can secure the area, the better."

"And lastly." Reyn gestured towards Lidya. "We have found a skindancer."

It wasn't surprising to see Enfri's eyes nearly fall out of her head at that statement. Pacifica and Krayson explained the circumstances of Lidya's discovery, and Lidya herself did her best to satisfy Enfri's curiosity about the nature of skindancers. Having never met another like herself before being attacked by one, Lidya was unable to give much more than the basics.

"I believe she should stay with me," Starra said after the initial round of interrogation. "Not only would I think Mistress Lidya would be more at ease staying near Pacifica, but I believe I will be able to make good use of her... connections... to the old masters."

"The whispering, you mean," Enfri said, then looked Lidya over. "Are they speaking to you now?"

"It's not always like speaking," Lidya said meekly. "More impressions. Desires."

"And now?"

Lidya clamped her eyes shut and shook her head. "You won't like it."

Enfri crossed her arms and let out an amused snort. "Frankly, if demons don't like me, I think I'm doing my job right."

"It's not that," Lidya murmured almost too soft to hear. "They don't want to hurt you. They want to use you."

Enfri uncrossed her arms and let them hang at her sides. The look on her face was disturbed. "Can you tell me how?"

"Like I said, they don't always say." She held her hands to her head. "They hate me. They want me to die. They don't like me being here."

"Bringing me to the next thing," Starra interjected. "It stands to reason that Lidya isn't the only proteurim who can commune with the old masters. Other skindancers, feral vampires, and any other remnant of the darkest eras are also likely being informed by their masters that she's come to our side to oppose them. Whatever you decide is to be done with her, I think it's unwise to keep her near you."

Enfri swallowed. "Meaning, the sort of monsters everyone thinks shifters are will start showing up to silence her."

"My darkest kin are no trifle, Your Majesty," Starra warned. "Princess Jin could tell you of the time Prince Gain slew a feral vampire in Melcia. Reyn has likely heard tales of the dark selkies who still dwell in the deepest seas. Even if we take Lidya far from here, you must be on your guard."

Enfri drew in a deep breath. "I think you're right, which is why it might be a good thing I'm about to do something reckless."

That wasn't what Reyn wanted to hear at the moment. "Reckless how?"

"I won't be staying," Enfri said. "All these delays are just playing into our enemies' hands. Adeyemi, Elise, Cathis, they all would rather we stall out here on the frontier than accomplish what we set out from Ecclesia to do."

"You rescued the Huntress," Krayson said, "so you must mean the Reach Enclave."

Enfri nodded. "I can't delay reaching them more than I already have. Once the legion arrives, I'm going to set out at once for the north."

There was a round of exclamations protesting against it. Starra asked her to reconsider, Krayson wished to know her reasoning, and Pacifica urged Enfri to wait until she could be escorted through Melcia by a full legion.

"The legion is needed here," Enfri said. "This is going to be where Shan Alee will be written on every map made from now on. If I'm going to lead my people here, I need them to have a home waiting for them. I can't expect them to accept me as the Dragon Empress if the only thing I can offer them is an open field to pitch a tent."

Krayson made a thoughtful sound. "While you go to them, the Arcane Knights will begin building."

"Toomat the Groundbreaker is anxious to live up to her name," Enfri said. "I've been getting sendings from her and Lord Vanya about every hour, asking if I've done any surveying while I'm here. We'll need to have at least the beginnings of a city before winter sets in."

Reyn winced. "I can only imagine how much that will cost."

"Less if Amber Knights can spellwrought most of the foundations," Krayson said. "Difficult, but with enough arcanists, anything is possible. I hope the headman of your village will be agreeable to the arrangement."

Enfri rubbed her brow. "Winds, I'm not even sure who the headman is this year. I hope it's not Goodman Wainwright again. Old coot is always stubborn, even when someone just wants to add a new wing to their house."

Reyn was less interested in rural politics than she was with what the empress leaving Shan Alee for an extended period would mean. "Your Majesty, I wish you would reconsider. At least send someone else to the Reach."

"It can't be anyone else," Enfri said. "I'm their empress, Reyn. Even if they decide they don't want me, I owe it to them to talk face to face." The set of her jaw grew firm. "As soon as the legion arrives, Kolbat will take Jin and I over the border and into Melcia."

Reyn wasn't ready to accept it so easily. "Have you spoken to Princess Jin about this? I cannot believe she would council an empress to leave her empire without a ruler when it is at its most vulnerable."

"I haven't," Enfri admitted. "I know I won't be able to take Deebee with me, which is why I know Jin will insist on coming. But I'm not leaving Shan Alee without a ruler."

Reyn felt Starra take her hand. It was likely meant to give comfort, or maybe to hold her back from losing her temper. "Your Majesty, I can't rule in your stead."

A sad look came into Enfri's eyes. "I know."

"Then..." Reyn found herself at a loss for words.

"My empress," Starra whispered. It almost sounded like a rebuke.

Enfri looked down at her feet as if holding back tears. "I'm sorry. I wish things were different, but..."

Pacifica stepped forward and held onto Reyn's shoulder. "You can't mean that. Enfri, are you really going to strip Reyn of her title?"

Enfri looked up sharply, her expression horrified. "What? Winds and storms, no! Of course I'm not."

It came as a surprise to Reyn that she was relieved to hear that. "Then, what do you mean you know I cannot act as regent?"

Enfri held a hand to her breast to catch her breath. She didn't seem to like that she'd given such a wrong impression. After a steadying breath, she continued. "I mean to say, I need the First Minister for something else. Something just as if not even more important than keeping things here in order."

"Gods, yanoh ginna say or wot?" Reyn exclaimed. She was out of sorts enough that she didn't notice the array of shocked and amused looks the others were giving her for devolving into that horrid dialect again.

Enfri blinked as she tried to sort through what she meant, so Kolbat explained in her place. "You're going to lead Shan Alee's delegation to the Jade Empire," she said.

"Bloody hell," Starra murmured.

"The Jade Empire?" Pacifica gasped.

"I'm sorry," Enfri said again. "And that's not everything. You'll be taking Garret with you."

Reyn gave some consideration towards strangling an empress. Jin wasn't around, so she could possibly manage it before the others stopped her. Reyn needed to take in three breaths and let them back out before she trusted herself to speak without shouting. "Setting that aside for now— and believe me, I do plan to return to it— who will be acting as regent?"

Enfri bit her lip and looked away. Ever so slowly, her eyes drifted back until they settled on one among their number.

Pacifica stepped back and pointed a thumb at her chest. "Me?"

"I can't think of anyone else better able," Enfri said. "Most of the legion already has loyalties to House Romov, and..." She started to blush as if embarrassed. "Reyn might remember a small provision I had her sneak into the constitution while you were drafting it up."

Pacifica snapped her eyes to Reyn. "What's this, then?"

Reyn recalled. At the time, she hadn't thought it anything. Certainly not something she thought would ever come about, and she hadn't had any misgivings, because of who it concerned. "In the case of the Dragon Empress and First Minister both being unable to perform the duties of sovereignty," Reyn said, "the regency of the empire falls upon the Dragon Lord of the Diamond Knights."

"Redundancy within the chain of command," Enfri said with a nervous laugh. "See, I did listen when you and Adar tried to teach me."

"B-but, I'm not even really a part of the empire," Pacifica argued. "I'm really just a foreign consular in your court."

"Who wrote our constitution," Enfri pointed out.

"Not well enough, it seems," Pacifica shouted.

Krayson came forward a step. "If the magocracy, such as it is anymore, has a say in the matter, the Order would see no conflict of interest in an Ecclesian princess taking temporary rulership of an allied kingdom."

"And it would be temporary," Enfri said hurriedly. "I don't mean to be away longer than a few days. A couple weeks at the most. That'll be more than enough time to at least get a feel for the situation with the enclave."

Reyn kept her peace through most of the discussion. She was conflicted, to say the least. From the outside, it would be a better decision to have Pacifica lead the delegation to the People of Jade. In reality, what had been said about the legion being willing to follow Pacifica was true. They would much rather have her than a selkie in charge. Enfri was being diplomatic by not stating that already, but it had to have been part of her decision.

"It is for the best," Reyn said, putting her hand to Pacifica's shoulder. "You are better suited for building a city than I am, and it would be a good idea for me to put some distance between myself and the regency while tempers are thin."

Pacifica had a worried look in her eye. "But Garret..."

Reyn felt her eyes darken. "Very soon, he will no longer be a threat. To me or to anyone."

Kolbat pointed to the sky. "Invoke the demon, and he appears."

Reyn looked up to see a violet dragon on approach. With the white markings on the scales of her face and chest, Reyn thought the Taskmaster looked somewhat like the orca she'd seen in the Ecclesia harbor. The steel box of a prisoner wagon swayed to and fro beneath her in her talons. Reyn was pleased to imagine the motion sickness those swaying movements would be giving the filth riding inside.

"I don't want you near him," Pacifica whispered. "Men like him don't need magic to hurt people."

She'd said that once before, and Reyn was inclined to agree. It occurred to her that Pacifica's protest against taking the empire's reins didn't come from reluctance towards the position itself. She was only trying to protect Reyn. And Krayson recognized that and pushed for what he believed was best for them both.

I really don't deserve such friends, she thought.

"I will need assistance in case Garret becomes difficult," Reyn said to Enfri.

"Ah." She nervously scuffed the toe of her shoe against the ground. "Well, I had a thought on that issue, as well. I brought it up while I was in my garden, and... Well, I do have one volunteer willing to go along with you."

Reyn didn't like the sound of that.