Aramis glared at him, irritated, and Ranka was about to tell Percy to please be quiet and stop ruining the incredible warm and bubbly feeling currently rushing through her like wine, when Galen looked up. “I’ll go.”

“Right, and also, I don’t want to travel alone….” Percy’s face went slack. “Huh?”

“I’ll go,” Galen said breathlessly. “I’ve never been on a boat before.”

Aramis’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. “Galen, you’ve never even left Seaswept before.”

“Exactly.” Galen bounced up on his toes. “Wasn’t that the whole issue? Think, Aramis. Our family has been out of touch for centuries. When is the last time a Sunra went north, let alone to another nation?” He waved a hand, and wind danced around his fingers, bringing with it a warm swirl of dust. “What’s keeping me here? You’re queen now. Think of the good I could do, calling rain for parched villages and fending off storms. I spent my entire life trapped in this city. But I’m free from the crown now. I want to see this world. Who better to have with me than Percy?”

Behind Galen, Percy’s cheeks had taken on a very interesting shade of pink. He stared at Galen. Something like terror glimmered there, but it was a sweeter fear. The fear of something recognized. Of a possibility one had never entertained before.

Of a new reality, suddenly within reach.

Ranka knew that fear all too well.

“You had me until you tried to sell Percy as a reason you’d be safe.” Aramis’s throat bobbed nervously. “Galen, you’re still a prince. You’d be a target, you could be kidnapped—”

“I’ll travel in disguise. Besides, I can call hurricanes, and Percy can breathe fire.” He looped his arm through Percy’s, who actually looked shy. “Isodal and Witchik are broken. Who better to repair them than one of the heirs?”

What could Aramis tell him? Galen had a point, and there were as many reasons for him to leave as there were for Ranka to stay. Yet from the way Aramis watched him, it was plain she wanted to tell him no. All her life she’d tried to protect her brother. Now, only months after Ongrum had held a blade to his throat, he wanted to walk onto a ship and disappear into the wide, cruel world.

Aramis closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were bright with tears. “I suppose I can’t stop you, can I?”

“Not really.” Galen smiled warmly at her. “But I’d prefer to not have to sneak off.”