After finding Vaness in the Lovats under-city, badly injured and surrounded by raiders—and after flooding those raiders and leaving them for the Royal Soil-Bound and Navy to handle—Vivia had fled Lovats on her old ship, the Iris. Stealing, her father had called it, and traitor, he had called her. He’d even gone so far as to offer a bounty to anyone who brought her back to the city. Two thousand gold martens that he certainly could not afford, but that would certainly entice the hungriest and most desperate of Nubrevnans.

She and Vaness had taken to the sea right away, only a skeleton crew to sail with—but enough loyalty in all of the sailors to fill an armada. After sailing aimlessly for two weeks, they had finally arrived here in Dalmotti, hoping to forge an alliance with the Guildmasters and find some sort of help in their quests to reclaim their thrones.

Vivia hadn’t expected them to fail quite so quickly.

She was the first to break the stare with Vaness, and she could feel Cam practically melt with relief beside her. “Leeri,” she said, angling toward the boy. He wore the Sotar livery—the same salmon-red broadcloth as Vivia’s uniform.

Not that his appearance or hers had helped them any more than this carriage had.

“How quickly until the crew can set sail?”

“Right away, Majesty.” His dark eyebrows lifted. His left hand—missing its pinkie—rapped against his knee. “I told them to be ready, just in case.”

Just in case. So even the boy had had little faith in their mission. Vivia hated how much her stomach dropped just thinking that. While she had hardly possessed Vaness’s certainty, she’d at least had some hope.

No regrets. Keep moving.

As the carriage rolled into the Southern Wharves, the Iris came into view. A two-masted half-galley with the sharp, beak-like bow of all Nubrevnan naval ships. A sleek creature with her oars stowed and sails furled, and just seeing her made the knots in Vivia’s chest—knots that never fully went away—loosen. The Iris had served Vivia for years, first on the rivers of Nubrevna, then briefly at sea …

And now upon the Jadansi. The only home she and Vaness had. The extent of their holdings, the breadth of their empires.

The horses and carriage clopped to a halt, and Cam hastily helped his royal charges exit. Vivia didn’t need the aid, but she accepted it anyway. Vaness, she noted, did not. The Empress had retreated entirely behind her cold exterior, and if Vivia had to guess, she would speak little for the rest of the day. Perhaps even for the rest of their journey.

Vivia stalked across the gangway. Tar and salt mingled in her nose. The sea’s breeze fingered her hair, trailed across her skin. She inhaled deeply. Smiled at the nearest sailor and then the ship’s girl after that.