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It didn’t take long once we arrived.

With Justus at my side, Delphia’s armada, and the Huntresses of Aura watching the skies, we descended on Hadria like a storm. I’d thought the battle would be longer, bloodier. Thought the city would be crawling with goblins and monsters, that we’d lose people reclaiming it.

But there weren’t near as many enemy soldiers as I feared.

They couldn’t have taken Hadria with the garrison they left to protect it. So where are the rest of them? Has Sira called them back to Castletree to witness her full moon ritual?

The enemy scattered faster than expected, in no small part due to the fierceness of Summer’s citizens. As soon as the fighting began, fae slipped out of hiding places in alleys and ruined buildings, wielding weapons pilfered from the arena. Sirens emerged from coves and rushed beaches. And then there were the ships, sailing in from concealed harbors. Not only Summer’s navy but pirates, smugglers, fishermen.

I didn’t ask for their help.

They came anyway.

For now, Hadria is safe. The golden sun beats down on sails and banners, all of them flying with Summer’s flag. But our flag means something different now. It stands for resistance.

I walk to the railing of the ship and lean on it, crossing my arms. Justus, Delphia, my oldest friend Claudius, and Nereida, leader of the sirens, stand near me. “All preparations must be complete tonight. We leave at first light. It’ll be a hard march if we’re to arrive at Castletree before the full moon.”

“That’s only a few days away. Even if we march without sleeping, I don’t know if we’ll make it in time. And if we do, our soldiers will be spent,” Justus says.

“The huntresses can carry some troops,” Delphia says. “But not an entire army.”

“What of the River Gami?” I turn to Nereida. “It travels downstream from Castletree to Hadria. Could your sirens swim upstream?”

Her nose wrinkles, and she shakes her head. “Sira has polluted the entire watershed. It would be poison on our gills. And I worry many of our legs are not strong enough for such a long march.”

“We have to try.” I clench my hands into fists. For the Vale, for Rosalina. My mate is counting on Summer.

“It seems a shame.” Claudius sits on the rail of the ship, looking far too nonchalant.

“What seems a shame, Claudius?” I ask. My childhood friend became leader of the resistance when Kairyn took over. He’s been helping Delphia in the evacuation since Castletree fell.

“To leave all this behind.” Claudius gestures to the ocean.

Beyond him is a fleet of ships. No, not just a fleet. An entire fucking armada. All of Summer’s navy and the pirate empire come together.

“The river’s deep enough for small skiffs, but we can’t take the galleons. The water’s too shallow,” Delphia confirms.

I tap my chin. “What if I could raise the water level? Take from the sea? I summoned an entire fucking wave that swallowed all of Hadria. A river can’t be that much harder.”

Justus crosses his arms, and I already know from the look on his face, he doesn’t like my idea. He never does. “This isn’t like summoning a wave and letting it fall. Do you remember trying to hold the wave before letting it go?”

I do: my muscles straining, every part of me fighting to contain something as wild as the sea. “Yes.”

“You’d have to raise the wave, channel it, then control it all the way from Hadria to the Queen’s Realm,” Justus says, and I can’t tell if there’s a warning in his voice or a challenge.

But I could never tell the difference anyway.

We’ve sailed our flagship, the Deathly Sky Dancer, to the mouth of the River Gami. It’s path will take us through the outskirts of the city, into the oases of the Suadela Sands, then past the Queen’s Realm. Behind us are hundreds of ships, all of them ready to fight for the Enchanted Vale.

If I can get them there in time.

“We’re with you, High Prince,” Delphia says. “Summer is with you.” She places a hand on my shoulder, then strides to the wheel.

I inhale and walk to the bow of the ship. Raise the river, take us to the Queen’s Realm. It can’t be that hard, right?

Justus sighs beside me. “I always knew you were mad,” he says. “Ever since I first saw you, just some little kid bugging me on my goat farm.”

“Come on, don’t tell me you didn’t do wild shit like this back in the day with Aurelia?”