Her sword split the tentacle clean in half, Elly turning on a dime and dancing aside. Water continued to spray like drizzle, which made her footwork more difficult than it had to be, but it was nothing she couldn't deal with.
Blood was slippier, in her experience.
Her soldiers were fighting back on the ship it had taken, but the leviathan had to die before it could wrap its tentacles around more of her vessels. So Elly ran up the appendage, balance never quite slipping even as it tried to dislodge her, and after a long few seconds of running she jumped.
The distance shrank rapidly, the head of the beast just visible below the water. A teeth-filled maw opened and missed her by inches, her sword poised to strike its eye with her full armored weight behind it.
She pulled up her wellspring of lifeforce just before impact, infusing her body with strength. It went up and through her blade, making it shine nearly green, and membrane parted as it met steel.
Then the eye socket, then the skull, then its brain. The leviathan shuddered, starting to sink even as some of its tentacles continued to thrash around. All its coordination was gone, however, and Elly flexed her legs. Her sheer physical strength made her smile, as it always did, and she pushed off.
Her ship was too far to jump to, even for her, but one part of the beast was slower to sink than the others. She landed on it and took the split-second of solid footing to push off again, finally landing hard on the deck of her flagship.
"Another one down." Carl said, handing her a piece of cloth. Elly wiped the seawater from her blade, sheathing it already knowing she was going to spend the entire evening having to clean her armor. "Using our warships to draw the denizen's attention seems to be working, my Queen Elenoir."
Elly looked at her captain briefly, the man both too forward and the only reason they had even made it this far. "Princess, not Queen. Not until I get married. And yes, it does seem to be working. Losing a quarter of our fleet has, at the very least, forced innovation."
Carl grinned roguishly, Elly rolling her eyes. The man hummed. "Better late than never. It would be such a shame if all that culture sank to the bottom of the sea. You know, again."
"Filling a cargo hold with actual gold." Elly grumbled, keeping her tone low. The rest of her men were still busy clearing the deck, emergency repairs starting even as she watched. "Gold and paintings. Our entire continent is dead, the kingdom is dead, and what do the Martienne's do? Take gold instead of food."
The captain nodded. "Another one of your political enemies dead. Your brilliance continues to awe me, my Queen. Using the very denizens of the deep as your assassins is truly inspired."
"It's not an assassination if they make their ship so damned slow." Elly replied, shaking her hair free. Getting that clean of seawater was going to be a pain, though thankfully she had handmaidens. Well, a handmaiden. One was more than enough if the one could be trusted. "And let's not speak of the past, captain. The sea is dreary enough without dragging up ghosts."
"Would my Queen prefer to speak of the future?"
"Not really, but I made a tactical blunder by not ensuring you were replaceable." Elly looked to one of her men, the soldier saluting as she caught his eye, and raised an eyebrow. "Signal the rest of the fleet to continue."
"At once, general."
The soldier froze, hesitating, and Elly waved him away. She was still technically a general, though the time where she could spend doing what she was born to do was over. She was the last of her line, the last of her family, and that made her Queen.
No matter that she wasn't ever supposed to rule. Not with how many of her siblings preceded her in the line of succession.
Elly forced her mind away from her dead siblings, Carl taking her irritation in good humor. "I am but your humble servant, my Queen, as are we all. At the risk of stating the obvious, you are aware you cannot be married in full plate armor?"
"No?" She asked, raising a sarcastic eyebrow. "And here I thought this magically zombie free place we were going to was supposed to be culturally advanced."
Carl shuddered, a flash of dark emotion passing over his face. It disappeared quickly, but no one was untouched by the plague. No one. "No plague, thank the Gods. They have their own issues—old stories tell of a dungeon going to the center of the world—but the Empire keeps their mages in line. Well, the mages that aren't Archmages."
"We're not having this discussion again." Elly replied with a flat tone, turning. "Keep the fleet moving, captain, and alert me when the mages deem the next attack imminent."
A hand grasped her shoulder, Elly catching his wrist before he could do more than form the first syllable of whatever he was going to say. She twisted, forcing him inside the captain's cabin. Carl let out a pained breath as her grip tightened, her face falling into a cold mask of indifference.
"Do not presume to touch me." She hissed, throwing him further inside. The door closed behind them, Carl flinching as it clicked shut. "We are friendly, captain, but I am not your friend. There is a very fine line between the two."
Carl climbed to his feet, rubbing his already bruising wrist. He looked at her, apologetic but clearly not backing down. "No, we're not. My apologies, your majesty. I must insist we have this talk again, however. The Empire is far more suited to take in our people, far more suited to dock our seven hundred ships and far more suited to protect us while we rebuild."
"And where was the Empire when the Mad Mage unleashed the undead on us?" Elly replied, tone carved from stone. "Where were they when our people died, when our people starved, where were they when the White Sun burned my sister ali-"
She cut herself off, taking a moment to cool her temper. Carl grimaced. "I am aware, my Queen. Yet the fact remains that the Mirranian kingdom stands to be invaded sooner or later, has political trouble we are poorly equipped to weather and doesn't have a single Archmage to defend itself with."
"Our records are old." Elly replied, taking a seat. It creaked but held as her armored frame put weight on it. "And while the Empire has three Archmages, none came to our aid. None of them could have come to our aid, necessary as they are to contain the dungeon. And if you are afraid of us being unable to stand on our own within a relatively small kingdom, how do you see us fairing against the Empire?"
Carl grimaced, and Elly could almost see him changing gears. "The Prince is not a good match, you told me that yourself. Even his father admitted it, though I'm still not sure what dreamwalking is."
"As the King tells it? Dreamwalking is a fairly rare bloodline ability. It lets them visit others in their dreams, as the name suggests. In my case he used it to contact us. And yes, the King said the Prince isn't the best possible person. Which, if his own father admits it, is probably an understatement."
"But?"
"But the King also said he's a brilliant magician and not inherently cruel. Apparently dislikes ruling, something to which I can relate, but I've been told that as long as I stand up to him he'll do his duty."
"We have our own mages." Carl argued. "Loyal, trained mages. The Mad Mage killed our entire continent and from the rumors the Archmages are every inch his equal. Living in the Empire is one thing, where their very laws protect us from them, but to be married to o-"
Elly scoffed. "Is that what this is about? The boy is not an Archmage, will never be an Archmage, and there are ways to deal with magic. I can take care of myself, Carl, and I certainly hope your disdain for my marriage is purely a misguided instinct to protect me."
"I like my women older."
"I'm twenty two." Elly ignored the weak grin on his face, sighing. "I know it's not ideal, but this worked out better than we had any right to hope for. The Mirranians need our military might and experience, we need a place to settle that isn't an Imperial refugee camp. I keep my Royal status, which allows me to look after the people, and the Prince gets a wife who he can't 'bully into submission'."
"But the Empire-"
"Enough." She snapped. Carl clicked his mouth shut. "The deal is done. We are a tenth of what we once were, captain. Forty thousand left of our entire kingdom. Forty thousand. I am not risking what remains of my people, and the Empire is the greatest danger between our options. The danger of being conscripted to fight against the dungeon, of being married off to some lesser noble for political gain or a dozen other things we can't prepare for because we barely know anything about where we're going."
"You only know what you do because of the King. We have been able to verify little."
Elly sighed, feeling the fire in her blood drain. "I'm aware he could be lying, Carl. Give me an alternative that isn't the Empire."
"The Merchant Princes?"
"I thought you didn't like Archmages."
"Then no, I can't give you an alternative." Carl replied, finally taking a seat himself. "It's them or the Mirranians, unless the King lied and there are other non-Imperial entities on the continent. Speaking off, do you have another copy of that lesson plan you made? Mine got ruined."
She grunted. "I had the scribes make a few hundred copies, so yes. I trust you know the importance of being able to speak the language of the people we're integrating into?"
"We can't all be polyglots." Carl straightened dramatically as she glared at him. "I mean, of course, my Queen."
Elly shook her head. "You should be thankful I have a gift for language, captain. This will be hard enough with most of the peasantry not speaking the local tongue."
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
"Breathe." Elly repeated, inhaling and exhaling slowly to demonstrate. The woman glanced at her then flinched, looking down and away. Elly sighed. "You're doing fine, Marsha. Keep practicing."
Elly moved on, walking past the row of farmers and stable boys and cattle-herders. People who, had her mother still been Queen, would have been stoned for even attempting to learn life enforcement.
Elly was not her mother. They were not in their kingdom anymore, and none of them had the luxury of adhering to archaic customs. Four dozen people were spread around her, in groups or alone, and all of them were learning what she had long since mastered.
The basics.
Not many people were suited for life enforcement. Technically speaking many could learn the art, many only possessed a low affinity. A distant connection. It would take decades to learn even the most basic of techniques, let alone achieving mastery over the art.
The four dozen gathered here were a step above it. They all had the potential, but there was a reason the nobility trained those with an affinity since childhood. It took time. Time to practice attuning to the flow of reality, time to adapt to the changes it brought to the body, time for the mind to settle and accept the body's strength.
There were other instructors walking around. Her own soldiers, those she'd led in the campaign against the undead. Trusted, competent men and women—many of whom she'd trained herself—that put their personal feelings aside to follow orders.
A sad reality where that was necessary, but her decree to offer classes to anyone capable and willing to learn life enforcement hadn't been popular with the remaining nobility. Not that her soldiers seemed to care what they thought anymore. No, they pretty much did whatever she ordered and liked doing it.
You'd think she had won the war with the way her soldiers acted.
A mage came running from below deck, eyes dead tired as he frantically pointed west. Elly turned, sharpening her eyes and seeing a serpent swim below the waves. "Disperse the class."
The instructors started shepherding the students away, the cold reality being that Elly couldn't afford for all of them to die. If the ship went under they couldn't go with it, but by now her people were well used to evacuating.
Instructors grasped students and jumped between ships, the vessels spreading out immediately after. Elly let the energy spread through her body, strength rippling through her like a wave.
The serpent broke through the water and coiled around one of her ships, the thirty seconds of forewarning being just enough to prepare. Elly took the bow her handmaiden brought, offering Ness a smile.
She drew it, life bearing energy feeding into the weapon as much as her muscles. She strained, the weight enormous, and exhaled calmly as she lined up her shot.
The arrow flew with an almost deafening snap, piercing through the serpent's head not a split-second after being fired. It punched clean through, which meant the serpent was on the younger side, and collapsed back into the water.
But not before landing on the deck of the ship it had coiled around, the mast shattering as the beast fell overboard. Elly could see half a dozen dead and many times that wounded, the closest ships already moving to assist.
Another ship broken. Not beyond repair, perhaps, but their supplies were far from limitless. Elly sighed, handing the bow back to Ness. "It's going to be alright, my Queen."
"Princess." Elly glared, the corner of her lips twitching when Ness rolled her eyes. "I'll only be Queen after I'm married."
"If you want to be technical, Princess, then you will be the Queen-consort. It is a rather small difference after you have chil-"
"Hush, Ness. I just killed a fearsome sea serpent with a single shot. That is no time to remind me of unwanted duties."
Ness sighed dreamily, the fakeness of it grating on Elly's nerves. "To be married to a handsome, foreign prince, showered in dedication and wealth, earning the adoration of an entirely new kingdom. Truly, your lot in life is terrible."
"He's average looking, from all reports." Elly replied, tone forcefully even. If Ness knew she was getting to her she'd never stop and, oldest friend or not, Elly wasn't sure she could endure that. "I half expect him to live in his laboratory."
"And you shall live on the battlefield. A match well made, I'd say."
At least Ness would be there. Elly shifted, eyes tracking the damaged ship. One of the corpses was being stripped and gently pushed overboard, more following soon after. Her enhanced eyesight faded, a low exhaustion setting in from the abrupt use of her lifeforce.
Or perhaps it was the endless, slow death that was making her tired. She'd always taken her lessons on intercontinental trade with a low disregard. The ocean had grown more dangerous, the land masses more isolated, but surely it did not warrant all trade being disrupted?
Surely the occasional fortune seeker would risk it all? Surely some King or Vizier would demand an expedition for glory and fame?
But no. She'd never understood, and now she did. Whatever made the denizens of the ocean rise closer to the surface, it killed everything. Warships, sloops, merchant vessels. Any who sailed the waters risked certain death.
Unless you brought a fleet, then one just looked at the horrendous cost of losing more of it every day of the journey. No sane mind would risk it. Not unless they had no other choice.
"I've put together that report, by the way." Ness said, snapping Elly out of her own spiralling thoughts. "The one about the political situation in our soon to be new home?"
"I remember. The King didn't tell us overly much."
"It's about what he didn't say." Ness shrugged, taking out a small book. Her personal notes, Elly knew, and something her handmaid took great care in preserving. "It is not the most stable environment."
"Good. A disunified court will be much easier to settle down in. It's the unified groups that you need to be careful of."
"You're thinking like a soldier." Her friend chided. "Shall I summarise?"
"Please."
"I'll start at the top and work my way down. Apologies if you're already aware of some of it, but I think it's best to be comprehensive." Ness took a breath, eyes flickering to her notes. "King Edward and the late Queen Beatrice only had one child together, Marcus. After the Queen's death the King never remarried, and in fact likely had trouble conceiving for a great many years considering the age of the King and his son. The court is currently divided into three groups, though as you pointed out, the political landscape is fluid.
The loyalist faction, which Duke Helios of House Garther is currently leading, supports the King and the Prince. They have shrunk in size as time moves on, though they seem unified and steadfast. They control Redwater and most important positions in it, which gives the King a strong presence in his capital.
The isolationists are a small but wealthy group that dislike any and all trade with the Empire, wishing to close what few roads go through the mountains. I'm not entirely sure why, there isn't enough to speculate on, but it's likely they have a local monopoly on certain resources and wish to protect the power that comes with it. A group of Barons control it.
Lastly we have the moderates. The most dangerous of the factions, and the ones that are taking more and more control away from the crown as the years pass. They control nearly all trade with the Empire, which makes sense considering their lands border the mountain range and the roads therein. Duke Hargraf leads them."
"Three factions, names I'm sure to remember eventually, political manoeuvring abound. Nothing that special."
Ness shrugged. "Perhaps not. For now just remember that Duke Helios is likely to be an ally, the isolationists to be neutral and the moderates to value their relationship with the Empire more highly than the Crown. "
"Could have just said so from the start."
"Then I wouldn't be doing my job." Ness countered, swaying slightly as the ship started moving again. Elly steadied her, Ness offering a small smile. "Thanks. Seems I still haven't gotten my sea legs just jet."
Elly looked out over the water, squaring her shoulder as her fleet continued on. "We have weeks to go. You'll find them before long, don't worry."
"Can we survive weeks more of this?"
"We have to." Elly replied, tone grim. "The only alternative is death."
Afterword
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