Freya Goldelm leaned back in the chair, propped her feet on the desk, and steepled her fingers, and stared at her guests sitting across from her. "So, you want my Dragon's Hoard?"

Gale and Evelyn Katag glanced at each other. "Um, we want a ship…?" Gale hazarded.

"We require the fastest seafaring vessel not frozen in a block of ice in the port. My contacts inform me that your House has recently managed to excavate such a ship from the ice," Evelyn explained.

"Your contacts were wrong," Freya said flatly. "We haven't managed to get a single ship out of the ice yet. We've spent the last two days assessing damage to the hulls of our fleet to ensure they won't sink the moment they enter open water. I'm not sure how they did it, but the Sylvan army did serious damage to the entire port worth of ships with that massive wave of ice."

"So this was useless," Gale muttered and got up to leave.

Evelyn clenched the armrests of her chair, but kept her expression pleasant. "Are you sure you have no ships free from the ice?"

"Even if I did, what would the Lady of House Katag need with it?" Freya asked.

"A simple voyage, it shouldn't take longer than a few days, one week at most," Evelyn explained.

"And where would such a ship be sailing?" Freya asked.

"Nowhere too far, I assure you. I will pay handsomely. Thrice the usual rates."

Freya gave Evelyn a long, hard look. "Uh-huh. Look, my father and you never really got along, on account of you and your husband siding with the Noirs, who were, until recently, on the other side of many council decisions." Freya held up her left hand, "Katags and Noirs," then she held up her right hand, "Veres and Goldelms. So forgive me if I don't trust your word."

"If you didn't trust me, why even bother entertaining this meeting?" Evelyn asked.

"Because I trust a Veres," Freya glanced at Gale.

"I'm not a Veres," Gale replied.

"My father said the Gales and Veres were one. I see no reason to doubt him now," Freya said.

Gale sighed, "We need a ship to get to Murkton."

"I should have guessed. The city of orcs. I get why you wish to go, Evelyn, you probably have plenty of contacts there."

"It isn't some contact. My firstborn child is in Murkton. I need to get him out of there before— I know our families haven't gotten along great these last few years, but this is my son. Please, I'll pay whatever amount of gold you wish," Evelyn held nothing back and hoped it was enough.

"I understand... Is that why you're here, Gale? To help convince me? Or do you need a second ship?" Freya asked.

"No second ship. House Veres and House Katag have entered an alliance, as you are well aware. I am simply here, honoring said alliance," Gale said.

"I wasn't sure you would take this meeting as soon as possible if Gale hadn't petitioned for it," Evelyn admitted.

"I see, smart." Freya sighed, "Unfortunately, even if we had managed to thaw a ship out of the ice, I couldn't risk its crew by sailing them straight into Murkton. We all saw the frozen fleet. The Sylvans are preparing for war. I'm not sure what sort of magic they have, but I can't knowingly put my people in danger for a bit of gold."

Evelyn bit her lip and stood to her feet. "Thank you for your time." She turned and headed for the door.

"I'm sure we can come to a compromise," Gale said.

"We've wasted enough time here. I need a solution, not more stalling from a little girl who may or may not have a ship," Evelyn said.

"Evelyn, wait—"

"Leave her be, Gale. I'm sure she can find her own way out," Freya said.

Evelyn slammed the door open and stomped out.

Gale cursed under her breath. "You don't have to antagonize her like that, you know."

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"She called me little."

"Gods, I heard you were petty, but I didn't think you'd be petty enough to deny Lady Katag the chance to save her son."

"Did Stryg tell you I was petty?"

"No, Callum did."

"I'm gonna punch him in the face next time I see him."

"You're admitting to hurting a Veres in front of a Shield of Veres?" Gale cocked her eyebrow.

"Yes," Freya said unabashedly.

"Right, well. Thanks for your time, but I should go find Lady Evelyn."

"Look, this isn't about some pettiness with the Katags. I've only just become head of my House. I need to put the lives of my people first. How would it look if one of my first orders is to send a ship and her crew to their guaranteed deaths? Or do you not think walking into an army with Sylvan ice magic isn't suicide?"

"I understand, I do," Gale reluctantly admitted. "It wasn't Sylvan magic. The goddess of the moon destroyed the port and created their frozen fleet, not the goblins. I don't think there is any mortal alive who could have achieved that feat."

"A goddess?" Freya whistled. "And you still want a ship to go to Murkton? Are you crazy?"

"I don't want to go to Murkton. Stryg does."

Freya frowned. "Stryg?"

"Yeah, he's dead set on going himself. You know how he gets."

"Wait, you didn't tell me Stryg was going."

"What difference does that make? Were you hiding a ship in port after all?"

"No, I wasn't lying. All the ships in port are frozen." Freya smirked, "Fortunately, the Dragon's Hoard wasn't in port that day."

"The Dragon's Hoard?"

"One of our fastest ships. She arrived last night. She is docked a league away from port. I thought it best to keep her at a distance in case anyone grew desperate enough to try and steal her."

"You're helping us? What happened to not putting your crew in danger for a bit of gold?"

"This isn't for gold. This is for a friend. Knowing Stryg, he'll go with or without my help. And I'll be damned if I let him wade into that battle alone." Freya hefted her golden hammer resting behind the desk and placed it on her shoulder. Oginum hummed faintly with power.

"Wait, you're coming with?" Gale did a double-take.

"What kind of lord would I be if I let my crew go by themselves?"

"Freya, this mission will be more dangerous than I let on. I don't even want Stryg going—"

"We can talk about the details later. I am meeting up with Callum and Kitty for lunch in a few minutes." And with that, Freya walked out of her office, whistling a happy tune.

~~~

As the sun began to set, Stryg found himself sitting in a rowboat with Tauri as Gale rowed through the Dire River. It had been easier to sneak away from Holo than he had thought. She had been distracted by the recent attacks by the unknown assassins.

"That's the ship?" Stryg asked as he stared up at the gilded boat floating in the middle of the churning waters.

Its hull was narrower than he imagined, with a sleek design that would have given it an air of 'swiftness' if it wasn't for the gold plastered across the hull.

"That's a lot of gold," he muttered.

"It's not real gold. Just paint. It's not easy to make metallic paint like that, though. The Goldelms must have paid a hefty price for the red mages to make so much," Tauri surmised.

The ship was a labour of love, that much Stryg could tell as they drew close. Intricate designs decorated the hull's every plank.

A shipmate spotted their rowboat and shouted a couple of orders to someone behind him. A few moments later, they threw down some rope. Gale tied them to the rowboat and gestured for the sailors to pull them up.

When they reached the top, Stryg hopped onto the ship with a light step, Gale and Tauri following suit. The sailors quickly got to moving their supplies below deck. Freya was waiting on the deck, a broad grin plastered on her face. "Welcome to the Dragon's Hoard, Lord Veres."

"Freya, it's good to see you—" Stryg stopped when he caught sight of the ones standing behind her. "What are you all doing here?"

"Well, cousin, I wasn't about to let you have all the glory," Callum winked, but winced in pain at the action.

"What happened to your eye?" Stryg asked.

"Don't wanna talk about it," Callum said.

"Freya told us your plans over lunch. I… I couldn't save the people I cared about when Hollow Shade was attacked. If I can help Miss Tauri save her brother, I will," Kithina spoke in a solemn voice.

"Thank you, Kithina," Tauri said with sincere warmth.

"I didn't want to go. Freya forced me to come," Kegrog admitted with a grumble.

"Shut up, you big oaf! You're ruining it," Freya kicked him in the shin.

"You guys didn't have to come," Stryg said, though his small smile betrayed his feelings.

"On the contrary. I couldn't live with myself if I let you go all alone," said a familiar voice from behind.

Stryg turned around and froze, surprised. "Nora?"

"This isn't Widow's Crag. We're not letting you stay behind while we head to safety. This time, we're in this together, Stryg." Nora grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What about Kamilo? He's—"

"He's fine. Stellan and Willow are looking after him. He'll be safe with the Gale siblings," Nora assured him.

"I may have spoken with a couple of people before we left. I was hoping they'd convince you to stay in Hollow Shade, but mentioning your name had the opposite effect," Gale sighed.

"I wasn't going to let you use my ship if you didn't let us all come along," Freya explained triumphantly.

"Ooh, that's why you brought the extra cloaks," Tauri said to Gale.

"Boat approaching off port side!" called out a sailor.

Stryg leaned over the edge and saw Belle standing atop the bow of a small rowboat. She was channeling Blue and making the water propel the rowboat forward.

"Am I late?" Belle grinned up at them.

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