Chapter Four

The building was rather large, enough for the kids to drop all their stuff in one corner and still have plenty of room to spread out and sleep. Unfortunately, their shelter had only one bed-everyone insisted that Lucina take it, and after ten minutes or so of fruitless arguing, she gave up and accepted their generosity. But she demanded that someone else take it tomorrow.

"Who says we're staying that long?" Severa asked as she laid out a blanket in her area.

Lucina considered her question as she pulled off her ankle boots, crinkling her nose at the smell that came from within the shoes. It had been a long time since any of them had bathed. After fleeing Ylisstol and getting separated from the others in a massive battle with a large group of Risen, Lucina and her group had wandered mostly through forests and other woodland that was bare of streams and ponds to bathe in.

"We'll probably need a couple of days to rest and replenish our supplies," Lucina said, glancing out the window at the sloshing waves. "Besides that, we need to find a semi-reliable boat to take us across the sea to Valm. And that's just an estimate. We could be here for a while."

Severa stood up, hefting her sword, and looked out the window. "I don't like this," she muttered. "Maybe we should just high-tail it out of here."

"Why?" Laurent asked, glancing down in his book. "They seem like a trustworthy lot."

"Yeah, except for that swordsman with the mask," Severa said.

"Ren'yi?" Lucina asked. "He was just trying to protect his people. His reaction was understandable-we're strangers."

"I wouldn't trust anyone who held my own sword against me," Severa said, leaning against the wall. "We'd better watch our backs before they get stabbed. I'll take first watch."

Lucina thought it was wholly unnecessary, but she didn't bother arguing with the girl. When Severa made a decision, her point of view could rarely be swayed. Besides, having a look out might actually be a good idea-Lucina wanted to believe that Ren'yi meant no true harm, but who knew? With Grima's fangs in the world, people lost faith in one another in the struggle to survive. They would start doing desperate, irrational things. Chaos would ensue.

Unless Lucina and her friends did something about it. 

I hope you're right about this, Lady Tiki, she thought as she lay down to sleep. I hope we can save the world.

Nobody tried to invade or attack their shelter during the night, and the following morning, Hosh and Nico came to take them to the "town square". It was the designation of the large clearing before the blockaded entrance to the harbor. Everyone from the town was there, accepting food being passed out by the men. Special seats on the cobblestone ground covered by blankets had been reserved for them, up front near the braziers. Lucina and her friends accepted the seats and the townsmen gave them slabs of breads, a few pieces of relatively fresh fruit, and small canteens of steaming lemon juice. 

It was a cold as it had been yesterday, but that bothersome fog had cleared somewhat, yielding a better view of the sky and sea. The crispness of the day made Lucina feel invigorated.

While they ate and the townspeople chatted, Lucina bent next to Gerome. "When will you call back Minerva?" she whispered to him.

He took a bite out bread and said, "When we're just about ready to leave. I'll instruct her to sail across the sea ahead of us and wait for my whistle on the other side."

Lucina nodded, just as Hosh said, "So, children. Tell us of your quest."

The surrounding crowd of fellowship died down as everyone listened in, eager to hear what they had to say. Lucina stroked her chin as she put down her lemon juice, wondering as how to respond. She was reluctant to tell them about her association with Grima and Lady Tiki. For some reason, to speak of those things felt like spilling state secrets, even though Ylisse was no longer politically stable.

"Yes, princess," came a derisive voice. Lucina turned to see Ren'yi sitting high atop a stack of crates nearby, eating his breakfast as he looked down onto the crowd. He'd taken off his mask, revealing smooth features and almond-shaped eyes that suggested he was from Chon'sin, a nation across the sea that had been liberated from Valmese occupation shortly before Grima's resurrection. It was odd to find someone from Chon'sin all the way out here in Regna Ferox-they usually stayed on their side of the continent.

"Tell us of your heroic purpose," Ren'yi sneered. "We're your subjects, after all. We live to serve Her Majesty."

"Enough!" Severa snapped, but Lucina put a placating hand on the girl's arm. Then she turned back to Hosh and spoke.

"My friends and I have come from Ylisstol," she said. "The situation there has escalated tenfold, to the point where it is no longer safe to anyone to be out on the streets."

"So you've abandoned your country," Ren'yi interrupted, taking a nonchalant bite out of a red apple. "A pitiful excuse for a princess."

Lucina saw Gerome reach for his axe. "Gerome," she said calmly.

The normally expressionless wyvern rider stopped and instead clenched his fist in anger.

"I have not abandoned my country," she said, to Ren'yi as much as everyone else. "But sometimes, to save my country requires leaving the protection of the throne and going to seek outside help. When my father was alive, he was in acquaintance with Lady Tiki, the Voice of Naga, and she offered him help when he was in dire straits. I intend to do the same."

"Ah," one of the men from the listening crowd said. "So that is why you intend to cross the sea. You want to reach the Mila Tree."

Lucina nodded. "The Voice's abode lies in the Mila Tree near central Valm. We must cross the sea to reach her."

Hosh stroked his chin. "I wish we could help," he said. "But all of our boats are currently out of commission."

"Are you serious?" Severa demanded. "You're blocking the harbor with a couple, and they don't look too bad."

"The outer structure of most of the boats were damaged during Grima's resurrection, when those horrid storms hit every place on the continent," Hosh explained. "You would need very specific tools in order to repair them, and the shop that provides such tools is currently out of our reach."

"Out of our reach how?" Laurent asked.

"Twice a year a merchant from across the land would come and sell us top-tier parts and tools," Hosh explained. "But trade, as you know, hasn't boomed since the insurrection and resurrection..."

"Isn't there anywhere in town that sells such tools?" Lucina asked. "Your shops are relatively intact, as far as I'm aware. The only difference is the presence of Risen."

"What about that blacksmith's shop we passed on the way in?" Gerome asked. "Would that have the kind of parts you need?"

Hosh shook his head. "That place makes swords and daggers. What you need is a place that actually sells blacksmith tools." He fell silent, thinking, and Lucina watched him, hoping that he came up with something. Anything. They had to get to Lady Tiki at all costs. They had to cross the sea. If they didn't...

All was lost.

"There is one place."

It wasn't Hosh that had spoken. Lucina glanced behind her and saw that Ren'yi had finished his food and was sitting on the edge of the crate, arms crossed and inky black hair spilling down his shoulders. He was very handsome, in the way a black panther was handsome before you realized that it was about to tear you to fine shreds.

When Ren'yi saw that he had Lucina's attention, he continued: "Across town, there's a small shop on the southeast side of town that sells such materials."

"No, Ren'yi," Hosh said immediately. "That place is too dangerous, and you know it."

The boy gave Hosh a sharp glare. "It doesn't matter whether or not it's dangerous," he said. "What matters is that it will likely have the supplies the Princess and her comrades need."

"It's suicide!" a man from the crowd said, standing up and elbowing his way to the front. He was an older man, tall and thin with gray hair, wrapped in a thick blanket, crumbling the piece of bread in his hand to mulch.

"Cirus," Hosh said. 

"What do you know about the shop, old man?" Severa asked.

Cirus's cheeks colored in what looked to be a mixture of fury and fear. "What do I know, lass? What do I know? Everything! I ran the cursed shop before the Risen attacked!"

"And you say it's suicide to go there," Lucina said. "Why, Cirus?"

"Because, Yer Majesty, of the fence. The blasted fence!"

Hosh turned back to the kids. "What Cirus is trying to say is that his shop is surrounded by a stone barrier used to mark the shop's property. Risen have wandered in and now crowd the area surrounding the shop."

Laurent paled. "So you're saying a crowd of Risen surrounds the shop? And they won't leave?"

Hosh nodded. "Another thing we've seen from Risen," he said to the mage, "is that they don't like to wander outside of boundaries. The Risen that moved into the fence line of the shop move in circles around it. They either don't know that there's an exit, or they aren't smart enough to notice it."

"Just like the pack that wanders around town," Lucina said, color draining from their face. "They don't know that they can leave."

"And yet, the brutes can heft a sword," Ren'yi sneered.

"So the bottom line is that to get to the shop, and to get to the parts inside the shop to fix a boat," Lucina said, "we have to cut through all the Risen surrounding the place."

"Yes, princess," Hosh said, going a little pasty himself.

Lucina put her bread down, suddenly not hungry. She imagined going against a huge pack of Risen, being overwhelmed by them, almost like what had happened back at the castle in Ylisstol. Cirus was right, it was a suicide mission. Lucina's group had only gone against small groups of Risen before, not herds like the one passing through Port Ferox. They needed those parts, but if they went in there and one of them died...she wasn't sure if she'd be able to take it.

But when she glanced around at her comrades, each of them was nodding, faces grim. They all understood. Their deaths would be worth the fate of the world, if it came to that.

Lucina stood up, and Severa, Laurent, and Gerome flanked her. "Hosh," she said grimly. "We'll need supplies. We need those tools, and we're going in there to get them."

Hosh's pasty face went sheet-white. The surrounding congregation gasped. "W-what?"

"No, milady!" someone from the watching crowd protested. "We can't. It's a suicide mission!"

"Not you all," Lucina assured them. "Just me and a few others will go."

"You'll be killed," Cirus said. "Think, lass! Ye can't take all of them Risen at once!"

"Oh, let her go," Ren'yi said, smiling viciously at Lucina. "A princess of her caliber should be able to get those parts in no time flat."

She wasn't sure what Ren'yi's animosity was about, but Lucina tired of it. She turned, marched over, grabbed Ren'yi's leg, and yanked him down off of the crate. The boy caught himself as he fell, but his sneer turned into a thin-lipped scowl of anger.

"You're coming too," she said.

Ren'yi's eyes widened slightly. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused. Find a couple other men to join you and we'll be off before the hour."

Ren'yi's eyes turned dark with fury. "If you think I'm going out there on a suicide run then-"

With a ring, Falchion was unsheathed and pointed at Ren'yi's neck. The boy shut up and lifted his hands. Lucina's voice was calm.

"Ren'yi," she said. "I command it."

There's not much you can do when you're at the tip of a blade and forced to submit. 

"Yes, Princess," Ren'yi spat.