Tandrin, with a large escort of guards, met us in the port. He looked scruffy—his hair messy and his beard no longer neatly trimmed. His clothes were coated in dust, stained by sweat and blood. Bandages were wrapped tightly around his right forearm, and his left hand. He looked exhausted, but relieved, and his face lit up when he saw Tannix step onto the gangway.

As soon as Tannix was standing on the dock, the brothers hugged. When they broke apart, Tandrin's face split into a grin and he gestured at the ruined city behind him.

"Welcome to East Draulin! All things considered, little brother, this is going well."

"For now," Tannix agreed.

"A promising start," Tandrin said. "Of course, we were only driving them out of our land. Once we move into the desert, we'll have more trouble. But let's not discuss what comes next. We need a break." He looked over Tannix's shoulder, to where the knights and I had gathered. "Gentlemen, you all look well. Nothing too serious. Finagale, what happened to your cheek?"

I resisted the urge to touch it. I had wiped the cut clean, but there hadn't been time to really inspect it. "I think a piece of wood flew past me."

"We'll get you cleaned up at the castle," Tandrin said. "Come, little brother." He draped an arm over Tannix's shoulders and led him towards East Draulin's marketplace. His knights and ours fell into step around the pair, while I tried to stay close enough to eavesdrop. Tandrin spent most of the walk filling Tannix in on things that had happened during the army's march up the coast. It was in no way a formal report. He skirted over hardships and losses to describe impressive things the army had done, or brag about his own actions. I half listened to him, while my eyes roamed the city.

It was only my second time in East Draulin. The first time we had been sneaking through a newly occupied city, looking for survivors to rescue. Now, we walked along the streets boldly, as victors. The city was full of people, but it felt eerily empty. Almost everyone we passed by was a soldier or a sailor. There were no ordinary people who would normally fill the streets.

The victory was so new that there hadn't been time to start cleaning up the city. There were still scattered ruins and burnt husks of buildings from the Deorans' first attack. A few times, we passed by soldiers herding Deoran prisoners. I found myself wondering what would happen to them, and the Deoran sailors we had fished out of the water.

Compared to the rest of the city, the castle grounds were crowded. A city of tents had already popped up. Most of the army was still camped outside East Draulin's walls, so I imagined these must be higher ranking lords and advisors who were travelling with the army, as well as their guards. Across the field, there was a section of tents topped by Navirian flags.

Mayah was waiting for us at the castle gates. I knew she had been traveling with the army, but I hadn't expected to see her so soon. Instead of a dress, she was wearing pants and a tunic, cinched at the waist with a wide belt. Both the tunic and belt had distinctly Navirian patterns. Behind her, Kel Angelys stood with her arms crossed, the handles of her kukri knives poking over her shoulders.

As well as apparently deciding to do away with proper Telt lady's attire, Mayah decided to do away with proper protocols. She stepped forward and hugged Tannix. Then she moved through us, giving every single knight a flash of her beautiful smile and a hug. She hugged me last, before returning to the front of the group.

"Queen Avaloni is waiting in the throne room," she said. "We'll eat and talk. The serious conversations can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure you're all famished, so, let's go see what the cooks have managed to put together." She whirled around and everyone moved to follow her.

Except Joen, who stepped closer to Tannix and whispered, "I'd like to visit my forge, if I can. Just to grab some things."

Tannix nodded. "Of course."

In that moment, an idea occurred to me and I had to jump at the opportunity. "Can I go with him?"

"And put off eating?" Tannix asked, cocking an eyebrow. "And what about your cheek?"

"We'll stop by a physician's tent, and I'll eat when we get back," I said. "I'll be safe with Joen."

More reluctantly than he had the first time, Tannix nodded. "Go ahead. But be—"

"—careful," I said. We were surrounded by guards, so I couldn't give him a quick parting kiss. I did the next best thing and let my fingers brush against his briefly. He squeezed my hand, and once he let go I turned to jog after Joen.

Joen's forge had been raided, but his house was untouched. I assumed he wanted something from the forge. Instead he barely gave it a second glance and instead went straight to the house. I had only been inside as far as the main room, and that was where I waited as Joen disappeared into one of the rooms.

Like in most Native Zian homes, the main room contained the kitchen, fireplace and sitting area. The kitchen was messy, remnants of food still caked a pot, and a basket of potatoes had sprouted and shriveled. Sitting on the edge of the table was the pan Joen had nearly killed me with. I wandered from the kitchen to the sitting area, where a low couch sat on a worn carpet. The little table next to the couch served as a small shrine. Catul, Sunia and Eogan—exactly the gods I expected to find in a family's home. Catul was the god of craftsmen and fathers, which perfectly suited Joen. Sunia was the goddess of homes and mothers, and Eogan was the god of children. The other three statues were the triplets, which was also very common.

Joen stepped out of the bedroom, holding a box. "Mementos," he said, when I turned to him. "Catia will be happy to see them. I'll take those, too." He picked up each statuette and carefully lay them in the box. "The woman who made these also made the ones Tannix commissioned for you. Did you like them?"

I nodded. "Of course! I never thought I'd have my own shrine."

Joen smiled. "Well, I'm glad. Now will you tell me why you wanted to come along?"

"I want a Zianesa amulet."

"Oh." Joen tucked the box under one arm and nodded. "Do you think he'll wear it?"

I shrugged. Joen's statuettes had left bare circles on the dusty table, and I absentmindedly ran my finger across them. "He might carry it with him, at least."

"Well, that's easy enough. Let's get to work."

Joen left the box inside the house and we went out to his forge. I followed his directions closely as he lit up the fire, fetching wood for him and trying to dig certain tools out of the ransacked shelves. For the metal, Joen told me to find some spoons in the house. He melted them in a special pot. When the metal was glowing and molten, he put on huge gloves and picked up the pot.

Watching him work was fascinating. Joen didn't have a mold for an amulet, so he dripped the liquid metal onto his anvil until he had a little puddle about the size of a coin. Somehow he knew the exact amount of time to wait before the coin was cool enough to keep its shape when he scraped it off of the anvil. Then he got to work rounding the sharp edges of the coin, and making it more uniform.

He talked while he worked, telling me stories about his wife and daughters. He drew my attention to the metal bracelet around his left wrist—a pale gold band, topped by a pale brown stone. It was his marriage stone, I had always suspected that, but I never knew he had made the bracelet himself.

Joen laughed at my surprise. "There's money to be made in jewellery, if you're good enough. But most people just need tools or weapons. They need their knife sharpened, or new shoes for their horse. That's where most of my business was. Jewellery was more of a hobby I did on the side. First, to make gifts for my mother and sisters. Then for Catia and my girls. Come on over."

I had been giving his working area a wide berth, now I tentatively moved closer. The piece of silver looked even more like a coin than it had before, with smoothened edges. Joen had pieced a hole through the top for a cord to run through. He lay it on top of the anvil and offered me a sharp, narrow tool.

"Press in your design," Joen said. "Then I'll do a final polish."

Unlike most of the gods, Zianesa didn't have only one symbol that represented her. Often a simplified map of the three kingdoms was used, but I didn't trust my ability to draw it nicely. Zianesa was the leader of the gods, but she was also the goddess of the land, plants and animals. I came up with an easy idea and worked carefully to press the tool into the metal, making little, two-sided triangles that I hoped looked like mountains.

When I was satisfied with my work, I stepped back. Joen picked up the amulet and finished the process of cleaning and polishing it. He found a leather cord and strung it through the hole, then dropped the still-warm metal into my hand.

It wasn't likely that Joen would ever come back to his forge, but he still carefully put out the fire and cleaned the workstation. It seemed a habitual thing, a process he had gone through countless times to make sure his forge was safe to work in. When he was done, he reached onto a high shelf to pick up a statue of Volava.

"She always kept the forge safe," he said, expression softening. "Catia was right."

I didn't know her well, but it felt like I was meant to say something. "Whenever you talk about her, you sound... different. It's easy to hear how much you love her. Lovi was right to bring you together."

Joen smiled at me. "She was right about you, too. I'll be right back." He carried Volava's statuette into the house and came back with his box. "Let's go."

I held the amulet as we walked up towards the castle. My grumbling stomach made me realize how much time had passed. I wanted to find Tannix right away, but Joen brought me to the kitchens instead. I ate quickly, but had to wait for Joen to work his way through multiple helpings of food before he was ready to take me to find Tannix.

We stayed in East Draulin for about a week and a half. Despite my initial excitement about the amulet, I didn't give it to Tannix immediately. I had the opportunity many times, but I started to second guess the idea. Tannix respected my gods, that didn't mean he was going to wear a symbol to one of them.

The days were filled with meetings and reports. Tandrin and Queen Navire called Tannix into discussions where they poured over maps, trying to plan out the best route for the army to march towards Deorun's capital. There were talks about resources the army needed, and repairs the navy needed. Long conversations about what to do with the Deoran prisoners. Mayah asked for Tannix's guidance as she started making plans for East Draulin, including bringing some of her people back from West Draulin.

Tannix didn't have a lot of time to relax, but usually when he did, we spent it together. Sometimes alone, sometimes with the knights. When he wasn't with me, he was with Tandrin. Although it was hard to imagine they actually took the time to relax.

When the final night came, there was a dinner with some of the more important people in the two armies. Acen let me come along, and I spent most of the meal hovering near the wall with him as Tandrin and Queen Navire, the lords and ladies, generals and advisors and captains all ate and talked. As the evening carried on, people slowly excused themselves. At the end, it was just Tandrin, Tannix and Mayah.

Of the three of them, Mayah got to her feet first. "Well, I apologize for being an ungracious hostess, but I believe I'm going to retire. Tannix." She paused, and her eyes darted around the room. Besides the three of them, there were me and Acen near one wall, Sir Eppson and another of Tandrin's guards by the door, and Kel Angelys. Mayah seemed to decide that was acceptable, and turned back to Tannix. "I would appreciate your permission to visit your men."

If we hadn't been standing behind Tannix, I imagined he would have exchanged a glance with Acen. "By all means. Give him someone to fight for."

"He's fighting for you," Mayah said.

"He won't be fighting to come back to me, though, and that makes a difference," Tannix said.

Mayah smiled. "Thank you. Good night, gentlemen. I'll see you off tomorrow." She left, followed closely by Kel Angelys.

For a moment neither brother spoke, then Tandrin broke the silence. "She would have made an incredible sister-in-law." He laughed when Tannix looked at him. "I'm just teasing, little brother. Finagale! Come join us!"

I tentatively went to take Mayah's abandoned chair, so that Tannix and I were sitting on either side of Tandrin. I could almost feel Sir Eppson's eyes boring into my back.

"Excellent." Tandrin stood abruptly, reaching for a bottle of wine that had been left behind when the servants cleared the table. He poured some into Tannix's glass, then his own. Then he poured some into Mayah's untouched glass. He handed glasses to me and Tannix, before sitting down with his own. "So, a final evening with my two little brothers. No, Tannix—he basically is," Tandrin added, then held up his glass.

Tannix clinked his against it, and after a pause I realized I was supposed to do the same. I tapped my glass against theirs, and copied them when they lifted the glasses to drink. The wine tingled on my tongue in a way I didn't hate, but didn't really like, either.

"I have something to say," Tandrin continued. "And Finn, since I suspect Tannix would tell you right away, I decided I might as well let you both in on the secret. Meranda's pregnant."

Tannix froze, his wine half-way to his lips. "Excuse me?"

"I think she knew before I left Zianna," Tandrin said. "But I only just found out from a letter. Turns out she's been keeping it well hidden, but it won't be long before the rest of the kingdom finds out. So I'm meant to ride into the damned Deorun desert, knowing that my... well, my future wife, needs me. Knowing that I might never live to meet my child. Knowing that I might very well be abandoning Meranda to scandal and scrutiny. At least if I live, I'll be able to return to Zianna and marry her. But if I don't, my child will be illegitimate and Meranda will be branded a... they'll say terrible things about her."

Tannix put down his glass. "Tandrin, there are extenuating circumstances. Surely people are going to look past the fact that you aren't married yet, considering that you had to leave for war. Nobody can fault her for wanting to—"

"Nobody should fault her," Tandrin corrected. "But they will. What if my baby becomes just another thing they hold against her? First, she made a Tandran king. Then, she had inappropriate physical relations with that Tandran. Then she had an illegitimate Tandran bastard."

"Except that you're going to come home a Tandran war hero, and you're going to marry her," Tannix said. "And then the people who are against you can whine all they want. It won't change a thing."

Tandrin sipped his wine slowly. "You have no idea how much some of those advisors hate me."

"And when has that kind of thing ever slowed you down?" Tannix asked.

Tandrin shrugged. "It wasn't so hard when I had the Goddess given right to inherit West Draulin."

"And Esmeranda has the Goddess given right to rule Zianna." Tannix's gaze flickered to me briefly, but I was trying to not interfere. "Who are they to claim Esmeranda made the wrong choice in you?"

"It isn't so straightforward."

"Maybe not. But unless they're here, fighting with the army, I don't think they get to criticize you. It's your army, Tandrin. You invited the Native Zians and you allied with Navire."

The barest smile flickered across Tandrin's face. "Finn invited the Native Zians and you impressed Avaloni."

"Neither of which could have happened without your backing," Tannix said.

"I suppose you're going to say I reclaimed East Draulin, too?"

"We'll call that a group effort."

Tandrin laughed. "Fair enough. Now." He poured the rest of his wine into his mouth in one go, and swallowed. "You two have wasted enough of your evening with me. Go, spend as much time together as you can before we ride out in the morning. I'm going to write a very long letter to my queen."

Tannix stood. "Write to mother and Tairia. Tell them about Esmeranda."

"I will," Tandrin promised.

I carefully put down my full glass of wine and got to my feet. "Tandrin, you've been a good king, and when you get back to Zianna, you'll be a good father."

"I suppose we'll see. Now, go on."

Tannix waved at Acen, and the three of us walked out. Tannix dismissed Acen, telling him to get some sleep and promising that the castle guards would be able to watch his room. Then it was just us heading for Tannix's chamber. I tried not to think about how it might be the last time.