Nina yanked her gown over her head and exchanged it for a simpler wool dress. “Hanne … Let’s leave.”

“What?” Hanne had pulled on a skirt and blouse and was tailoring away the love bite Nina seemed to have left on her neck.

“Let’s leave. Just like you said, but with less galloping. We’ll go to Ravka. We’ll go to Novyi Zem.”

She knew what Hanne was going to say, that she couldn’t disappoint her parents, that she had a duty to remain, that she could do more good for the Grisha and Fjerda as a princess and one day a queen.

Hanne pulled a knitted Fjerdan vest over her blouse. “How does that look?”

“Absolutely awful.”

“I thought so.” Hanne sat down on the bed to wriggle into her boots. “Do you think the Hringsa could get us out?”

Nina paused with her hands on the buttons of her dress, unsure she’d heard correctly. “I … Yes. I think so.”

Hanne grinned at her, and it was like Nina had been punched in the chest by a ray of sunshine. She thought she might have to sit down. “Then let’s leave. Not right away. If we can still help Rasmus, we have to try. But then we go.”

“We go,” Nina repeated, not quite believing it. They would need time to plan—and for Nina to figure out what to do about Joran.

“We’ll have to be careful. My mother may try to separate us.”

“I thought you were going to say no.”

“Do you want to talk me out of it?”

“No! Absolutely not.” Nina seized her hands and yanked her up from the bed. Saints, she was tall. “I just…” She didn’t know what to say. That she hadn’t felt real hope since she’d lost Matthias, that she’d thought she’d lost her chance at joy. Until now. Until Hanne. She stood up on her toes and planted a kiss on Hanne’s lips. “Never let me go.”

“Never,” Hanne said. “Do you still think peace is possible?”

“Only if Ravka can push Fjerda back decisively. If this turns into an invasion, Fjerda has no reason to sue for peace. But if Ravka makes a real showing, Fjerda will have to consider its options.”

“I don’t think my father will retreat. Not this time. His reputation can’t afford it, and peace is not the vision he has for Fjerda’s future.”

“Then let’s hope the prince is strong enough to choose another path.”

“We’ll make sure he is. And then we’ll get free of this place.”

Free. A mad word. A magical word. Nina wasn’t even sure what that might feel like anymore. But she wanted to find out.

* * *

The airship was not one of the luxury craft used by royals and nobles, but a military vessel, painted gray and blue for better camouflage against the sea and sky. They were given quarters to share with another family and traveled through the day over the True Sea. At sunset, Ylva came to collect them for the landing. She’d barely been able to look either of them in the eye.

“Where are we?” Hanne asked.

Nina peered out of the window and was baffled by what she saw below. “Is that an island?”

But as the airship descended, Nina realized that they were not landing on an island at all. It was a massive naval base. She could see huge warships docked alongside it, and flocks of heavily armed flyers parked on its runways, ready to leap into the air. Spires like giant prongs were arrayed in curving rows on either side of the base—viewing towers. They looked like teeth and gave the base the appearance of a gaping mouth. Uniformed soldiers and military personnel swarmed over the deck like insects, many of them congregating near a central structure of buildings that served as a command center. Its flat roof was painted with the Fjerdan flag—the Grimjer wolf rampant.

Dread sat heavy on Nina’s shoulders, a living, muscled thing that whispered doom in her ear. She knew little about weapons of war, but she knew Ravka had nothing like this monstrosity. It was beyond imagination.

The airship set down on one of the base’s landing strips, and she followed Hanne and Ylva along the gangway.

Redvin was waiting at the bottom of the ramp in his drüskelle uniform. He grinned, and Nina knew she would be content to live a hundred years and never see that expression of eager anticipation on his grizzled face again. “Welcome to Leviathan’s Mouth.”

“Where is Commander Brum?” Nina asked.

“Where he needs to be,” said Redvin. “I’ll show you to your quarters.”

“What is this place?” whispered Hanne. She sounded as scared as Nina felt. All their plans and schemes seemed futile in the face of power like this.

Their quarters turned out to be a cramped box with bunk beds tucked against both walls.

“Well, thankfully we have a private washroom and we’ll all be together,” said Ylva. Nina suspected she meant it. Hanne’s mother might never trust them on their own again.

Brum arrived in their dimly lit cabin after midnight. He looked happier than Nina had seen him in months.

“It’s time,” he said.

Ylva gave a tremulous smile. “You must promise me you’ll be safe.”

“Ask me to be brave, not safe,” Brum said. “I will be with my men on the northern front. But you will be secure here with Redvin, and you’ll have a bird’s-eye view of the sea invasion. Our ships finally broke Sturmhond’s blockade. Ravka’s coast is ours for the taking.”

Nina felt sick. Had the Kerch helped to smash through Sturmhond’s ships? But if Fjerda intended to invade the coast … “You weren’t really negotiating with West Ravka.”

“Clever girl,” said Brum. “No, we had no reason to negotiate with them in good faith. Their navy is no match for ours. With the blockade in ruins, we can invade by sea in the south and on land in the north. Our forces will crush Os Kervo like a pair of pincers.”

The troops attacking from the north must already be on the move. The second front would be launched from the sea. Fjerda would use this nightmare of a base to storm the beaches south of Os Kervo. West Ravka didn’t stand a chance, and once the coast belonged to Fjerda, they’d push east and take Ravka’s capital.

The information was useless to her now. She had no way to reach her contacts in the Hringsa, and even if she did, the intelligence would come too late.