On the next day, the betrothal games officially began. All the guests rode to the port of Zerta, wide open on the Orman Sea, and bordered by three-story houses with beige fa?ades and blue shutters. A crowd watched us from the many balconies of the city, reminding me of my summoning day. It’d been a celebration too, back then, but the festivities had been cut short by the burning breath of a dragon.

  I gave a sideways look at Kossi, who stood slightly hunched, as if he tried to shrink away from everyone’s view. He shouldn’t worry so much. Nobody out there knows he’s a dragon. The most visible signs of his real nature are the scales on his cheekbones, and they’re hardly noticeable from a distance. Princess Jilu’s face tattoos are much more conspicuous.

  I smiled at Kossi. He smiled back, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. I wanted to bring him to the nearest kitchen and let him crush some food until he felt better. Except we were standing several guests apart, in the middle of a small crowd surrounded by a larger one, attending the blessing of the games.

  The ceremony was led by the local archbishop, a bearded man with a loud voice. He spoke of games of old, of the brave men and women who chose to celebrate unions, not by fighting, but by facing each other in peaceful events. It sounds like every sport competition in the world. If you want to show you’re better, dominate the field, don’t gut your opponents. But these games took place prior to a betrothal, which was new to me.

  The archbishop sprinkled perfumed water onto the two slender boats moored behind him. Then he raised both hands to praise the Almighty. The crowd repeated his words as one. The king, the guests, the people around. It felt like being in a large church filled with devout worshipers, and despite my reservations about whether the Almighty was the God I’d known in my native world, I followed.

  Once the echo of devout words gave way to the sound of waves in the port, the archbishop spoke again.

  “Please, Lord Gurvan, Your Royal Highness, step forward.”

  Gurvan stood on the left of the pier, in cropped pants and a short-sleeved shirt, holding an oar. Jilu was on the right, in a similar outfit with added lace, with her little white dog in her arms. She handed the dog to a servant and took an oar instead. Hers had a gilded band around the handle.

  Each teenager walked to a boat, looking straight ahead. None of them seemed to acknowledge the other. They boarded, using planks that their respective crews withdrew as soon as they were on board.

  The archbishop bowed his head, and King Esthar stepped forward. He looked at the houses behind us, ostensibly acknowledging the people cheering for the fiancés-to-be.

  “People of Zerta, I am delighted to see so many of you attending this first day of the betrothal games between your young lord, Gurvan of Sottarn, and his future fiancée, Princess Jilu of Folesh!” he said.

  The crowd cheered louder, but the king kept speaking.

  “The first crew who comes back after sailing around Solusia Key will be the winner of today’s game. Now let the boat race begin!”

  Both boats unmoored and left the port. As their shapes grew smaller, sailing south towards the horizon, part of the assembly walked away. Others stayed behind, including King Esthar and his daughters, with Senior Magus Malin standing by their side. Duke Irmel and Duchess Nithys were there as well.

  “Great Hero Al!” said Princess Adalyn.

  I stepped forward.

  “What can I do for you, Princess?”

  The girl pointed to a two-masted ship on our left.

  “We will follow the race. The view will be better from the sea than from the Citadel. Would you like to come with us?”

  Her little sister Zinnia nodded enthusiastically. A group of children and teenagers, including Gurvan’s younger siblings, gathered around them. Is it a school outing?

  No, it wasn’t. Foleshian guests were getting on board as well, and all of them were adults.

  “Please come!” insisted Zinnia.

  King Esthar smiled. “I would go if I were you, Al. Is this your first time at sea?”

  “Not really. I went on boat trips in my previous life.” But the boats had noisy motors, and I liked drinking cheap beer on the deck. “However, it’ll be a pleasure to sail again. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  As it turned out, neither Esthar nor Nigella were following. The two of them, along with most of the delegation from Carastra, would head back to the Citadel and watch the race from the wall.

  “Enjoy the cruise,” said Kossi as his escort closed in on him.

  “I’ll be seeing you later,” I promised.

  He had a bitter smile. We both knew we had little control over our schedule, so we had no idea whether we’d get to meet again on that day. We parted, and I focused on not getting seasick.

  As it turned out, I didn’t really need to worry. The Orman was a rather calm sea, and the sailors knew how to maneuver, so I felt significantly better on the deck than after a teleport spell. Although we didn’t catch up with the race boats, at least we vaguely kept up. There were just enough small clouds to soften the sunlight, and the breeze felt pleasantly refreshing. While most other passengers passed on binoculars to look at the competitors, I relaxed, watching the waves and the sea birds.

  What if I slipped away, while we’re in Zerta, and went swimming in the sea?

  A seasick man bent over the hull and threw up, his long dark brown hair hiding his face. That was far less romantic than my dream of a bathing escape. Poor sod. He’s more sensitive than me. For the sake of his dignity, I’d better pretend not to notice.

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  I sighed and looked the other way.

  Zerta was a beautiful city, with its beige and yellow port bathed by the sun. The tiled roof of houses seemed to cling to the hill, all the way up to the temple of the Almighty on one side, to the Citadel on the other. From where I stood, I could see the old fortress’ cannons, pointed at us, ready to defend Brealia.

  “No, come back!” a child’s voice exclaimed.

  Then there was a splash, and as the ship kept sailing, a blonde head emerged. My heart tried to spring out of my ribcage.

  Adalyn? No, it’s Zinnia!

  “Hey! Princess overboard!” I shouted.

  Sailors gave me doubtful looks. All right, let’s not count on them. Is there a lifebuoy here? There was none that I could see, and we were moving away from Zinnia, so I had no time to waste. No looking for a device that probably didn’t exist. No asking the captain to turn around. I had to act myself, quick. I removed my boots and shoved them into the nearest sailor’s hands.

  “I said, princess overboard! I’ll keep her afloat. Make sure you pick us up.”

  I dove into the sea. The water was cooler than I thought.

  This wasn’t the bath I’d dreamed of, but as a teacher, I’d taken a few classes to the pool, and even though there were professional lifeguards, I was trained to help if needed.

  I swam towards Princess Zinnia as fast as I could, swallowing salt water in the process. “Hang on, I’m coming!”

  Panicked voices behind me confirmed that the crew was now aware of the emergency. Good. They won’t let us drown.

  As I reached the princess, I realized she was holding a little white dog, but she was weighed down by her multiple skirts. Even with a ten-year-old’s energy, she couldn’t keep both herself and the dog afloat for long.

  “Al!” she panted before a wave briefly submerged her face.

  “I’m here, let me help you!”

  I took a look at the ship, but it was too big to change course so fast. It was still maneuvering, still moving away, and it wouldn’t be back for a while. I needed to act now.

  I struggled to remove my pants underwater, while making sure neither princess nor dog sank. I only saw this trick in a video tutorial, I never actually tried it myself, but it’ll have to do! I tied the legs together, as tightly as I could, and swung the pants over my head and into the water, trapping air inside. It works! I made a buoy.

  I grabbed Princess Zinnia with one hand, while she kept lifting the terrified dog above the surface. With my other hand, I kept my pants upside down, so the air couldn’t escape.

  “I got you. Hold on to this. It’ll help you float.”

  “But Al, Princess Jilu’s dog…”

  “He’ll hang on to us. Or is it a she?”

  The dog climbed onto my shoulder. It didn’t help, as I was out of breath from the cold water and the panicked swim, and the ship was taking forever to come back. Voices were calling Princess Zinnia. Some might be calling me as well, but I didn’t care. I focused on keeping my makeshift buoy buoyant. Thank the Almighty for video tutorials.

  But it didn’t really work. The buoy was deflating. Soon we’d sink again, and I’d waste all my energy putting more air into my pants.

  Is this how I die? Trying to save a girl who tried to save a dog? No, I guess not. I must ask Cherub for help, have them miracle me some kind of floating device…

  My teeth chattered and I had a hard time choosing what kind of device I should ask for. I knew Cherub. They’d want specific instructions, but I felt cold, I couldn’t think straight, and perhaps I should first make Zinnia remove a skirt, but what if she went full Paul and Virginie on me, and…

  “Who is Virginie?” asked the princess.

  Did I say it out loud?

  “A girl from a story,” I panted.

  Virginie chose to die rather than remove her clothes. Can I really mention that to a ten-year-old struggling to keep afloat?

  I realized something was flying from the coastline. Something big. I looked up, with one dog on my shoulder and one princess clinging to my half-inflated pants. Again, my heart jumped. I knew this majestic dark brown figure. It was a Gold Dragon, and I only knew one of them.

  “Kossi!” sighed Zinnia.

  “Yes, Kossi. He’s coming for us.”

  The dragon dove under the waves, splashing more water on us, but it was all forgiven when I felt his body under my feet. He slowly swam back to the surface, bringing us above sea level, and keeping us safe while the ship came back for us. Zinnia and I sat down on his back. I was still holding my drenched pants in my hands, but it didn’t matter.

  “You saved us! I knew you were good!” said the girl.

  Big golden eyes blinked slowly, like a cat’s. I laid a hand on Kossi’s neck.

  “I’d give a speech… but I’m too breathless… for that.”

  The ship finally came back, and the sailors threw a rope ladder at us. We were drenched, I was barefoot and everyone saw me in my underwear, but I still climbed up the ladder and grabbed a sailor’s hand to get back on board. As I looked over my shoulder, Kossi turned into his human form, in his usual black clothes. He held Zinnia with one arm and climbed using the other, with no apparent effort.

  I wish I was as strong as a dragon.

  The seasick man from before rushed to get the little dog back. I remember him! He’s the servant Princess Jilu gave her dog to, just before she boarded her race boat! He was in his late thirties to early forties, and like most Foleshian guests, he looked Mediterranean. He had long dark brown hair and a round face with a straight nose. He wrapped the dog in a towel and ran away, his face still a little greenish.

  Sailors threw blankets over our shoulders.

  “What happened?” asked Princess Adalyn.

  Zinnia looked at her soaked shoes.

  “The dog fell overboard while no one was looking. I tried to catch him, but I fell too.”

  “Why are you always so careless?”

  “Adalyn, I…”

  The twelve-year-old rolled her eyes. “Thank the Almighty, you are safe. Let me express my gratitude, Great Hero Al.”

  Next to me, Kossi narrowed his eyes. He’d flown all the way from the Citadel to rescue us, and Adalyn was deliberately ignoring him. He opened his mouth, but no sound escaped his full lips.

  “Thank you, Kossi,” said Zinnia.

  Her sister glared at her. “How…”

  But Zinnia looked straight back at her, raising a hand to catch Kossi’s. Adalyn sighed and turned around. The little girl looked up at both of us.

  “I must apologize, Kossi. Princess Adalyn thinks you are a bad man, because of what that evil sorcerer made you do.”

  The dragon took both her hands. “Your sister isn’t the only one who thinks so. And it’s true I did horrible things, things I must now make up for. I can’t blame her for resenting me. Even I can’t forgive myself for what happened.”

  “But it was not your fault!”

  Zinnia’s chin was trembling, and I wasn’t sure I could take it. If she bursts into tears, so will I. I spoke up.

  “Look, everyone’s safe and sound. It’s all that matters right now. Princess Zinnia, you were brave enough to save Princess Jilu’s dog. Kossi and I, on the other hand… just did our job as adults.”

  The girl looked up at me, with her big green eyes.

  “You told me so, last night. That I might save a life.”

  “Well, you did. But can you even swim?”

  “I took lessons, but it was in a pool, and in a swimsuit. I had never swum in the sea before.”

  I nodded.

  “In the sea, and in a full dress. I should have asked you to remove a skirt or two, but I was in a bit of a panic myself and…”

  Kossi interrupted me with a hand on my shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Al, you did the right thing. You were a hero again. I mean, you never stopped being a hero.”

  His golden eyes made something melt inside me, but reality caught up with a vengeance. I shivered despite the warm weather. The smile Kossi was beginning to flash vanished.

  “Are you cold? How stupid of me not to have guessed! Come over here, the two of you. Being a dragon has its perks.”

  Kossi brought us both under his blanket, with his arms across our shoulders. A pleasant warmth radiated from him, driving the cold out of my bones. Zinnia thrust her arms around him. Although I didn’t imitate her, I allowed myself to relax. The danger was gone and I could already feel my clothes dry.

  “Your boots, my lady,” said a sailor, leaving my footwear on the deck in front of me.

  I couldn’t care less about the boat race. Aristocrats and their strange customs didn’t matter. Why bother about it all when a brave little girl had almost drowned, and I’d saved her with crucial help from the most incredible creature I knew? For the first time since I’d parted with Catalin three days before, I felt I was in the right place.