Camille learned of the peril Albi was facing and agreed to search for him in Frithe, but she asked for a crew to protect her from Jax's men, who would gladly turn her in for a promotion.
Knowing she was a runaway from Frithe, she still wanted to save as many of her children as she could to redeem herself. And the secret she'd kept so long was starting to eat her alive, she knew the wizard that saved Albi from imminent death. It was Harvey Stix, her uncle in law. He was ousted from the family long ago, and he swore he would have his vengeance.
At one point, Harvey should have become king, but he was erased from history and forced to live on the run. Harvey was forgotten for a long time, as he lived in the shadows. But Camille knew he was alive, because he warned her of the cruelty George possessed. But she didn't heed his warning and married George anyways.
Camille got ready to leave. Her servants would make the trip as well. Bidi had a week to waste, so she traveled to the port city with her mom and ordered twenty of the soldiers to go with Camille and protect her with their lives.
After Camille was sailing away in the royal ship, Bidi went back to see Tiki. He had his crew ready, and they embarked for the Balcan Forest.
Bidi stepped foot into the red fog and searched for the tree she wished to use as her main home, then she gave Tiki instructions on how large she wanted it, and she left the forest.
Construction would take a while, so Bidi occupied her time by searching all of Gerak for people she wished to add to her council. Months would go by, and she still hasn't found anyone worthy. The task was proving to be impossible.
Meanwhile, while Bidi searched for a cabinet, Jax was busy himself. Jax's spies had already informed him that each port city in Gerak was protected by a sizable amount of soldiers. This made him hesitant to fight, but he had to take it upon himself to initiate fights, because Bidi was not taking initiative. She had no need to as well. Sorcery would thrive in Gerak until Jax forcefully ended it.
Both armies were now at capacity. They had all the men they were going to have. Waiting made no sense, so Jax had five thousand troops that were stationed in Tortu abandon their post and attack the capital city once more.
Bidi still hadn't ordered any of her battalions to relocate to the capital, so Jax's men seized the castle for their own. They didn't leave the castle until they had further orders. But news of their arrival spread to other cities in the south of Gerak.
After about a week, orders came in from Jax to destroy as many cities as they could while they marched west along the seaside.
Several small villages fell to the army, but few people were killed. They reached the Port of Princes, which had two thousand of Bidi's men.
Bidi's men fought valiantly to defend the port. But they were greatly outnumbered, and they were all killed, and the port was seized for Frithe. Only five hundred of Jax's men remained to occupy the port.
Once Vran heard that the port was compromised, he marched his men south and fought off the remaining men. He lost half his men, which felt terrible. If they all perished in the war, Tortu people would be erased from memory.
Vran stayed at the port city. He didn't know where Bidi was at that time, but he needed to speak to her. Leaving the capital unprotected was a mistake, as it offered free access to Gerak. He then took it upon himself to protect the two vacant ports. His men were now stretched thin. He needed to speak with the queen desperately. But she was nowhere to be found.
Bidi failed to rule her kingdom, and it was because she didn't have a permanent home. She was a weary traveler, and she popped up in random places, but she couldn't be reached. She needed to remain in one location so her captains could contact her, but nowhere felt right to her.
