Solar Reign

X L

IT HAD not taken much convincing. A sweet smile and a few please? was enough to convince a fisherman to take Andorra and Oberon out on a boat.

She had never been on a boat. Not in California, not in Maine, not in Anlithamy. But now, she could check that box off as she sat on the bow, leaning back on her hands, taking in the city around them.

Oberon sat beside her, tense but slowly relaxing as they traveled down the main drag. Andorra tilted her head back to stare at the city above them, marveling at how many levels there were above them. Districts Ero had called them. She could see people bustling around, some leaning over the railing overlooking the river, some crossing the bridges. It was amazing, how this inner city was built.

"So, you are a guest of the King?" The fisherman asked as he navigated them down the river.

Andorra looked over her shoulder at the fisherman, trying to gauge his reaction. Did he like the King? Did he not?

"Sort of. We're visiting from pretty far away on the hopes that the King will... hear us out."

The fisherman regarded Andorra and Oberon with a serious, thoughtful look. "You're from Anlithamy, yeah?"

Andorra jolted at his words. She sat up straighter, properly turning to face the man. "How did you know?"

The fisherman shrugged. "Everyone knows. Prince Erowillric went to Anlithamy on business, and returned with two guests who wish to speak with the King. Not hard to connect those dots."

Andorra shared a look with Oberon. "That explains all the hostile looks."

"Eh, don't mind them. Folks are curious. It's pretty rare to find anyone who has met a fae from Anlithamy. We've been at odds with Anlithamy for longer than the majority of us have been alive. But you aren't exactly what we were expecting."

"Well, most of us aren't my size," Andorra joked, feeling the tension around them smooth out. This man wasn't mad at them, or hostile.

"But you are their Queen, yes?"

Andorra felt her voice dry up. She swallowed, wondering if it was a great idea to get on the boat of a man who knew who she was. She shook off that thought; she wasn't alone, and she wasn't weak. She could certainly hold her own against a fisherman.

"Yes. A job I take very seriously. Seriously enough to come to Averotho, begging your King to not go to war with us." Andorra felt a shudder run across her skin. "Averotho is not what I was expecting. This place... it's so different. I mean, this city being built over the river is insane."

The fisherman was silent for a moment. It was a brooding type of silence. "The landscape has been like this for a long, long time. It's meant to keep the lower class fae at the bottom, and the rulers on top. Being forced to stay below ground is... it's not what we want. The King makes us feel like rats in a sewer down here."

Andorra's mouth dropped open, but she hadn't a clue what to say. She had assumed people had liked King Kaeberon here, despite him being an ass. She had wrongfully assumed that everyone in Averotho would be as cut throat as he was.

"Do they come down here? The King and his son?"

The fisherman spit out a dry laugh. "The only royal who has ever dared to step foot down here and live like us was the Dark Prince, but he's gone for good. The King loathes any sort of competition." He snorted loudly. Andorra was tempted to ask him what any of that meant. Who was the Dark Prince? Why was he gone for good? What did this Prince have to do with the King?

"But Ero, he seemed to know the layout down here pretty well."

"Prince Erowillric is better than his father. He's curious, and seems to have a heart. King Kaeberon does not like it when his son spends too much time in the slums with us. I think Erowillric breaks the rules, but I wouldn't consider it enough. He's a lot like his uncle, that's for sure."