The journey from the lush valleys of Oakhaven to the salt-sprayed cliffs of Port Selene was a passage through the very soul of the North. As the mountain air gave way to the briny, rhythmic breath of the sea, the landscape softened. The jagged, unforgiving crags retreated, replaced by rolling hills that tumbled into the churning gray expanse of the Northern Ocean.
Nyx felt the change in her blood. The sea called to a part of her that had been dormant—a sense of vast, unmapped horizons. Riding beside her men, she felt not the crushing weight of a crown, but the exhilarating lightness of possibility.
"The harbor is the gateway to the world," Caspian remarked, his horse nudging hers. He looked out at the masts bobbing in the harbor, his silver eyes reflecting the choppy water. "If we contro
