Chapter 1

Eleventh Month dawned with smoke and ash riding the wind, blowing across the summer dry expanse of the grasslands surrounding the frontier town Vanya and the Legion were hunkered down in. Vanya couldn't smell it, not through the filters of his gas mask, but he kept having to wipe a film of ash off his brass goggles.

Avenyah had been evacuated of civilians and now served as the launching point for the Legion's effort to whittle down the Rixham revenant horde clawing its way north. The horde had broken up into countless smaller groups that had spread across the southern half of the continent. The walking dead had essentially laid siege to every frontier village, town, and city south of Calhames. Traveling by road was impossible now, and even steam trains were a risk but one the Legion had to take when getting their soldiers into position.

The wardens had offered their expertise for the fight, with a few dozen attaching themselves to battalions and traveling south with the Legion. Delani couldn't spare the numbers she would have liked, not with so many wardens bogged down by the war in Ashion and trying to get a handle on the numerous walking dead there. The death-defying machines were still active, and with the numbers of dead littering the battlefields, Eimarille had plenty to transmute into revenants.

At the moment, Ashion and its civil war with Daijal was the least of Vanya's worries.

"Someone get those poison bombs in the launchers!" a Legion officer yelled over the hectic sounds of legionnaires shouting at each other along the wall and heavy artillery going off.

Vanya flexed his hands, the flicker of starfire warming the air around his fingers. He, like everyone else in the Legion, wore a uniform in the field in lieu of robes. Vanya's effiyeh was checkered gold and red as a mark of the crown he hadn't taken with him out of Oeiras. He turned to look at Javier, the major staring grimly back at him. "Will our position hold here?"

"The revenants are massing near the western gate and the railway station there. I'd rather they didn't break through. The legionnaires can hold the wall here," Javier said.

"Then let's get to the western wall. I need to get up on the observation platform."

Avenyah had no airfield, though it was serviced by railroads. The Legion had barricaded the entrance for defense purposes upon their takeover of the town, but the sheer number of revenants on the other side of the wall was a problem. The Legion couldn't evacuate by steam train if the town was overrun. While the airship anchored above the town's public plaza remained intact, Vanya hated the thought of being evacuated out on it while leaving the rest of his people to die. That wasn't why he'd come south.

Javier nodded. "I have a motor carriage waiting."

Vanya let the major guide him away from the squadrons lining the wall alongside the main gate. The wall surrounding the town wasn't as tall or as thick as the one surrounding a city would be, but it would have been enough against the intermittent incursions of revenants that came up from the Wastelands. With the number of the walking dead presently massed against it and attempting to climb their way into the town, the wall was at risk of being overrun if they didn't burn through the horde.

That duty fell to Vanya, as it had since he'd made it to the fight. This was the third frontier town he'd landed in, hoping to provide a bulwark against the revenants making their way north. Of those in the major Houses who could cast starfire of any degree, only a handful had heeded his call for support. Some minor Houses had sent magicians, and while the Legion was gaining support, Vanya knew many of the Houses hoped he'd die in the poison fields, a victim of his House's many mistakes over the years.

Vanya had no plans to die out here.

Javier drove Vanya to the western side of the town, where sentinel-class automatons ringed the barricaded gate there, Zip guns aimed at the entrance. The automatons were too heavy for the town wall to hold their weight, so legionnaires manned the wall with grenade launchers, sending warden-made poison bombs into the horde.

No one paid Vanya any mind when Javier braked to a halt beside the observation platform, a mechanical contraption that could rise higher than the wall when its four legs were extended. Yadvir waited for them there, the young man giving him a sharp nod in lieu of any formal address. "Your Imperial Majesty."

"Yadvir," Vanya said.

"I'll be joining you on the observation platform for your security."

"I welcome your assistance."

Yadvir had been one of the first to heed his call for aid, joining Vanya when he'd left Oeiras for the battlefield, determined to keep him safe, despite the young man having no inclination for war nor skill with a pistol. Neither was he able to cast starfire, but Yadvir was a magician and had handled himself well during their escape of the old palace last year. His House was a minor one out of Oeiras, but their loyalty was unmatched compared to some of the major Houses.

Those of the Houses who could cast starfire and had heeded the call had been deployed across the south to areas the Legion commanding officers could best put their magic to use. Vanya's position here in this frontier town was where the horde was thickest, drawn to the living on its march north to Calhames.

A legionnaire was already ensconced in the control seat that hung below the circular platform, allowing the pilot to guide it into position. The platform above it provided a circular view of the entire area and space for Vanya to cast starfire.

Vanya, Javier, and Yadvir climbed the ladder to the platform, holding on to the railing as the officer on the ground gave the signal to rise. With a grind of gears, the pilot began their ascent, the platform rising up until it cleared the top of the wall.

The sight that greeted them made Javier swear and Yadvir go pale. Vanya didn't make a sound, gripping the safety railing with both hands as he stared at the oncoming threat. He knew the ground beyond the wall was scorched black from starfire, ash all that remained of half the horde that had greeted his arrival yesterday when his airship made it to Avenyah. But that was difficult to see when the horde had seemingly doubled in size since yesterday. The night had hidden the numbers, despite the near-constant battle the Legion persisted in.

Yadvir gripped his wand tightly, the clarion crystal at the tip encased in sturdy metal wire that didn't impede the glow of the aether that danced around it. "I will guard you as you focus on the horde, Your Imperial Majesty."

"We both will," Javier grunted.

Vanya nodded, gaze sweeping over the mass of walking dead that undulated like waves on the land before them. Burning the dead in such quantities spread out before them took effort and was a risk to the land as well as the people hunkered down behind the walls. He also had to be mindful of the steam train and railroad tracks situated beyond the wall. Too much heat could warp them both, and then the legionnaires would be stuck here until airships could be spared for transport out.

All of that went through Vanya's mind as Javier handed him a spyglass. Vanya pressed it carefully to one of the lenses of his brass goggles, peering through it at the horde of revenants. The Legion was targeting the closest segment of the walking dead with poison bombs and other kinds of explosives. Bullets seemed to do nothing to keep them down, merely tore them to pieces that kept wanting to move. Fire was the only thing that had ever kept their people safe, and Vanya meant to do his duty to Solaria.

"I'll aim for the rear of the horde and bring the starfire as close as I can," Vanya said before passing back the spyglass. "Have the legionnaires focus their efforts close to the wall to drive them into my starfire."

"Understood," Javier said, already pulling out his televox. They'd traveled with a portable communications tower that was currently set up on the other side of the plaza, giving them a solid line of communication.

Vanya extended his arms in front of him, palms facing outward. He reached for the aether and drew its power through him, starfire erupting into existence around his hands. It burned molten hot, a white-gold flicker of ferocious heat that he sent streaking into the sky like a comet, one volley at a time. The bursts of starfire landed amidst the horde like a match landing in drought-dry kindling.

Starfire ripped through the revenants, fed by the dried-out husks of the walking dead who'd suffered since Rixham had been walled off all those years ago. They went up in flames, and Vanya guided his starfire through the revenant horde with fierce concentration.

Shouts from below resulted in a pause of attack as the legionnaires repositioned their artillery for closer attacks. The revenants tried to escape the starfire by lurching closer to the wall, but they were met by explosions driven by poison bombs that would hopefully incapacitate them.

Vanya flexed his fingers before initiating another volley of starfire, aiming farther to the left than before. He wanted to box the revenants in as much as possible, giving the Legion time to work on eradicating them with warden help. The sky turned hazy with smoke and ash, muting some of the eye-watering brightness of the rising sun that Vanya was staring into.

He squinted through his brass goggles, the rasp of his breathing through the gas mask filters loud in his ears, thrumming through his jawbone. He turned on his feet, concentrating to guide the starfire from a distance.

"A warden is requesting you pull the left flank of your starfire barrier closer to the wall. Revenants are trying to escape in that direction," Javier said.

Vanya nodded and curled his fingers, starfire mimicking the motion as the searing heat of that fiery wall drew ever closer to the frontier town. "Any luck on air support yet?"

"The squadron over Temetry isn't scheduled to leave for our position until midday."

The Legion only had a certain number of military airships at their disposal for use of aerial bombardment on revenants. Some of those squadrons had been shifted out of Ashion once E'ridia joined the fight. More than half of those had been positioned at Solaria's major cities in preparation for defense against the oncoming horde. The rest were meant to fill in the gaps in the vast expanse of open land and poison fields the Legion was fighting within to build a bulwark against the revenant horde. Vanya knew it might not be enough to make a difference.

"We'll make do."

He kept most of his attention on the starfire he controlled, keeping it contained within the revenant horde as it scorched the earth. He fought to keep it from expanding beyond the area, unwilling to risk the threat of a grassfire. Summer might be over, with the Eagle Constellation rising in the sky in honor of the Dusk Star, but that didn't mean the brittle dryness of the desert and hill country would see rainstorms just yet.

Vanya was only distantly aware of the defensive maneuvers happening within the ranks on the wall, most of his attention on burning through revenants without damaging the tracks. Yadvir remained by his side, a constant presence working in tandem with Javier to guard him. Being so high up on the observation platform made him a target, but Vanya wasn't about to hide.

So focused was he on the shifting line of starfire that he missed the initial conversation Javier was having with someone through the televox. He didn't miss when both Javier and Yadvir shouted a warning practically in his ears.

"Get down!" Yadvir cried out, lending action to his words by yanking Vanya to the floor of the observation platform.

Javier instantly dropped as well, bullets peppering the air where they'd been standing and pinging against the body of the observation platform. A roar went up amongst the legionnaires on the ground and wall, a furious sound that was drowned out by an explosion on the ground inside the frontier town.

Yadvir snapped his wrist, wand cutting through the air as aether fled the clarion crystal tip. Magic surrounded them in a glittering golden shield while Javier lurched toward the control panel, grabbing for the radio that kept them in contact with the pilot. "Take us down!"

No sooner had he spoken than the gears clicked and metal screeched as the observation platform shuddered, descending toward the ground. Vanya shoved himself up onto one elbow. "Thank you."

Yadvir smiled, more a baring of teeth than anything else. "No thanks needed, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Do we know who was shooting?"

"A legionnaire on the wall. It looks like others took him down."

"We'll check if they're a rionetka," Javier said.

If they were a fanatic instead, it still would not change Vanya's course of action. He would continue to remain in the south, moving from town to city and back again, doing all that he could to burn revenants into ash with starfire. It was the least that he owed Solaria.

The observation deck settled on the ground with a judder. Javier kept a hand on Vanya's shoulder, speaking into his televox. After a moment, a pair of praetoria legionnaires hustled up to the railing, and Yadvir retracted his shield only after Javier gave the command.

"We've confirmation the attacker was a rionetka," the shorter woman reported.

Javier offered Vanya his hand, helping him to his feet. "Their rank?"

"No rank, sir. Enlisted."

Javier met Vanya's gaze. "We should get you under cover."

Vanya shook his head. "I need to get back up there to burn the dead."

He couldn't see the starfire he'd cast, but he could sense it, a weight to his awareness beyond the wall. Leaving the area would mean having to withdraw it from the fight, allowing the revenant horde to claw at the walls. The Legion only had so many poison bombs and bullets to commit to each battle, and starfire was inexhaustible outside his own strength. Their best chance at clearing this portion of the horde was if he stayed put.

Javier didn't argue, much as Vanya knew the major wanted to. Instead, Javier reached for the lever again and shoved it back up, starting the observation platform's ascent all over again. Vanya steadied himself on the ride up, scanning the wall and the sky as he did so. A speck in the northwest caught his eye, too large to be any ash floating across the sky. He watched it for a few seconds, noticing how it grew larger.

"Javier, I thought you said we weren't expecting any airships right now?" Vanya said.

Javier followed his gaze to the horizon. He swore softly before pulling out his televox, presumably to call whichever communications officer was on duty. Yadvir handed Vanya the spyglass, and he put it up against the lens of his brass goggles again. He turned the cylindrical plating a little to sharpen what he was looking at. The airship, while still far away, appeared larger in his eye, big enough that Vanya could see its make was Solarian. When he spied the edges of the Imperial seal painted on its hull, he swore his heart clenched.

"Communications was just notified of its arrival now that the airship is within range. It's come from Oeiras," Javier said.

"My valide and daughter?" Vanya asked sharply, fear the first thing to fill his mind.

"No. It carries reinforcements."

Which would be sorely needed, but he couldn't fathom how one airship could hold the number of soldiers they needed. Vanya passed back the spyglass as the airship rapidly closed the distance. The only realistic place for the airship to dock was in the middle of the town on a long anchor line like the other one. Except it didn't head there, choosing instead to hover over the observation deck.

Vanya tilted his head back, watching as the airship descended, the thrum of its engine drowning out everyone's voices. Crew came to the railing, and a rope ladder got tossed over the side. It was long enough the knotted ends thumped against the metal flooring of the observation deck. Javier and Yadvir immediately moved to hold and steady it.

High above, a familiar figure appeared at the railing and deftly flipped over it, grabbing at the rope ladder with sure hands. Vanya drew in a ragged breath, the gas mask filters crackling in his ears as he recognized who they were, forcing his knees to lock, lest he stumble.

"Soren."

It was as if every prayer Vanya had ever uttered to the Dawn Star since Soren had been taken from him was answered in that moment. That fear he'd carried for weeks—of never knowing if he'd see Soren alive again—bled away, replaced by a joy so fierce it made Vanya's heart skip a beat.

Soren climbed down without pause, though he never made it to the last rung. He jumped down to the observation deck before his feet even came level with Vanya's head, finally there, within reach, looking thinner than Vanya would have liked but blessedly alive. And all Vanya could think about was holding the other man in his arms again after so long apart.

"Vanya," Soren said, gray eyes bright with what Vanya now knew was love after all these years. He wore no gas mask, and Vanya wasted no time in tearing his own off, taking his effiyeh with it.

"Soren," Vanya ground out, already reaching for him.

The space between them disappeared as Soren stepped in close, his arms going around Vanya's neck to pull him down into a scorching kiss. It felt like a fever dream to hold him, almost too much after so many weeks of uncertainty—the taste of him, the feel of Soren in his arms—that Vanya couldn't stop the shuddering gasp that escaped him when they finally broke apart.

"You're here," he rasped. "How are you here?"

Gloved fingers gently pressed against his lips, stilling his words. "I wouldn't be anywhere else but here, princeling. I escaped Bellingham with Lore. Taisiya sent her and Nathaniel back to Ashion. You needed me more."

Vanya grabbed his hand, pressing a hard kiss to leather-lined knuckles. The smell of ash in the air was brutally harsh, and he knew he'd have to put the gas mask back on soon, but Vanya stole another kiss first, then another.

"You should know Joelle is dead. Blades killed her in Bellingham," Soren said.

Vanya's lips curled upward. "Good. It means I don't need to tell Raiah I had her mother's House eradicated. Eimarille did it for me."

Joelle had lost. The House of Kimathi would be a threat to his House or his daughter no more. The cost to see Joelle dancing amongst the stars was so much, though. Her alliance with Daijal had nearly torn Solaria apart, and even now, what power Vanya held since the Conclave was questionable at best after Rixham's walls fell.

But he was here, and she was not.

"Fight with me?"

Soren's smile was small but filled with a warmth that was for Vanya alone. "Always, princeling."