Night had fully fallen, and the giant bonfire in the center of Fierce Tide Plaza was lit.
Flames leaped skyward, illuminating the Red Tide flags and casting a red glow over the snow.
People packed the plaza in concentric rings: artisans, knights, soldiers, merchants, commoners, apprentices...
Mary's family stood in the crowd. Innie rode on her father's shoulders, holding a small Red Tide Flag.
Firelight shone on every face, as though the entire city were burning.
Louis walked up the steps in a Red Tide cloak, followed by Bradley, Lambert, and several representatives of the knights.
He wore no medals and had no ceremonial escort, only an ordinary sword resting at his side.
The moment he appeared, the cheers in the plaza nearly tore the snowy night apart.
"Long live Red Tide!"
"Long live Lord Louis!"
"Red Tide will never go out!"
Shouts rose one after another, overlapping into a deafening wave.
Young knights raised their swords in salute, children waved little flags, and elderly people wiped away tears.
The entire city seethed with excitement. Those cries swept outward from the center of the crowd like a tide, lingering long afterward.
They were so overwhelmed because this lord had not only kept them alive, but had also allowed them to live with dignity for the first time.
A few years earlier, many of them had still been starving in the snow, working as servants on the old nobles' estates, or fleeing the ravages of war.
Now they had warm homes, ample food, paid work, and schools where their children could learn to read.
To them, all of this should have belonged only to nobles, yet Louis had made it possible for ordinary people to have it too.
That was why, in their hearts, he was more than a lord. He