Page 27 of The Queens and the Kings
Einar met his gaze and laughed. “I love her, you bastid. I took it up a long time before you returned.”
Henrik schooled his surprise. Einar’s affection wasn’t a surprise. Nor his bold statement. Any fool with eyes had seenthem together. But the speed in which Agnes came to mean so muchwasa surprise.
“What’s your plan?” Henrik asked.
“We’re going to legalize our relationship on the mainland.”
Henrik’s eyes snapped to his again. His stomach dropped, but it had nothing to do with the sea.
“What?”
Einar set his jaw. “That’s why we came with you instead of Arvid. If we legalize on the mainland, Stenberg will have no way to break us apart. The power on the mainland is greater than His Glory’s. Just in case,” he tacked on.
He blinked, shocked. Einar had cared for Agnes for months, sure. Helovedher, and all that. But to legalize?
“I thought?—”
“I know I said that I wouldn’t put Agnes through the legalization and what it might mean for her, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Not now!” Einar whooped, arms to the sky. “We’re free bastids, Henrik.Free.Choice has been denied us all this time, but not anymore. I’m going to use it. Freedom is the path. Wide open. Everything out. We’re going to do whatever the hell we want . . . after I help Arvid with the rebellion.”
Henrik felt a surge of pride, then jealousy. Einar didn’t hesitate over rebellion, expectations, ties that bound them to Stenberg. Henrik hadn’t stepped foot on Stenberg in weeks, but His Glory still held a rope around his neck. Theyhadbroken the physical ties. Not the invisible ones, though.
How did you break the hidden bonds?lingered at the tip of his tongue. Henrik kept them.
“Good for you, Einar.” Henrik clapped his hand on Einar’s shoulder. “I’m glad for you.”
Einar grinned, toothy and saucy, a little boy bound up in a rascal. “After the mainland, we’re going to Narpurra. We want to see what Old Man finds out after news circulates about theUnseen Island. If an overthrow makes sense, we’ll help Arvid for as long as we can.”
“Then?”
“There’s an island in the Lesser Chain called Lunaris. I’ve been on it briefly, and Agnes has heard of it. Have you?”
“Heard of it, haven’t visited.”
Images of frond-built houses, sapphire blue waters, and fishing boats conjured in his head. Associations built over years of hearing descriptions from Captains and sailors, but nothing concrete. It wasn’t a subsidiary of Stenberg nor an allied government willing to resupply, so he hadn’t visited during his reefer year.
“It’s named after the moon, because the arcane there makes the moon shine a brilliant purple when it’s rising and setting. Pointless, but breathtaking, I hear.” Einar nodded toward the sea, but Henrik didn’t glance down. “Because of the arcane, there’s also fish. It calls fish to the beaches in waves, at different times of year, for spawning. As such, it’s a place to live. Families live there. It’s close to a shipping lane and has regular merchant stops. It’s safe, but not far from the mainland. Agnes and I want to raise a family there and never think of the soldats again.”
The idyllic picture left a metallic taste on Henrik’s tongue, as strange as freedom. Could broken glass reseal?
“It sounds . . .”
“Like a dream?”
“Yeah. A dream.”
Einar slammed his palms against the railing. “We deserve it, Henrik! We deserve the dream. The happiness. Those bastids tried to take it from us, but we’re taking it back. It’s all about freedom. You get it? We choose. That’s the whole point. I choose Agnes.”
A high-pitched cry broke the air. Pedr’s messenger drake rose off his perch near the wheel and into the air, interceptinganother drake. After a short, spiraling dance, Drake allowed the messenger access to the boat, but he landed protectively on Pedr’s shoulders with a hiss and a snarl.
The weary, incoming drake lowered onto the deck near Pedr, who approached it without hesitation. When Pedr held out his other arm, the messenger drake spiraled toward his proffered wrist. The webbed wings, pulled taut over powerful bones, drew wide as it descended in lazy spirals. Thick claws angling for his arm was a sight to behold. Pedr’s arm bowed a little when the drake landed, wings furling.
“Good,” Pedr crooned, then spoke unintelligibly. Drake preened when Pedr clucked to the new messenger. A paper fluttered around its claw. After removing the message, Pedr lowered the drake onto a standing rod nearby, meant for this purpose.
When Pedr clapped five times, in a specific rhythm, something red popped into the air. A husk of meat. The drake snapped it with a screech, side-eyeing Drake, who proudly acted as if the messenger didn’t exist.
What was it with this family and their flying pets?
Pedr skimmed the paper once, then twice. He lifted his head to find Einar and Henrik staring at him.
