Page 60 of The Queens and the Kings
“The Ladylord might want to help with His Glory.”
“One enemy against another. Is His Glory a problem for the mainland?”
“Must be.”
“Do you know how?”
She shook her head.
Henrik asked, “What will you do about the wyverns?”
“Find them,” she stated with confidence. “Tomorrow, while you and Einar meet with Alma—I mean the Ladylord. It’s the perfect cover.”
Henrik swallowed his concerns about Britt alone on the mainland.
With a shake of her head, she said, “I’ll feel better once Den is back on my shoulders. I don’t like being away from him. I should have brought him. I will tomorrow.” After a searching gaze, she said. “Selma will be worth it, Henrik. I can feel it.”
He smiled softly, but didn’t say a word. They slid across the ocean, the pulse of the oars singing like a lullaby.
Chapter Nineteen
BRITT
Denerfen nudgedher neck early the next morning. “I know.” She pressed a hand to his back. “You don’t like this, but it’ll be okay. Henrik and Einar are meeting with the Ladylord, and we have wyverns to find.”
A coo replied. He gripped her shoulder, without painful claws in her skin. The top of his head nudged her jaw, a silent promise to cooperate.
Off to the side, a sleep-ruffled lubber stared at her as she strolled by, moving fast. She had a lot of ground to cover. Her typical Kapurnickkian pants drew his attention. They tightened against her legs, shielding her from the morning chill. She’d worn a shorter skirt, which stopped around her knees, and wore high boots that would protect her feet from the long walks.
Einar and Henrik had already split the opposite direction, so she hurried across the worn cobblestones. The calm streets were a quiet meditation of closed shops, empty stalls. Tangles of weeds grew in between stones, twining toward the sunshine.
Up, she walked. Crossroads populated the cliffs, loping along a main road leading into the farmlands and orchards. Once shecrested the heights, the steady flap of wyvern wings filled the air, pounding like her heart.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Sun cracked the horizon and light changed the sky. Dusky tones gave way to a flush of peach. Lighter yellow brushed through the clouds, emphasizing their reaching forms. The sun changed everything in its path. Britt paused to gaze over the sapphire waters, still as a mirror. Waves crashed at the shore, spraying foam and whispers.
“Can you see Pedr, Den?”
Denerfen fluttered his wings. He peered in the right direction.
“We’ll return tonight, with any luck,” she murmured. “Might as well travel in the cool of the morning, eh?”
Her explorations would take her to new adventures in the mainland. She’d never visited the vales surrounding the port city. Though proudlynotconsidered Klippornon, the farmlands official territory remained under Klippornon jurisdiction.
She spun on her heels. The road turned to crumbly dirt as she left Klipporno behind, striding into verdant hills that led to distant, purple-black mountains.
A wyvern flew overhead. Only one.
She walked for an hour.
Two.
The sun rose with a sticky heat. Denerfen soared ahead, and returned. He popped in and out of brushes, chasing birds and chittering rodents. When hot, he plastered himself across the back of her shoulders, snout sticking through her hair to smell.
