Page 174 of The Queens and the Kings
“Himmel, you are stronger than me by more than four hundred and fifty years,” he hissed.
You should have presented yourself years ago, Pedr.
“The fact that I’m fifteen years in and he’s never tried to speak to me confirms that it doesn’t matter whether or not I presented myself.”
You cannot stand in your power unless you present yourself to all of us. This will begin to hold you back.
“Himmel, this is the worst possible time!” he hissed, and cast a sidelong glance to Britt, who still peered out on the moonlit riddled sea.
We will stand together.I will not let him break you. If my suspicions are correct, Onskar may have sided with the Siren Queens, and seeks to destroy any islands that may be valuable to the Wyvern Kings.
Pedr reared back.
“This island?” His voice pitched higher. “Stenberg?”
There is greater value in the sealstone than you fully comprehend.
Pedr’s nostrils flared as he gripped Rosenvatten’s wheel. Her promise of,I will not let him break youwas mild reassurance. A lot of ground existed betweenpresent himselfandbreak himand none of it would be pleasant.
Really, there was nothing to consider. Of course he’d present himself as the new Arcanist of the Sea to Onskar, if only to distract the Arcanist from events on Stenberg—if that was possible. Pedr didn’t stand a prayer’s chance against a full-blooded Arcanist, but he couldn’t do nothing, either. Henrik, Einar, Arvid, Harald—they could sacrifice every last sinew, offer every single rebuttal against Onskar’s arcane, and nothing would budge it.
They couldn’t stop it.
He could.
WithHimmel.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Fine! Let me . . . get to my quarters.”
Pedr swiveled, headed for the stairs. He stopped halfway there. The very last complication he needed was Britt strolling in and seeing him in his unbridled—yet minimal—power as an Arcanist. In fact, she couldn’t. It would ruin everything.
He called to Britt. “You saw all the rowboats when we came into port?”
“Of course!”
“They’re saving innocent Stenberg citizens.” He paused with dramatic emphasis, then added, “Looked like a lot of women andchildren. There are rowboats heading back inland, because there must be more hiding.”
Her shoulders curled back.
“And?”
He gestured toward the side of his ship with a tilt of his head. “My rowboat can move two or three times faster than theirs. There are a lot of lives that could be saved.”Particularly with Onskar inland,he silently added.
Britt pushed her lips to one side of her face in studious assessment. “You’re trying to occupy me, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
His quick admittance disarmed her. Her arms dropped to her side.
“Why?”
“Because this is Henrik’s fight. Einar’s. Harald’s. Arvid’s. You need to let them fight it.”
Britt’s cheeks slackened. “What if they die?”
He hesitated, but decided Britt could handle any truth he shared. “It’s who they are, Britt. You can’t take that from them, and you can’t change it. This life will always have some pull for him. Henrik is a warrior. A soldat. It’s in his blood to fight for something. You come to terms with it, or you don’t.”
A haunted expression crossed her face. More softly, he said, “And if anything ever happens to him, then you always have a place with me.”
