Page 5 of The Queens and the Kings
Until he clapped eyes on Arvid, living and breathing and existing in front of him, Henrik had brutally questioned the truth. His former soldat Captain had faked his own death in order to stage a rebellion and soldat coup against the tyrannical Stenberg leader, His Glory. Ultimately, thanks to soldats on Stenberg that supported Arvid, the revolt had been moderately successful thus far.
Time would tell if it continued.
“Arvid,” Henrik said, unable to help his smile.
Arvid crossed the room in four strides. He held out a hand, which Henrik accepted, but Captain Arvid yanked him into a chest-shaking embrace. Henrik pounded him on the back, not expecting the warm response.
“Good to see you alive, Captain.”
They parted, but Captain Arvid kept a firm grip on Henrik’s shoulder. “Really good to see you, Henrik. I knew you’d come to our side, and not just because of Einar.” He swept an arm toward padded chairs, cut into the stone wall. “Have a seat.”
Overhead skylights brought little light into the rectangular room, aiding the luminescence from the golden arcane infused in the wall. Veins cut thick lines all the way across the ceiling, brightening the dark space. A fire crackled in a hearth along the interior wall, hissing from the occasional raindrop.
They sat across from each other.
“Was your trip from Stenberg uneventful?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“None of that.” Captain Arvid shook his head. “Just Arvid.”
Henrik swallowed his tongue in the attempt. It felt wrong to be informal, like petting a cat backward.
“Arvid.”
Arvid laughed. “We’re going to do things very differently from now on, Henrik. You’ll see. How are Agnes and Einar?”
“Healthy, sir. Happy, too. They’re on their way inside. Malcolm is walking them in.”
“Good.”
Relief poured off of Arvid in waves. In the year since Henrik last saw Arvid, his eyes had aged, his black hair streaked with gray. He probably spent less time in meetings with unmanageable leaders, and more with his skin to the sky and feet on the ground. The dream of every soldat.
“Sir, I have?—”
The door opened again, startled Henrik into silence. Einar barreled inside. He took stock with a quick survey, broke into a huge grin, and met Arvid halfway across the room. They collided in a hug like crashing waves.
“You bastid!” Einar cried. “What are you doing here?”
“Came to welcome you to freedom now that you’re no longer a soldat captive.”
Einar breathed a dramatic inhale. “Feels good.”
“Besides,” Arvid said with a sidelong smile, “I couldn’t resist seeing Henrik again. I felt an in-person explanation was in order.”
Arvid turned to Agnes with open arms. She returned his hug with a few murmured questions and her typical affable grin. “It’s good to see you healthy and well, Arvid,” she said. “It’s been difficult to even pretend your death.”
Henrik barely held his shock. A Stenberg Captain hugginganyone? Einar instantly wrapped an arm around Agnes’s shoulders when she returned to his side.
Arvid waved his hand toward the other chairs. “Might as well get comfortable. I have a lot of explaining to do.”
Arvid’s congeniality wasn’t the final surprise. Arvid and Einar’s jovial laughter, their swapping jokes, the lack of formal communication, made Henrik feel as if he stood upside down. When had the power dynamic in their relationship changed?
What had he missed?
Nina brought a tray of food and bowed out without a word. The smell of coffee and cream accompanied her inside, waftingfrom a hot silver pot. Einar and Arvid continued their review of events on the Unseen Island while Henrik attempted to stop his mental backflips and make sense of new things.
Arvid instead of Captain Arvid.
