Page 72 of The Queens and the Kings
Despite the late hour, Henrik refused to sleep until Britt returned. He’d been ready to throw the rowboat back into the water and return when she popped into sight, rowing herself.
“Look, I’m fine.” She rubbed a hand over her face. Dirt and dried sea salt dribbled to her shoulders. “I’m sorry I was late. It wasn’t intentional, but the wyverns were more difficult to see than I expected.”
Pedr exploded. “Late! Late? You said you’d return by dinner. It’s almost midnight.”
A flicker of uncertainty sabotaged her laissez-faire front. “It took me longer than I expected to get out of the caves.”
“You were lost?”
“Don’t insult Denerfen!” She held out a hand toward his perch on the bucket. He still hadn’t straightened. “We weren’t lost! He knew where we were . . . for the most part. We just . . . had to find our way out. It was definitely easier on the way out. Then, on the road, I had to hide a few times when?—”
On Pedr’s apoplectic expression, she wisely cut off, ending with a brief cry of, “Everything is fine!” before clamping her lips shut.
She attempted to slip by him, but Pedr grabbed her arm and jerked her in front of him. Henrik stepped forward in a warning that looked as instinctual as it did surly. Pedr scowled in return. He’d happily put a fist through Henrik’s teeth and send him overboard by an ankle. Being an Arcanist had very few perks, and greater-than-normal strength was one of them.
Not that hewantedto hurt Henrik. Henrik was one of the few he could stand, mostly because he hardly said a word.
Henrik didn’t advance, but neither did he back down.
Pedr loosened his grip.
A little.
“Do you understand?—”
Britt wrenched her arm free, eyes sparking with her own ire. “Yes, I know that it was dangerous, but we had to know more. We can’t have another wyvern at Kapurnick, and I learned a few things.”
Curiosity spiked, allaying his second rush of irritation. She shouldn’t have taken such extreme action, and at a place where none of them could help her. Or perhaps he was madhecouldn’t have helped.
“What did you find out?”
She eyed him distrustfully. “There’s only one wyvern allowed to fly at a time. The others are restrained with chains. The Keepers said something about a mineral.” Her lips turned down as she folded her arms across her chest. “They said the mineral didn’t arrive last month and was late this month.”
Einar asked, “Mineral?”
Britt shrugged.
Henrik and Einar exchanged an unreadable look before Henrik asked, “Did they give the mineral a name?”
“No.”
“No description or?—”
“No. Nothing. There’s not much else to be said, except that wyverns are irritable beasts and fight constantly.”
Pedr asked, “Would you say they’re agitated?”
“Yes, of course.”
His heart raced as Himmel’s words replayed through his mind.You’d see increased agitation. Understanding. They’d be wanting to go west. They’d be plotting, trying to return to their former state.
“Can I eat now?” She hooked a thumb toward the galley. “I’m thirsty and starving.”
He held up a hand. “Give me two more minutes and I’ll let you go. Tell me more about the wyverns. How were they acting? Did they look at anything, face anywhere?”
“I don’t know how they normally act.” She chewed on her bottom lip, considering. “But they seemed agitated. This may have been a coincidence, but many of them stared to the west.”
“The west?”
