Page 98 of The Queens and the Kings
A semblance of familiarity wrinkled Alma’s eyes. She raised her thin hands to hold onto the fence. The casual stance gave her an unusual normality, as if she didn’t hold the fate of hundreds of thousands of lives in her hands.
“Not many did. A few knew. Nils, in particular,” Alma added as an aside, “but I have long wanted to make the mainland a better and more stable place.”
Britt returned her gaze to the sea. A dozen questions surfaced and few of them had anything to do with Henrik.How did you take over from the Lordlady? What does Carina think?The invasive queries would never leave her tongue, but they swirled.
“Thank you, Alma. You didn’t have to do this.”
“Don’t pretend that I haven’t made the situation mutually beneficial,” Alma said lightly, but with an undercurrent that set Britt’s hair on edge. “You know me as Alma, but I am more than her. I am now the Ladylord. I understand that there is always a time for mercy and compassion. A time to give instead of take. But as the Ladylord, there must be an integration. Henrik is helping us deal with a growing problem, which is why I am willing to help him.”
The issue of the wyvern at Kapurnick occupied the back of Britt’s mind. She hadn’t forgotten about the damma and the problems His Glory posed. Only General Helsing’s insistence that shenotmention the wyvern at Kapurnick kept her lips sealed.
That and Alma’s . . . difference.
What if Alma had sent that wyvern to Kapurnick? Did they attempt to transport the beasts in order to attack the Isles? That didn’t explain the otherworldly force that clashed on the open sea. West and east currents. Winds. Gales. With so much she didn’t know, she had no ground to ask wise questions.
Time to change the direction of this conversation.
“How do you keep it all straight?” Britt asked. “All the quarrels and the needs and the information about the mainland? Feels overwhelming.”
A flattered smile split her lips. “This is my life, dear Britt. When it is all you live and breathe, like your draguls, it is simply part of you. There is nokeeping it all straight.It simply is.”
The calm pronouncement, and quick glance at Denerfen, who snuggled into Britt’s shoulder, his tail twitching under her dress strap, deepened Britt’s astonishment. She cast a glance at the house.
“How certain are you that she’s the right Selma?”
“According to my scribes, in the last thirty years, there’s only been one woman from Stenberg banished to the mainland for embarrassing her family. The former Lordlady took pity on her and gave her a job because her story was so sad. It was . . . quite a deal over here. Another reason to hate Stenbergians, though lubbers don’t require much.”
“Did the Lordlady get information about His Glory from her?”
“Undoubtedly,” Alma quickly replied. “At least, to some degree. He wasn’t without mercy either. It is part of our role. We stay in the midline. We represent all walks of life—the wealthy and prosperous, the poor and needy. Justice and mercy reside on the same coin.”
“Banished for embarrassing her family,” Britt murmured, running the words, the horrid concept through the shocked filters in her mind.
How could it be?
“She’s lived a steady, lovely life here on the mainland,” Alma continued. “Minus a few small issues, of course. The same that we all have.”
Britt couldn’t imagine what afew small issuesmight actually represent. With any luck, she’d one day ask Selma herself. A distant figure in the sky, dark wings unfurled, caught her gaze. Her breath almost caught at the sight of the flying wyvern, too far away to tell if it was the same wyvern from days ago.
What a perfect opportunity.
“Do you often see the wyverns?” she asked, making a point to stare right at it.
An unreadable expression overcame Alma’s face as she caught wind of the creature. Twisted with concern, perhaps. A flash of fear.
“Often.”
“I’ve only ever seen one wyvern flying,” Britt continued. “How many are there?”
“Many.”
“Do they all fly?”
“One would presume.”
The abysmal responses nudged Britt’s suspicion closer.
As she tried to dredge up a question Alma might answer, the wyvern swirled to the west. Within minutes, if it kept up that pace, it would soar out of sight. It couldn’t go far, though. According to history, the wyverns’ stamina wasn’t great.
