Did he have a network? Only here on Qwint? Or perhaps beyond?
It made Allun seem all the more important.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Eira was already on her way to the door so it only took a second for her to open it, revealing Cullen.
“I saw the light through the crack.” He glanced down at their feet and then back up, somewhat expectantly. “May I come in?”
“Always.” Eira wondered if he had been kept up thinking about the events of the evening, too.
Cullen closed the door behind him. “Are you all right?”
“I still can’t decide on the extent of his network.” She launched right into her theories, feet and hands moving as quickly as her hushed words. “Is he a pirate? Is he a double agent? But that pistol, if it’s genuine, it could be invaluable to get to Ulvarth—we already know he has people who have skills in the runic magics. There was that mention of something about armor at the Hall of Ministers, also? Whether that’s important or not, we shouldn’t face him unprepared, and fighting runes with runes might be our best bet. I know going into Carsovia would be a risk, but it’s a calculated?—”
“It’s not our fight,” Cullen interrupted with a small step forward. “Carsovia, Qwint, they’re not our fight.”
“But—”
“Either you are a citizen of Solaris or a pirate. Neither is responsible for what happens here.” Cullen closed the gap between them and rested his hands on her shoulders, slidingthem down to her hands, lacing his fingers with hers. “I came to see howyouare.”
“It is our fight,” Eira objected, pointedly ignoring the second half. “Anything that can help us bring down Ulvarth is our fight.”
“I want to take him down as much as you do—so let’s go and get him and not waste any more time here. Qwint will do as it pleases. Your place is on the seas.”
The thought had crossed Eira’s mind. That any portion of their excursion here beyond dropping off Lavette and Varren and restocking was a waste of time. But…
“I want to use Qwint as a distraction on Meru, when the time comes,” she admitted, barely more than a whisper. “If we can get them to stay aligned with Solaris and any remnants of Meru’s leadership, then the three nations can make a focused attack on Ulvarth’s forces, engaging them and drawing their focus. If we can coordinate it for when we arrive at Risen?—”
“The chaos that ensues will give you time to maneuver into Ulvarth’s inner circle,” Cullen realized.
Eira nodded. “Ulvarth’s eyes will be on them, while I’m focused on him.”
Cullen squeezed her fingers, looking down at their interlocked hands. “Regardless, I don’t think you should return to that place.”
“I’ll be all right,” she assured him gently. “Qwint won’t help Solaris without the additional support of Allun—assuming she’s that good. They’ll need some assurance to divide their forces.”
“You are strong enough with just Solaris and Meru,” Cullen encouraged.
“I appreciate your faith.” She genuinely did. “But if I am to end this, I need to do all I can to stack the deck in my favor.”
His eyes searched her face. She could see him chewing over his words with the tension in his jaw.
“Eira… I saw you in that back room, the moment you saw the flashfires.” The instant he said those words, Eira wanted to withdraw her hands from his as if she could withdraw from her weaknesses. “If we are to use Qwint to achieve our goals, then let us. But I don’t think it should be at the expense of your well-being.”
“The only thing that matters for my well-being is seeing Ulvarth dead.” She tried to pour every bit of spite into the words so he knew just how serious she was.
“That’s not true.”
“But it is.” She locked eyes with his, not looking away. Unflinching. Unyielding. “All I care about is ending him.”
“Eira, you are many,manythings—don’t sacrifice them all merely for the sake of bringing down Ulvarth.” There was a hint of caution, and sorrow, to his words.
“I’m not backing away from this fight.” If she did, how could she ever claim to be worthy of Adela’s legacy?
“Nor should you,” Cullen said hastily. “But…”
“But?” she encouraged when it was clear he was going to leave the notion hanging.
“You have so much around you. Be a pirate. Go sailing. Make the world yours. Why bother with these political schemes?” His words were gentle, almost timid, as if he were afraid he’d scare her from the conversation if he pushed too hard. He was right. Yet he persisted anyway.
