success were so slim as to be improbable,” Zuhl said. “Failure was almost certain death, yet you didn’t hesitate. Why?”
“I told you, it was the only way,” Abigail said.
“I don’t understand,” Zuhl said, shaking his head slightly, a deep frown creasing his pale brow.
“What choice did I have?” Abigail said. “No one else had any chance at all against that dragon. I was the only one who could do what needed to be done, so I did.”
“You could have retreated, you could have sued for peace and offered terms for a truce, you could have ignored the dragon and focused on the land battle, you could have sent your Sky Knights against me, you could have surrendered, or better yet, you could have stayed on Ruatha where you belong, yet you chose to engage me when you are clearly not my equal.”
“I cut you in half, didn’t I?”
“That you did,” Zuhl said. “I must admit, I would have been more cautious had I been aware that your brother had given you the Thinblade, another perplexing development. Why would he do such a thing?”
“He didn’t think he could be both the Sovereign of the Seven Isles and the King of Ruatha at the same time.”
“Why not?” Zuhl asked, leaning in with great interest. “Not that I accept his claim as sovereign mind you, but I’m very curious about his motivations. Were I in his shoes, I would never relinquish either the Sovereign Stone or the Thinblade.”
“No, I don’t suppose you would,” Abigail said with a little smile.
“Why would he?”
“It created a conflict,” Abigail said. “He couldn’t rule Ruatha as king and still expect the other island kings to accept him as sovereign.”
Zuhl’s frown grew even deeper.
“Power is not about seeking the acceptance of those you rule, it’s about imposing your will upon them, whether they like it or not,” he said.
This time it was Abigail’s turn to shake her head. “You don’t get it, do you? He doesn’t want power any more than I do … he just wants to live his life and be left alone.”
Zuhl stared at her as if trying to reconcile two versions of reality that couldn’t coexist before shaking his head in frustration.
“Back to your reasons for engaging me,” he said. “My questions for your brother are best saved for him, should we have the pleasure of a conversation before I claim victory over him. Why would you risk your life when you had such little chance of success?”
Abigail put her biscuit down and fixed Zuhl with a glare. “Because I’d committed good people to a battle that they were going to lose as long as you were riding Ixabrax. Killing you was the only way to save them from defeat … and the only way to get to your ships.”
Zuhl shook his head again. “Your motivations escape me. I don’t understand why you would risk your life for the safety of your subjects—their place is to serve you, your place is to command them, not die for them.”
“You have it exactly backwards, Zuhl,” Abigail said. “My place is to serve them, to protect them from the ambitions of tyrants like you.”
“I don’t comprehend you at all,” Zuhl said. “Things I don’t understand make me uneasy.”
“Good,” Abigail said, punctuating her statement with another bite of biscuit.
He glared at her for a moment before composing himself again and beginning a new line of questioning.
“You mentioned Ixabrax. Why didn’t you kill him? Why set him free? How could you know that he wouldn’t turn against you the moment you cut his collar?”
“I didn’t,” Abigail said with a shrug, “but I trusted my instincts and it paid off. He sank one of your ships for me.”
“You gave up your one chance to strike on a hunch?”
“Yeah, I guess I did,” Abigail said. “I met a dragon once before … she was a magnificent creature. It turned my stomach to think of her in a collar like Ixabrax, so I cut him loose.”
“You take great risks without due consideration of the consequences,” Zuhl said.
“I’ve heard that before … from my father no less,” Abigail said. “Tell me something, why are you doing this? What do you want?”
“I want what everyone wants, immortality and the worship of every living soul,” Zuhl said.
Abigail stared at him, mouth agape for a moment before she burst out laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she said, still laughing.
“No, I’m not,” he said, looking somewhat offended by her impertinence. “Don’t you want to live forever?”