Cursed Bones: Sovereign of the Seven Isles: Book Five by David A. Wells Page A

the soldier with a gesture. “I trust you slept well.”
    She scanned the room, looking for a weapon or an opportunity to escape, anything she could use against Zuhl, but found nothing. She decided to be bold. The temperature of the room didn’t warrant the fur blanket, so she shrugged it off, letting it fall to the floor without a second look. Then she walked to the table and sat down.
    “Well enough, considering,” she said as she took an empty plate from a stack and started piling food on it.
    He almost smiled, but not quite.
    “I have a number of questions for you,” he said. “Most are simply matters of curiosity, a few are of strategic importance. You will answer them all, one way or another.”
    Abigail shrugged as she took a big bite of biscuit dripping with blackberry jam. “Maybe,” she said around a mouthful.
    He stopped and looked at her, not a simple glance, but really looked at her as if seeing into the essence of her being. Abigail was reminded of Alexander and the way he could look into a person and assess their true nature.
    “What were you thinking when you jumped from your wyvern and attacked me in midflight?” Zuhl asked, his penetrating gaze searching her face intently as he awaited her answer.
    “I was thinking it was the only way to kill you,” Abigail answered, preparing another biscuit.
    “The odds of 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