[She doesn't stop tugging but she does stop fussing a bit, her eyes big when she looks up at him. He looks like the sea right after a storm; fathomless and dark and like he swallowed a ship. Dangerous, but calm.]

They weren't supposed to threaten my life.

[She says it with a sigh, but okay. She holds his hand like it's an anchor and she's going to set sail otherwise.]

Who are you sending to give them the heads back, then? Better make it one of your men. We all know how the more European they are, the more likely they are to think mine are savages who don't know anything.

[She's getting bossy because she was scared; she was afraid she would die, but she can't say that so easily, not yet.]