"Highness?"
"You're not mistaken," Håkon conceded, feeling helpless but hardly in a position to argue. "If you want to help me, I will not refuse the offer. See your companions off and then rejoin me." He moved farther up the beach to give them some privacy, allow the children to relax since they continued to stare at him wide-eyed and uncertain.
He settled on a patch of flattened grass with a sigh, glanced at the half moon that was beginning to glow as night chased away the day. The moonlight was slightly irritating, but it was the buzzing of insects next to the goblin stampede of the sun.
Exhaustion washed over him like a tide, and Håkon yawned so hard his eyes watered. He drew his hood up, folded his arms across his bent legs, and watched the women and children, their softly spoken plans and gentle reassurances drifting up to him, making it so easy to close his eyes