Evander was clearly struggling to come up with something he could suggest to his brother as a career, and Alfred wasn't sure whether he ought to be insulted or amused. When he'd first returned to England he hadn't been entirely confident in his skills himself, but since then he'd Captained the Voyager on the exploration of Avalon — a trip where only one of his sailors had died — and several shorter ones where no one had died at all. Which meant, he thought, that he was doing fairly well. He was not surprised, however, to find that Evander didn't recognize the particular skill set that he had, and was having trouble articulating anything of value in it.

"Maybe I'll write another book," he joked dryly. "It seemed to be so well-received the last time."