QUEEN OF ATTOLIA MAJOR SPOILERS “You have a choice now,” the Thief was saying. &ldq

QUEEN OF ATTOLIA MAJOR SPOILERS

 “You have a choice now,” the Thief was saying. “Conscious or unconscious, you can go into the water. I have the boat pole to make certain you don’t come out again.”
He nudged the pole lying at his feet. It rattled against the centerboard case, and hearing it, Attolia glanced down. The boat pole was five or six feet long and had two small hooks at the end. The hooks she could easily imagine catching in the folds of her clothes as Eugenides leaned on the pole to force her farther and farther under the surface. 

 She looked back at Eugenides impassively. She thought he had brought her a long way to drown her, but she knew that in his own field he was meticulous and supposed he wanted to be entirely sure of his results. He made no move but instead spoke again.
“Or you can offer me something I want more than I want to hold your head underwater until the last of your air is gone.”
 Attolia had thought her choice was to be conscious or unconscious when she breathed in the black water that would kill her; she couldn’t imagine what Eugenides might want more than that. It was all she would have dreamed of in his place. 

“I want to be king of Attolia,” he said. 

 Attolia blinked. She looked around the tiny harbor and had to clear her throat with a cough before she spoke.
“You’ve brought me to a place rather spare of witnesses if you want me to declare you my heir before I die.”

“I wasn’t proposing to become your heir,” said the Thief.
“Then what?” asked Attolia.
“There’s an easier way for a man to become king,” said Eugenides, and waited for her to realize what he proposed. Attolia stared at him.
“You think I would marry you?” she asked in disbelief.
“If you object to marrying a man with one hand, you’ve only yourself to blame.”
“And when did you grow into a man?” asked Attolia, lifting her eyebrow, her voice tinged with sarcasm. Eugenides didn’t rise to her bait. 

“It’s your choice, Your Majesty,” he said quietly.