Page 108 of North Queen
Her breaths came shallower now. “But I thought that was your plan.”
He pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped it around the cut on her palm, closing her fist inside his and holding it tightly. “That plan expired well before I even told you of it.”
She didn’t know why his saying that affected her so. She swallowed. “Is that all? We just marry, and all’s well with the world?”
“Yes. And…” He paused as her eyes found his. “The Bear is mine.”
Norah shifted uneasily as a weight grew in her stomach. “Beurnat the Bear has been dead a long time now.”
The king shook his head. “No. I saw the Bear just a year ago when I tried to retake Bahoul.” His eyes darkened. “And I saw him again, recently, in the vision of my fall.”
Norah’s heart beat faster. It was Alexander that defended Bahoul. And it was Alexander in the vision, striking down the Shadow King.
And the king had seen it. It’s why he wanted Alexander. Not just to change fate but to changehisfate.
Then she froze. He’d saidseen.
He had a traveler seer, someone who could show him the visions. How powerful was this seer?
“So, we’ll be wed,” the king said, “and the Bear will be mine.”
She forgot about the seer as a flash of anger ran through her, and she pulled away from him. “Alexander will never be yours.”
“Alexander,” he said thickly, letting the name roll over his tongue. “Is that his name?Alexander.” Then he snorted, frustrated by her answer. “He’s but one man.”
“Then he should mean nothing to you,” she cut back.
“I will have the Bear,” he said, his anger rising. “Think of it as the price of peace.”
“Then you’ll have nothing!”
His face hardened. “So will you,” he snarled.
In a single movement of fury, she wrenched away from his loose hold and grasped the hilt of his sword, pulling it free from its scabbard. He moved after her, but she brought the blade up, halting him. “So be it,” she said as she backed against the railing of the balcony. She already had nothing else to lose. She stepped back toward the rail.
He held up his hand. “No!”
She stopped.
“No,” he said, his breath coming quicker. “Don’t.”
Neither of them moved. His eyes held an intensity that unsettled her, but she stood firm. Then his face softened slightly. Still, she didn’t move.
“Those are your terms?” he asked finally.
Norah’s breath caught in her chest. Was she setting terms? Was she seriously considering marrying the Shadow King? She lowered the sword but took another step back. She didn’t feel herself standing before him. Perhaps it was all another dream, a terrifying dream. Suddenly, the image of her on the Shadow throne came crashing back. She swallowed. Was this what she had seen? Perhaps the vision hadn’t meant that she’d take the Shadowlands by force. Perhaps this had been her fate all along.
She took a deep breath and looked around. Fate or no, she couldn’t live like this, with death and destruction. She couldn’t marry a man who did these things for pleasure.
“Before I answer that—what is this place?” she asked him. “What happened here?”
The king paused, letting his eyes wander. He grimaced, as if there was pain for him here. “This is what’s left of Aviron.”
“Where you were captured when you fled Bahoul?”
He nodded. “They sympathized with Aleon. They were enamored by the charm of the empire and Aleon’s riches. Their king, Jaiah, planned to send his daughter with the offer of marriage, along with the gift of my heart cut from my body.”
Her skin prickled.
