Page 154 of North Queen
She let out a quaking breath. “That’s not good enough.”
Mikael used his size to back her against the edge of the bed, where the fire in his eyes intensified. “It’ll have to be.”
Anger radiated through every fiber of her being. “It’s not. And you’ll fix it,” she demanded.
“What do you expect me to do?” His voice came edgier now. “The marriages simply are. There’s no pretending they didn’t happen.”
“You’ll annul them.”
His nostrils flared. “How am I to do that?”
“You’ll figure it out, or you won’t be married to me.”
“You can’t unwed me,” he scoffed. “It’s done. We’ve consummated it.” His eyes burned into her. “I know you now. Would that not bring dishonor in the North?”
He seemed to be mocking her, and it hurt.
“You don’t know me,” she hissed back. “And I won’t recognize you as my husband unless I’m youronlywife.”
“So, this is the benefit of a Witness?” he cut back. “I’d thought it was a Northern perversion, but perhaps I’ll require one now. I’ll make the whole world watch.”
A flash of fury swept through her, and she delivered a sharp slap across his face. He bared his teeth with a growl against the sting. She tried to strike him again, but he caught her hand.
“Is it a fight you want?” he snarled.
Norah wrenched against him, but he held her. She fought harder, making them both stagger sideways. As she flailed out, her hand knocked the water basin on a table close by. She grabbed it and swung with all her strength, hitting him squarely in the temple. The force of the blow broke the basin, and he lost his grip on her as he stumbled backward and crashed to the ground.
“Curse it, woman!” he roared as he brought his hand to the side of his face. A deep gash poured blood into his eye and down his cheek.
She gasped in concern, but only for a moment. Her fury swelled back, pushing her concern aside, and she turned and fled the chamber.
“Salara!” he bellowed.
Norah escaped out into the hall to see her Crest guard, wide-eyed and debating whether to follow her or answer the king’s thunder.
“Are you notmyguard?” she snapped, and they fell into place behind her as she hurried to her sanctuary.
His bellows echoed through the halls, and her pulse raced. Her fingers fumbled to latch the door, although there was no way it would hold him out. She sank down into the chair by her vanity, gripping the back until her knuckles turned white.
“Salara!” His roar shook her to her core. He was coming.
She forced herself to breathe, struggling for calm. He’d said she never needed to fear him, but that was before she’d hit him with a water basin and threatened to deny their marriage. Would he hurt her? Her mind raced for how to temper his anger. Perhaps if she apologized…No. She’d done nothing wrong. And she’d meant it when she said she’d be his only wife. If he thought he’d force her otherwise, she had another water basin waiting.
“Salara!” he bellowed, nearer now. He sounded near the end of the hall; he’d be at the door in a moment.
She gripped the chair tighter, crouching slightly, and braced herself.
“Come out, woman!”
Oddly, his voice sounded the same distance away.
“Salara!”
She swallowed. Had he stopped at the end of the hall? He’d told her that was the boundary, but surely in his anger he wouldn’t confine himself to a mere verbal threshold.
“Come out!”
She most certainly wouldnotbe coming out.
