Page 161 of North Queen
“What are you doing?” she cried.
He looked back at the envoy, and his face darkened again. “Sending my answer to King Milar.”
“Don’t harm him,” she said. “Please.”
Mikael paused for a moment, looking back at the envoy. He angled the tip of his sword against the man’s throat. “Salara asks for mercy,” he said finally. “Your gods smile on you today.” He released the envoy, and the man scrambled backward and to his feet.
But Norah didn’t feel relief. She stared at the dead guard on the floor. Blood pooled around him and veined out along the grooves where the patterned stone joined together to form its image.
“Leave us,” Mikael said to the room. The Serran guards collected their dead companion and ushered their lord out and away from the loosely leashed danger. The Kharavian soldiers followed, clearing the room and leaving only Mikael and Norah.
And the lord commander, of course.
Norah peeled her eyes from the smeared blood on the stone.
“I’ll have it cleaned,” Mikael told her.
Is that what he thought she cared about? “Will you bring back the life you took?” The life he’d taken so easily, like it had been nothing.
Her words silenced him for a moment. “These are not good men, Salara,” he said finally.
As if that justified murder.
Mikael glanced at the parchments in her hand. His eyes met hers again, and his expression shifted. “You read them?” he asked.
Norah looked down at her clenched hand. She’d forgotten she was holding the marriage annulments.
“This is what you wanted, yes?” he said, his voice softer now.
Yes, but no. None of this was what she wanted.
The lord commander stepped forward, the line between his brow creasing. “What have you done?” he asked the king.
Was he serious? This man was truly unbelievable. Norah glared at him, finally finding her voice. “You’re fine with him killing a man but not absolving a marriage?”
But he did not respond to her reproach. His eyes stayed on the king. “Salar?”
“Leave us,” Mikael told him.
The commander’s eyes shifted to Norah, and she could see the swelling rage within. But he said nothing, only turned and left them in silence.
“Walk with me?” Mikael asked, only he didn’t wait for her to answer before moving them forward and out of the throne room.
“Do you kill all your trade envoys?” she questioned as they walked.
“Not all of them.”
She wasn’t sure if he was being cheeky or serious. Anger touched her cheeks either way. She didn’t like this Mikael—the dark Mikael. He drifted closer to her as they walked, close enough to touch her. He’d better not dare.
They reached the great hall, and he slowed. From the corner of her eye, she saw him looking at her. “I spared him.”
“Because I asked you to. Not because you had mercy in your heart.”
They stopped and stared at each other.
“Has it come already?” he asked. “Your loathing for me?”
Did she loathe him now? She wanted to.
