Page 18 of North Queen
“Wonderful. We’ve a busy day ahead of us. You’ll be seeing the council today.”
Norah nodded. Yes,good—her council. “And they’ll help me figure out what to do until my memories—”
“No,” Catherine said sharply.
No? “Wait, why not?”She was drowning merely in her thoughts of stepping into this life, into this world, and the reality would be so much harsher. She needed all the help she could get.
“I told you, no one must know of your condition.”
Condition.
As if it were a sickness. Perhaps it was, but—
“We only have to present you,” Catherine said, “and I’ll make it as quick as possible.”
Her heartbeat rose to her throat. Why didn’t Catherine want the council to know? Alexander had said they would help her. Why couldn’t they know?
Catherine set about the room, pulling out various drawers of dressers and chests and looking through them. “You probably won’t even say more than a few words—”
“W-Wait,” Norah stammered, “I can’t meet the council like this. They’ll discover me. I haven’t even been back a full day yet. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Catherine replied with a nod.
How? “You just want me to pretend?”
“Precisely,” the queen regent answered back as she laid three necklaces on the vanity, eyeing them with a tilt of her head. The woman had clearly missed her sarcasm.
In her state of total astonishment, Norah almost laughed. “How? I literally know nothing—no people, no history. I barely remember the name of this place, and nothing of myself! You have to give me more here. I—I need to know my story, what’s happened… just… something.”Anything.
Catherine stopped. “And that’s why I’ve come early.” She took Norah’s hand and led her to the settee, sitting them both down. “Listen to me. All of this will be very sudden for you. But we don’t have much time, so you’ll have to learn as quickly as possible.”
Norah nodded. She could learn quickly. Hopefully. Her eyes caught sight of the plate Rebecca had brought in with cheeses and fruit. She’d kill for the pear looking back at her, but she forced her attention back on her grandmother.
Catherine drew in another breath, as if organizing her thoughts on where to start. Perhaps she did have time to get the pear.
“We are at war, Norah.”
And Norah stopped.
Are.
Alexander had saidwere.
“We’ve been at war with the Shadowlands for ten years. The Great War, it’s called. And we’ve been waiting for you to return, to end it.”
Norah blinked. She hadn’t heard correctly. “I’m sorry, what?”
Catherine folded her hands together. “You’ll unite the kingdoms against the Shadowlands, and you’ll end it. For good.”
“Um… I didn’t quite expect you to start with that. Um…” She stood. Awar. She’d been anxious about the expectations of her before, but a war raised the stakes, and her pulse. She rounded the small table where Rebecca had set the plate, and she grabbed the pear. Not to eat—she wasn’t hungry anymore with her mind on war—but she wanted to have something to hold in her hand, something to fiddle with, to calm her.
War.
She flexed her nails against the pear, but not hard enough to break its skin.
War.
Then she took a bite.
