Page 34 of North Queen
He wasn’t smiling anymore. “Except Jane doesn’t have a mother.”
Nine hells.
“You don’t remember Jane?” he asked.
Norah fumbled for words. “I’m a little overwhelmed with everything. Of course I remember. I just wasn’t thinking.”
But his eyes told her he didn’t believe her. “Why are you so different? And did you not know your way around the castle the other day?”
“Adrian,” Titus warned from behind her.
Her heart raced in her chest. “Um…”
Titus stepped between them. “Enough.”
Adrian wasn’t swayed. “Do you not remember? Do you not know?” His voice came more urgently now.
Titus grabbed him by his tunic and pushed him backward.
“Why do you call me Adrian?” he called.
“Wait,” Norah said to Titus, and the guard reluctantly paused. “Leave him be.”
Titus released him, and Adrian drew nearer to Norah again. He swallowed. “Do you not remember me, Norah?”
This was why Alexander had wanted to keep him away. She couldn’t hide her secret from the people who knew her well. It was too obvious. She cursed herself. She should have stayed in her chamber.
“You don’t, do you?” he pressed. “You don’t remember.”
Her heartbeat pulsed in her ears. Titus stepped forward again, but she stopped him. “Leave him,” she said. She looked back at Adrian. “You’ve discovered me.” The admission took a weight off her shoulders—the weight of a lie, but it was short-lived. Now he knew, and she wasn’t sure what to do about that.
He swallowed. “Do you remember my brother?”
Her silence answered for her.
“He said you were different.”
She couldn’t lie anymore. “I am different.”
Adrian took a step back as the weight of the circumstance settled over him. “Do you remember anything?” he asked.
Titus shifted uneasily as she shook her head. “Alexander and my grandmother have advised me not to share my condition. Obviously, I’m doing a very poor job of that right now. I’d appreciate it if you would keep it to yourself.”
“Of course.” His voice came low and soft now. “But why don’t you remember?”
That was the answer she was so desperate for. She let out a long breath. “I don’t know. But I’m trying to find out. I’m reacquainting myself, seeing if anything stirs a memory, if anything might be familiar.”
He nodded with a solemn frown. “Forgive me,” he said softly. “It wasn’t my place.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” She looked back at the castle. “I should get back.” Then she paused. “Hey—what did I used to call you?”
He hesitated, and she wondered if he was reluctant now that she was a stranger to him.
“Adri,” he said finally. “You always called me Adri.”
His voice held a touch of sorrow. Her loss of memory was not only making it challenging for her but also hurting those she had been close to, those who cared about her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her eyelids grew heavy under the sting of emotion. She turned back toward the castle.
