Page 158 of North Queen
Alexander let out a quaking breath.There would be no Witness. Had the Shadow King intended this marriage to be in name only? His eyes stung as he pulled her back to him, and he breathed his undying thanks to the gods. All he could do was hold her and breathe her in.
When he found his voice again, it came hoarse and thick with emotion. “I couldn’t bear it, Norah. My mind’s been filled with madness these past days.” He held her tighter. Now he could breathe again, focus again. And he only needed to focus on getting her home.
“I’m all right,” she whispered, but there was a strangeness to her voice, something not all right.
He pulled back again and clasped the side of her neck, brushing her cheek with his thumb and looking over her.
“I am,” she said, her voice a little stronger now. “I just had to come to make sure you were too.”
“I don’t want you to worry about me. You have enough to deal with.”
Her lip still trembled. Was there something else? Something she wasn’t telling him?
“Are you returning to Mercia with Caspian?” she asked.
He narrowed his eyes. Was she really all right? Or was she changing the subject?
He shook his head. “No, but I do need to leave very soon to investigate a situation.” He hesitated, not wanted to put more burden on her, but she needed to know. “Mercian villages, and others under Mercia’s protection, are being attacked.”
Her brow dipped.“Again?”
What did she meanagain? “You know about this?”
She pushed out a breath. “After I was taken, we came upon a town that had been destroyed, but there was no sign of who had done it. Do you know?”
He shook his head again. “Not yet. But I don’t want you to trouble yourself with it now. I’ll find who it was and put a stop to it.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Not long. I’m going only to the southern reaches, so a couple weeks perhaps.” He clasped her hands and brought them to his chest. “But I won’t leave yet. Not right now. I need to make sure you’re okay.”
“I am,” she assured him. “And honestly, it would make me feel better if I knew you were out of harm’s way until things have settled. You should go. I’m fine. Really.”
“Titus and the rest of the guard will be here with you.”
She shifted. “About that—send them to help Caspian.”
“And leave you alone?”Absolutely not.
“Alexander. Please. You can look out in that hall and see I’m most certainly not alone. I don’t have command over the Crest, and until I work things out with Mikael, there will be duplicate guard and the threat of battle between them at every hall. I can’t deal with that right now, I can’t. Alexander, please—”
“All right,” he said, yielding. As much as he hated the idea, he couldn’t resolve it for her now, and it was obviously yet one more overwhelming burden.
“It will only be a couple of weeks,” she said. “That’s a short time.”
It was an eternity away from her.
She gave a weak smile. “Go,” she said. “I’ll be here.”
He pulled her hands to his lips. “I’ll return as soon as I can.” Then he’d find a way to bring her home.
Chapter forty-six
Twomoreeveningspassedand Mikael still found himself without Salara. He sat in the dining hall again, brooding over her empty chair. By now, she’d have moved into the villa. Perhaps she’d see it wasn’t as she’d expected. The villa had every comfort, every luxury.
“You still let the North Queen worry you,” Soren said, interrupting his thoughts.
Mikael let out a deep sigh. “She still doesn’t come. She’s still unhappy.”
