Page 23 of North Queen
He nodded.
“I mean it,” Catherine pressed. “Don’t linger about.”
“Of course,” he assured her.
He turned back to Norah.
And Norah smiled.
Chapter seven
“Thisway,YourHighness,”Alexander said. He extended his arm down the mainway.
She cringed inside. “Please don’t call me that.” She could bear it in public, but not here when it was just between them.
“Princess Norah.”
She grimaced. “Not that either.”
“I have to.”
She was afraid he’d say that. “Always?”
“Not always,” he assured her. Then the corners of his mouth turned up. “When you’re queen, I’ll call youYour Elegance.”
She shot him a heavy-browed eye of disbelief. “That can’t seriously be a title.”
He chuckled. “It is. And you thought it was ridiculous before too.”
She stopped, desperate for the thoughts she’d had when she’d been herself. He’d known her. “Tell me more of what I thought before.”
Alexander quieted. His eyes held a wisp of sadness, as if those old thoughts haunted him. Then the corners of his lips turned up, and the sadness disappeared. She wondered if she’d seen it at all. “You thought the king’s title was better.”
“Which was?”
“Regal High.”
“Thatisbetter.” Why didn’t the queen get a powerful title?
“Would you rather be calledRegal Highwhen you’re queen?”
“I’d rather not be called any of it.”
He chuckled again, and she bit her lip. She should be more careful with her words. Catherine would be beside herself if she heard her say that.
“I know,” he said.
How much did he know about her? He opened his hand and motioned them to continue, and they started again down the hall.
“My grandmother doesn’t trust the council,” she said as they walked. Why didn’t she? They were her council, there tocounsel.
“Your grandmother trusts no one.”
Norah raised a brow. “She trusts you.”
He shrugged with a smile. “Sometimes.”
They turned down another hall, where several small groups congregated, and Norah slowed. The voices fell, and all eyes were on her. Her chest tightened, and her stomach puddled.
