Page 72 of North Queen
He shook his head. “No. Norah, I—”
“I want to go back.” She slipped past him and headed for the castle. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. It would hurt.
“Norah,” he called after her.
But she didn’t stop. She couldn’t.
Norah lay in the bath, drawing in the heat from the water and desperately trying to focus on anything to take her mind away from the ache in her chest. She closed her eyes and leaned against the back of the tub, cursing her emotion. Catherine hadn’t wanted her to name Alexander as her lord justice. Now she knew why. Perhaps she had always known but didn’t want to see.
Regardless, as much as she hated to admit it, she wouldn’t have chosen differently for her lord justice. Mercia needed Alexander. She still needed him.
The chamber door of the bedroom opened and closed, but she didn’t sit up. She didn’t open her eyes. There was only one who disregarded the social graces of her privacy.
“Norah,” Catherine called.
She stayed, unmoving, not answering.
“Norah!” Her grandmother’s voice came more urgently now.
Under the warmth of the water, a chill ran over her skin. Did Catherine know she had been with Alexander? Had he said something? Is that why she was here?
Catherine burst into the bath chamber. “By the gods, child! Did you not hear me calling you?” She didn’t give Norah time to reply. “Samuel sends for us. A vision’s come—of you! The first one since you left!” She disappeared into the side cabinet chamber.
Norah sat up in the tub, and her stomach knotted. “Of me?” Her mind drifted to the memory that had returned at the tree. Surely it wasn’t a coincidence.
Catherine bustled back into the bath chamber with a gown and undergarments. “Why are you still in there? Get out! Quickly!”
Norah stood and stumbled out of the water. She wrapped a towel around her as her grandmother shoved the undergarments into her arms.
“Do you know what the vision is?” Norah asked.
“Not yet. Samuel only said to come. Gods, child.” Catherine frowned. “Have you not a single thing on yet?”
Norah struggled with the clothing as it stuck to her damp skin, but she managed to wriggle into most of the items thrown at her. Catherine pulled tight the lacing on her corset before she had fully situated it, and it choked off her breath. The gown came over her head, and Norah thought she might fall over.
“Your hair is soaking wet,” Catherine chided as she pushed the locks aside and fastened the gown up her back.
Norah frowned. “Well, I was… in the bath.”
Dressed, Norah pushed her feet into her silk slippers. Catherine took a towel roughly to her head and then dragged a brush through her mane. Norah didn’t mind the rush. It was better than primping, actually, but an anxiousness swelled inside her at what the vision showed. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be in such a hurry to see it.
Norah looked in the mirror of the vanity. She looked normal enough.
“You look fine, my dear,” the woman said, and herded her out of the chamber.
They hurried down the cobbled walkway outside, to Samuel’s gallery. It wasn’t far, but it would have been nice to have remembered her cloak. Her hair was still damp, and she shivered in the evening winter air.
“Would you like me to get a cover, Regal High?” Caspian asked from behind her.
She hadn’t noticed the captain had joined her evening guard. She smiled back at him. “It’s not much farther, but thank you.”
They reached the seer’s door, and Norah followed Catherine inside.
“Samuel!” Catherine called as they weaved through the paintings toward the back room.
“Queen Norah,” Samuel greeted when he saw them. “Come, come.” He waved them back. “It is not finished, but it is clear enough to see.”
They stepped around the easel to discover a large and complex scene across the canvas. A battlefield. Norah’s eyes were drawn to herself riding atop a black horse. Her hair was wild in the wind around her.
