Page 81 of North Queen
“She took her own life,” he replied. “That wasn’t my doing.”
Her lip trembled.Rebecca. “Everything is your doing!”
He chuckled again. “I suppose it is.”
“Every soldier of Mercia will come for me,” she spat.
The Shadow King gave another dark, rumbling chuckle. “Good. I’m counting on it.”
Alexander stood in the watchtower, looking blankly out over the horizon. It had been five days since the last message had arrived, two days longer than expected. A deep worry grew in his core. Caspian wouldn’t have carelessly forgotten, knowing Alexander would be waiting on the messages.Everymessage.
Footsteps came behind him, but he didn’t turn around. He knew who it was.
“Still no word?” Catherine asked.
He gave a small shake of his head. “Something’s wrong.”
She stood beside him, looking out across the bridge to the mainland. “We don’t know that yet. Sometimes birds are lost or delayed. Let’s wait to see if another will come.”
“That’s another day,” he snapped, sharper than he had intended. He pushed out a breath. “If something’s happened, I can’t wait another day to discover it. I can travel quickly with only a few men.”
Catherine frowned. “And do what? She has an army of five hundred with her. What will you accomplish with only a few more?”
Alexander wiped his face with his hand, pushing back the desperation mounting inside him.
Catherine put her hand on his arm. “My dear, I’m as sick with worry as you are, but you must think about this rationally. Another bird’s due tomorrow. Let’s see what comes.”
Just then, a flurry on the horizon caught his attention, and he narrowed his eyes.
“What on earth is that?” Catherine asked, seeing it as well.
But Alexander didn’t answer. His pulse quickened as he drew in a ragged breath. Messenger birds.An entire flock. He spun and raced down the spiral staircase of the watchtower.
“Wait!” she called after him.
He couldn’t.
Alexander reached the bottom of the stair and broke into a run across the courtyard to the library with a crushing weight in his chest. He tore through the front doors to the staircase of the avian tower.
“Rector!” he shouted as he bounded up the stairs, three at a time, and threw open the door at the top. Rector Tusten stood by the window, holding a bird in his arm that had just landed. He looked up at Alexander in confusion and held out his hand. Alexander, out of breath, took the small piece of parchment. His body shuddered. It held no message, only a dark earthen stain.
“What is it?” the rector asked.
He ran his finger over the rippled parchment. “Blood,” he breathed.
The rector’s hands trembled as he released the bird onto the table. “What does it mean?” he asked.
Alexander looked to see a pile of similarly stained parchments on the corner of the rector’s desk. More birds were still landing. Whoever had sent them, had sent themall, and their message would all be the same.
The capital bells sounded, and Alexander pushed by the rector to look out the window. A rider on horseback crossed the bridge, into the courtyard. Alexander clenched the parchment in his hand as he spun around and made his way quickly back down the stairs.
Catherine had just reached the library by the time he was coming out. “What’s going on?” she demanded.
Alexander paid her no mind. Panic rose in his chest as he saw the rider, slouching over and clinging to his horse. Guards pulled the blood-covered man down, and Alexander’s breath caught in his throat as he recognized Caspian. The captain’s right arm hung limply.
“Where is she?”he roared, grabbing him by the breastplate.
“Gone,” Caspian said hoarsely. “He took her.”
