Page 100 of North Queen
His words confused her. How could a horse be more important than men?
The mare let out an angry scream and pummeled the man again. He cried out once more and then fell silent.
“Help him!” she pleaded.
He chuckled. “There’s no helping him.”
Norah felt sick. If no one would help him, the man would die. She couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Before she could talk herself out of it, she slipped between the railings of the high-walled corral. Shouts rang out, and the mare reared, screaming into the air. Men yelled what she surmised to be warnings at her, but she ignored them.
“Get out of there!” the commander boomed behind her.
She ignored him too.
“Get out of there!” he roared again as he started to climb the railing. He was too large to fit in between.
Norah looked at the mare across the paddock. The horse had backed away from her victim, intrigued by Norah’s presence, but stomped her hooves agitatedly.
The commander barked out an order to the Horsemen and, although the language was foreign, she could hear the vexation in his voice. Men climbed the railing of the paddock, standing tall with ropes in their hands.
“No!” Norah called to them. She looked back over her shoulder at the commander. “Tell them to stand down. They’re only making it worse.”
“Back up slowly and get out of there,” he told her.
“I have to help him!” she insisted. She stepped toward the man on the ground, and the mare snorted but warily stayed.
“North Queen!” the commander growled. The mare reared again as the commander swung himself over the top of the corral.
“Wait!” Norah cried, making him pause. “Just wait.” Slowly, she inched toward the man and knelt beside him, keeping her eyes on the mare. He lay crumpled on his side. She touched his face, but he didn’t respond. Blood ran from a deep gash on the side of his head. Slowly, she rolled him onto his back. He was alive, but his breath was faint. He needed help. Norah rose slowly, looking at the horse. The mare shook her head, tossing her mane. This was no ordinary horse. The beast called to her.
The mare was snowy silver with a dark face and matching legs. As Norah drew closer, she could make out the dapple in her coat. Her beauty was intoxicating, but what caught Norah’s attention was the brilliant fire in her eyes. She’d seen eyes like these before. And it dawned on her—they were the same as the fox in the Wild, where Alexander had first found her. They had to be connected somehow.
“Don’t!” the commander called to her, but she ignored him.
The animal’s wild eyes looked at Norah through her thick mane, and her nostrils flared nervously. Norah clicked her tongue, drawing the mare’s ears forward. She stepped closer and reached out her hand. “It’s all right,” she said softly.
The animal tossed her head again but finally stretched out her neck to nose Norah’s hand. Norah waited patiently.
“You’re all right,” she whispered. Slowly, she moved to scratch the mare’s chin, and then ran her hand up the animal’s jaw. The horse threw her head up, but Norah paused, and the animal calmed.
“Easy, you’re all right,” she soothed. Slowly, Norah reached out again. She ran her hand down the horse’s neck and chest, patting her. She loosened the ropes and pulled them away.
“That’s better, yes?” she said to the animal. “Will you let him go? Death’s not the answer.”
The mare snorted, but Norah felt her yield.
“Collect your man,” she called back to the Horsemen. The commander echoed her in a foreign tongue, with a few additional words she was sure, and they hurried warily to gather their man.
The mare flicked her ears and pawed the ground but stayed. Norah drew her hand along the animal’s neck and shoulder, still working to calm her.
“North Queen!” the Shadow King’s voice boomed from behind, and she looked to see him making his way toward the enclosure. The commander straddled the top of the corral with a spear in hand, and a man she assumed to be King Abilash stood below. Her stomach turned at being the center of their attention.
“I’ll get you out of here,” she whispered to the mare and then turned to face the ire of her own captors.
She strode to the edge of the corral and slipped out between the railing. The commander dropped to the ground from the top and stood beside the King Abilash. Both looked astonished.
“What is this power you have over the Wild?” Abilash asked. “How do you do this?”
But there was a fury inside her heart. “She doesn’t belong to you. Why do you have her?” she demanded.
