Page 108 of Shadow Queen
He nodded as he rolled the soft leather between his fingers. He looked up at her, and she gave him a sad smile. But he swallowed his emotion. Norah’s return was exactly what Mercia needed right now. He smiled back at her. “I’ll start to prepare.”
She squeezed his arm and then went to find Alec.
Norah found Alexander in the sparring field, as Adrian had told her. She thought it mildly entertaining how the Kharavian soldiers and the Northmen would watch one another, each progressively growing more aggressive in their sparring to impress the other. But her presence on the field drew a pause, and Alexander handed his sword and shield to another soldier as she approached.
“Queen Norah,” he greeted.
“Lord Justice,” she said, trying to keep the bubbling joy from her face. “Will you walk with me?”
She waited until they cleared the field, and the ears of the men on it. “I’m returning to Mercia.”
Alexander stopped. A smile came to his lips.
“I don’t know for how long, probablynotlong,” she added quickly. “But I need to see my grandmother and the council, and how everything is there.”
“And the king?” he asked.
“Will stay here.”
He nodded, unable to hide the relief on his face.
“Mikael’s supportive, but he’s asked me to take the lord commander. And I’ve agreed.”
Alexander’s smile fell. “What? You can’t allow the Destroyer into Mercia.”
She sighed. “Alexander, stop calling him that like he’s a demon of destruction. He’s a foul-tempered man with a questionable conscience.”
“Questionable?” he scoffed. “Are you serious?”
Norah swept her eyes around them. “I didn’t come here to talk about the lord commander. I only meant to share the news, the good news, that we’ll be returning to Mercia. We’ll leave in a few days, if you’ll ready the men. I want to take them all home. I also want to bring the Crest. I think it would be good for them to see Mercia.”
He eyed her skeptically.
“They’re good men, Alexander.”
He looked out toward the sparring field. “Caspian has said as much.”
“Let’s go home.”
Excitement rippled through the ranks as they marched out of Ashan and toward the canyons to Mercia, home. But despite this excitement, tension hung in the air. The Mercian units marched with the Kharavian commander, who traveled in his signature style. Even though the Northmen had seen him as a man, and had grown somewhat accustomed to his presence, his weapon-laden battle dress and the scream of his armored destrier still unsettled them.
Caspian’s heart beat heavily in his chest as they drew closer to the Canyonlands, his mind on Tahla. Never had he imagined himself with a woman, or hiding it from those closest to him, but Tahla made him feel ways he had never imagined, ways he never understood. She would break him, eventually, he was sure of it. But it didn’t stop his need for her.
They arrived in the Urun camp, and his eyes combed the Horsemen warriors, but there was no sign of Tahla. Caspian worked to settle the army quickly. As was the normal Urun custom, they were welcomed to eat by the large center fire. Caspian took a seat on a rock, and Alexander sat on the log that lay beside it.
Caspian stared into the hypnotic flames of the fire. Through its dance, the eyes he so often dreamed about stared back at him. He straightened as he realized Tahla watched him from the opposite side.
“It feels strange to be going home with the Destroyer,” Alexander said.
Caspian pulled himself from Tahla’s gaze and tried his best to focus his attention on Alexander.
The justice took a drink from his bowl. “It feels strange to be going home with Norah. I… wasn’t sure this day would come.”
While Caspian understood, he didn’t feel quite the same. Mainly, he didn’t feel the queen had been lost, as Alexander did, merely by her being in Kharav. And Kharav had come to feel like home, too, now. But that was something he could never share with Alexander.
Caspian tried his best to stay attentive to Alexander’s words, but his eyes and his mind found their way back to Tahla, who flashed him a mischievous smile, seeming to enjoy his suffering. Finally, when he could bear it no longer, he excused himself to his quarters. He lingered a moment, looking for Tahla, but she seemed to have disappeared. Caspian started back toward the houses, hoping she would come to him.
As he cut between the houses, a hand snaked out, bringing a blade to his neck. “Did you think you could just slip away from me, Northman?” came the voice, and the corners of his lips turned up into a wry smile.
