Page 159 of Shadow Queen
A noise behind her made her turn, and she smiled when she saw Adrian. It had been several days since his entitlement challenge, and his face had finally started to heal.
“I can almost recognize you again,” she teased him. He grinned, and Norah noticed there was an air of excitement around him. Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you grinning like a derpy hound?”
He laughed. Then he pulled up his sleeve with a breathless smile, revealing the inked marking of a Kharavian warrior. Overlapping patterns circled his arm just below his elbow, and on the inside of his forearm he bore the image of a sword. “I got a sword marking,” he said proudly.
It was beautiful, but a weight grew in her stomach. Mercian customs and beliefs kept the Northmen from marking their skin, and her mind turned to Alexander. “I’m so proud of you, Adrian,” she told him. “You’ve done what no Northman has. You’ve gained the respect of Kharav.” She paused, searching for how to handle her worry delicately. It wasn’t as though he could change his mind now. “Have you shared any of this with Alexander? The sword entitlement, your plan to get the marking?”
The smile fell from his face, and she could tell he hadn’t even thought about it. His brow creased with the beginnings of worry. “Do you think he’ll be upset?”
She hesitated. “I think he might not understand. He won’t know what it means, its importance.”
Adrian gazed down at his arm solemnly, realizing what she was saying. “He’s going to be angry. He’s going to think I turned my back on Mercia.”
“No, he won’t,” she said quickly as she shook her head. “You just need to talk to him. I think he’ll be very proud of you and what you’ve accomplished here.”
He nodded, but she could see she had given him little assurance. It saddened her. Adrian had so much to be proud of. Alexander had so much to be proud of.
“Have you told him about Sevina?” she asked.
“Uh, I wrote him about the marriage.”
“And of the child?” she pressed.
He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “Not yet. I’m going to. Today, I suppose. I just wanted to give it some time… since my last letter.”
She understood. He didn’t want Alexander to connect that he had gotten Sevina pregnant out of wedlock. Not that she blamed him. “You might want to wait on the marking,” she suggested. “I mean, it’s not urgent. Maybe let him come to terms with the child first.”
He nodded. “I’ll do that.”
Norah forced a smile. She wished Adrian weren’t the only one with the announcement of a child. She’d give anything for the anxiousness of sharing such news. But that wasn’t her future, and she’d come to terms with it. Instead, she’d be content with the blessing she’d been given as she looked out across her beautiful city.
The days felt like eternity, but the months passed quickly. Months—seven of them. It had been seven months since Norah had left and taken Adrian with her. Alexander sat at his desk, clutching the parchment in his hand.
“News?” Katya said from the doorway. “From the looks of you, not good.”
He pulled open the side drawer and dropped the letter into it, then pushed it closed. This wasn’t something he could speak about. Not right now.
He still felt her eyes on him, but he didn’t look up.
“Are you really not going to tell me?” she asked.
He said nothing.
“Bear—”
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” he said sharply, cutting her off.
She rocked back on her heel. She said nothing, but her eyes betrayed her surprise.
He sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m upset. I don’t mean to take it out on you.”
Katya only stood. Waiting.
“My brother’s wed,” he said finally.
She stepped into the room and made her way around the wing chair in front of his desk and sat down in it. She waited until he looked at her, then raised a brow. “This isn’t good news?”
“No, it’s not.”
