Page 169 of Shadow Queen
Norah stepped back, speechless, and he brushed by her as he stormed from the room. She let herself sink down onto the side chair, out of breath and out of ideas about what to do. How could she get through to him? How was she going to fix this?
Chapter fifty-one
Sorenwalkedbrisklytowardthe stables, where he found Mikael leading out his horse. His pulse quickened. He’d heard Salar was preparing to ride out, and it surprised him he’d leave without saying anything, and after he’d just returned.
“Where are you going?” he demanded.
“Odepeth,” Mikael said coldly.
Soren sighed. The seer. What did he expect to see? “I’ll go with you,” he said, starting toward the stable to get his own horse.
“You’ll stay here,” Mikael said sharply as he mounted his destrier.
Soren stopped in surprise. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise; Soren had felt the distance between them growing. But they’d always gone to the seer together, faced the future together. Not now. “Are you angry with me, brother?”
“I don’t know what I am,” Mikael spat back, looking down from his horse. “You ask for the return of the Bear. The man who’s to take my head. You would so quickly call him back?”
Soren shook his head. “Of course not, but I would have him bring the North forces if Aleon turned against you, to help keep your throne.”
“They would join Aleon against me!” the king snarled back. “And what about keeping my queen? You encourage her treaty with Aleon?”
“She has no choice!”
“You do!” Mikael raged. He pulled up his reins and turned his destrier east. “I’ll return in three days. If you’re truly my brother, you’ll help me stop this.”
Tension cramped her shoulders, and anxiousness turned her stomach. Norah paced the length of her chamber, then back. She wasn’t angry with Mikael. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders—crumbling alliances, mounting enemies and ambiguous threats, displeased nobles, no heir to solidify the hold of the throne, and uncertainty in his marriage. She’d hoped to alleviate at least one of those for him. He loved her, wholly, and she needed to assure him that he also held her heart. Only she struggled with how to show him. And something had to give—she couldn’t take one more setback, one more worry.
The door to her chamber swung open. “Salara!” Vitalia called.
Norah jerked her head up at the urgency in her maid’s voice.
“The child—it’s coming!”
The child? Adrian and Sevina’s child?No—it wasn’t due for another month,morethan a month. It was too early.
“The midwife is with them, and the healer,” Vitalia said breathlessly. “But I thought you’d want to come too.”
She most certainly did. Norah grabbed her cloak and followed her maid quickly down the halls and out of the castle. The Crest fell in step behind her, but she paid them no mind, she only went faster. If this baby was lost…
It was a long walk from the castle to the stately Arvedi home and was made even longer by her worry. She should have taken a horse. By the time she arrived, she was breathless. A servant opened the door to her, and she quickly stepped inside, ignoring the burn of the muscles in her legs.
Aman, Sevina’s father, met her promptly in the foyer. “Salara,” he said in surprise, and gave her a bow.
“Lord Aman. I’m so sorry for the disruption, but I had to come. How is the child?”
“Norah,” came Adrian’s voice, and she looked to the top of the stairs, where he stood by the overlook railing.
He moved quickly down them.
“Adrian,” she said, “I don’t mean to impose, but I had to come see if the baby is okay, if you and Sevina are okay.”
He reached the bottom of the stairs and moved to her in three additional steps, catching her in a warm embrace. “You’re here,” he said. Then he stepped back to look at her. His lips formed a smile, but the crease along his forehead was deep with worry. “Thank you for being here. I’m sorry I didn’t send word. He came so quickly.”
He. The child had already been delivered.
“No, it’s perfectly fine. How is he?”
He gave a jerky nod. “All right, for now.”
