Page 188 of Shadow Queen
Norahwalkedthroughthecourtyard. Nearly a month had passed since Alexander had taken the legions to Kharav. She knew she was pushing her council to their limits. Even Catherine urged her to bring him back, but she couldn’t. Mikael needed the best men. There were only two best men, and Soren wouldn’t leave her.
It had been Alexander’s idea to take Adrian with him. He and Soren had agreed, to her astonishment. But she supposed she wasn’t too surprised. Adrian was perhaps the rarest of gems—as a Northman for their Mercian forces to follow, as brother to Alexander, who the forces of Aleon were committed to, and as an accepted warrior of the Kharavian army. Norah missed him, but she was happy for him to help Mikael, and she knew Sevina was happy to have her husband home. And Norah was happy Alexander would have the opportunity to meet his nephew while he was there.
Footfalls interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up to see Soren and Caspian approaching.
“Queen Norah,” Caspian said, “you need to come to the judisaept. Urgently.”
“What’s happened?”
“It’s the lord justice. He’s been taken.”
A weight hit Norah in her chest. “What do you meantaken?”
Caspian waved to a soldier behind him to come forward. The man’s armor was crusted in dirt and blood. He bowed. “Regal High,” he said. “We’d just left the Shadowlands to return to Mercia. But they were waiting for us.”
Her pulse rose in her throat. “Why would you be leaving the Shadowlands, and who was waiting for you?”
“The Shadow King ordered the lord justice to return to you.”
Mikael had sent Alexander back to her?
“But as we left the Canyonlands, the Horsemen were waiting. Their king—he said his name was King Abilash and that you have something that belongs to him.”
Her eyes widened, and she looked at Soren. He returned her gaze, dark and angry. And it hit her—the mare. Mikael had taken the mare from the Horseman king at her asking. And now Abilash sought to get it back. It shouldn’t have surprised her—Tahla had told her that anyone with mastery over a horse of the Wild could draw other tribes to follow them, and Abilash was an ambitious king. He could grow his power with the horse, grow his kingdom. A deep and burning fury grew inside her.
His ambition would cost him.
“The councilmen are assembling in the judisaept,” Caspian said. “You need to come.”
Norah strode quickly toward the castle, her anger building as she went, with Caspian and Soren following behind.
When she reached the chamber, the councilmen were already there. They surrounded the table but didn’t sit, and their voices rang over one another with the details. Catherine stood to the side. When she saw Norah, she moved to her.
But Norah didn’t waste time with greetings. “As I’m sure you’ve heard, the lord justice has been taken,” she called out, drawing the room quiet.
Edward was the first to speak. “I knew it was a mistake to send him,” he said angrily.
“What are the Horseman’s demands?” James asked. “What is it that belongs to him?”
“He means the horse of the Wild,” she said. “And she doesnotbelong to him.”
“This is over a horse?” Edward’s voice was shrill, and it only angered her further. “By the gods, just send it!”
Just send it? Norah pushed out a furious breath between her teeth. Abilash had made a devastating mistake. And now she’d take everything from him. She turned to the messenger, who stood behind Soren and Caspian. “Where is he?” she demanded. “Where is he keeping the lord justice?”
“King Abilash has taken the ruins of Aviron for his own. They’ve somewhat rebuilt the destroyed castle. The lord justice and three other Northmen are being held in the dungeon as he awaits your reply.”
“Get the horse,” Edward said. “Send it to him.”
“He’ll get nothing!” Norah snapped, drawing all eyes to her. Her skin was on fire. This man dared to take something from her, something very dear. He thought he had power over her—the Shadow Queen. She looked at Soren. “Ready an army, one large enough to bring Aviron to the ground.”
“You would march against Aviron?” Edward gasped.
Aviron—the kingdom that had tried to kill Mikael so long ago, the kingdom that Soren had destroyed.
“There is no Aviron!” she spat back. “Abilash is a pretender king in the bones of what used to be a wretched and wicked kingdom!”
Edward shook his finger at her. “You’ve already sent five thousand of our Northmen to the Shadowlands, as well as half our forces from Aleon. It’s well within this council’s authority to veto a march to war, which I recommend we—”
