Page 189 of Shadow Queen
Surprisingly graceful for his size, Soren leapt onto the table, interrupting the councilman and forcing the room silent. He walked the table’s length, toward Edward, dragging the edge of his axe along the wood and carving a trail of warning.
How she loved this brute. “If there’s any councilman who doesn’t support the retrieval of my lord justice, let him speak now,” she challenged.
“Norah,” James said. “You cannot mean to influence this council by force.”
She looked around the room, her eyes ablaze. “Does anyone feel forced?”
Soren rolled his gaze over each one of them, awaiting the smallest objection. The room was silent. Even James.
“Norah!” Catherine whispered harshly. “I want Alexander back as much as you do.”
Norah caught her with a look that silenced her. “That’s not possible.”
Soren dropped down from the table, shaking the room like thunder, and stood before her.
“If he’s been harmed…” she let her words drop off, her silence speaking for her. She raised her eyes to his. “Go, Destroyer.”
Water dripped from the stone of the ceilings to the stone of the floors. Alexander sat with his men in the cold, dark dungeon cell. They were starving. They’d been given two loaves of bread and a bucket of water a day for four men. It had been three weeks since the Horseman king had sent his demands to Norah. The horse of the Wild was what he wanted. It shouldn’t be long now. Norah would send the mare, he was sure of it—she wouldn’t accept his capture, but she’d resolve this diplomatically. He was grateful she was in Mercia, not the Shadowlands. Otherwise, she might be convinced to use more violent measures.
The Shadowlands.He didn’t know what to feel about the kingdom anymore. He’d hated it. With every fiber of his being, he’d hated it.Hadhated it. It had taken Norah from him, taken his brother. It had upheaved Mercia’s political safeties and spit in the faces of tradition. But now it was home to his nephew, the small joy he’d been able to hold in his arms just a few weeks ago. It was where Adrian would build his life. Alexander had decided to sell both the city house and the manor when he returned to Mercia. He didn’t have need for either of them and would see his brother had everything to support his wife and child.
His mind shifted to Katya. He’d almost lingered longer in the Shadowlands, for more time with her. He wished he had. It had been hard to leave her, even to return to Mercia. Even to return to Norah.
Outside the cell, footsteps approached. “Open it,” a voice demanded—the Horseman king.
The heavy door swung open, and Alexander stood quickly. Relief rolled through him. His Northmen must have arrived with the horse of the Wild.
But instead of removing the chains around his wrists, a guard struck Alexander across the face, knocking him against the wall. Others held his men at bay with swords. Alexander spit blood as he tried to regain his senses.
The king’s lips peeled back in a rage, flashing his decaying teeth. “Bring him.”
The guards grabbed Alexander’s arms and pulled him from the cell, down the dark and mildewy hall, and up a set of stairs to the outside. As he stepped into the light, the glare of the sun blinded him. He struggled to keep up and was forcefully pushed along. They took him up to the castle wall to look out to the east.
Leaning over the rampart, the Horseman king pointed in the distance. “You said she’d send the horse!”
Alexander squinted, still struggling to see. His eyes finally adjusted, and he could make out figures along the outer hills. But as he looked closer, he realized there were more men than required to bring a horse—many more. His pulse quickened. The council would have never sent an army. Then Alexander knew—he scanned the ranks and found him.
The Destroyer.
“Why ishehere?” the king seethed.
Alexander pushed out a disappointed breath. “He serves my queen.”
The color drained from the Horseman’s face. “He is supposed to be in Kharav, with Salar!”
The Horseman king was expecting to capitalize on the separation of Norah and the Shadow King, Alexander realized, and on Kharav being distracted by war.
Alexander shook his head. “No, the Destroyer has joined the queen in Mercia.” He looked out at the soldiers on the hills. “And he brings his methods of resolution with him. You need to release us.”
“Do I?” the king sneered.
“If you know who he is, then you know he’ll tear this castle to the ground,” Alexander warned. “Not for me—he’ll happily see me dead. He merely wants a reason. Don’t give him one.” Alexander looked out at the army, then back to the king. “I’m trying to help you save your people. You have families here.”
The king ignored him.
Alexander sighed in exasperation. “If you care about your people, you’ll let me meet him before he even reaches this castle, before he advances farther. He hasn’t come to negotiate.”
The king shook with anger. He turned to one of his warriors. “Ride out. Tell the commander all I want is the horse.”
