Page 42 of Shadow Queen
“He had to meet with a Horsemen tribe.” Norah bit the inside of her cheek. “You need to leave before he returns.”
Just the thought of his absence left her with a gaping hole. To not be able to hear his voice, to not see his smile, to not feel the warmth of his touch or to have his nearness. It stole her peace and crushed her heart. But she needed him to leave. To keep him safe. To send him away from this Shadow King—this Shadow King she loved.
The cold morning air gave away the unsteady emotion of her breath. Norah watched as the Northmen finished preparations for the journey to Mercia. Caspian would escort them back and return with a new unit of soldiers. Only her Mercian guardsman Titus would remain with her.
She stood in the courtyard to see them off. Alexander mounted his white destrier, and she stepped close, running her hand up the animal’s neck and under the warmth of its thick mane. She looked up at him and gave a sad smile.
“How long?” he asked her. “How long will you let yourself be kept here?”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t know. She might not ever be able to leave, but she couldn’t think about that now. It would break her. The thought of not seeing him again—it was already breaking her. She needed him to leave before she couldn’t let him go. “Goodbye, Alexander.” She gave his mount a soft pat and stepped back.
His jaw tightened as he gave her a longing look of goodbye, then he reined his destrier around and urged it forward with his men following behind.
She walked back to the castle and found Soren waiting for her out front. Her heartache turned to bitterness. “I hope this satisfies you.”
“Salar will be obsessed with your forgiveness when he returns.”
“It’s not to be had.” She pushed past him and continued toward the castle. It was all she could do to make it back to the privacy of her bedchamber before the tears came. Alone, she sank to the cold stone floor and let the sadness take over.
Chapter twelve
TheNorthmensetaquick pace en route to Mercia, and Caspian could feel the army’s spirits lifting as they set their thoughts on home. But an uneasiness sat in his stomach. They would ride through the western Canyonlands instead of east and through Bahoul as they normally traveled. While it was a faster route, it wasn’t preferred. The route through Bahoul passed through the allied outreaches of Aleon. Safer lands—at least, they used to be safer.
With Mercia and Kharav now united, they would travel through Kharav’s allies, mostly the Horsemen. The first test would be the Uru.
But Caspian was looking forward to one thing—seeing Tahla again.
It took almost three days to reach the Canyonlands. The army traveled much slower than Caspian and the lord commander had traveled before. He found himself growing impatient, but his frustration fell away as his attention shifted to his friend riding beside him.
Alexander rode lethargically, but not from his wounds. Caspian knew the justice was not looking forward to returning to his cherished Mercia, for he had left his heart in Kharav. They hadn’t talked about what had happened—the lashing—and they wouldn’t. Pain of the flesh was temporary. Caspian worried more about Alexander’s spirit, which seemed to die more with each step farther from Kharav, each step farther from Norah.
“She worries for you,” Caspian told him, breaking the silence in unusual form. “That’s why she sends you back.”
Alexander shifted from his thoughts. “She shouldn’t.”
“Yes, she should,” he corrected him. Alexander wasn’t thinking straight. “You don’t generally threaten the life of a king like she did with no consequence. Especially the Shadow King.”
Alexander’s head jerked up and his brow furrowed. “What?”
Caspian gaped at him in surprise. Alexander hadn’t known. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”
“Norah threatened the king?”
Caspian nodded. “That’s what he said, threatened him with his own sword.”
Alarm grew in his eyes. “And what does he plan to do?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. He seeks her forgiveness.”
Alexander looked back at him in disbelief. “Her forgiveness?”
It had dumbfounded Caspian too. But he saw something in the Shadow King he hadn’t thought possible—he loved the queen. Surely that was the only reason Alexander was still alive and permitted to come and go from the Shadowlands as he did. Alexander was the Shadow King’s greatest threat, yet he remained untouched. But for how long?
“She needs to take care,” Caspian warned his friend. “And you do too.”
It was almost dark when the canyons came into view. Caspian knew the unease that rippled through the army, the same unease he’d felt when he had come before. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel it again. While he didn’t think Tahla and the Uru would attack them, he wasn’t sure they’d welcome them either. Not like the Shadowmen.
“Where are these Uru?” Alexander asked him. “And the village?”
