Page 43 of Shadow Queen
“They are watching us, I’m sure,” Caspian said as they reached the base. “They’ll show themselves soon. Our men should wait here. Let us go to meet them.”
Alexander cast a skeptical eye. He bid the men to stay at the base, and he and Caspian set into the canyons on foot.
Darkness layered the canyons, and Caspian found the footing difficult. He heard Alexander struggling as well. How did the Kharavian soldiers find their way so effortlessly in the night?
“It doesn’t appear these Uru are going to show,” Alexander said after a time.
Caspian looked up into the darkness. “They’re here. I know it.”
“Then what do they wait for?” Alexander asked. “Let’s make camp with the men. We’ll find our way through in the morning.”
“We won’t find our way through the canyons without their help.”
“Then we’ll go to the eastern pass and go through Bahoul.”
That would take even longer than originally going the route through Bahoul. No. The Uru were here. “Tahla!” he called.
But there was no response.
Caspian combed the peaks of the canyons against the starlit sky, looking for movement. But all was still.
“Tahla!” he bellowed again.
Again, silence.
Alexander gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder and turned back the way they had come. Caspian sighed and finally followed.
But a woman’s voice stopped them. “Is the North so bold to assume the Uru friends now?”
Caspian spun to see a shadow drawing close.
“Queen Norah would think so.” He knew it was Tahla, and although he couldn’t see her face, he knew she was smiling.
A torch was lit, and Caspian stepped back in seeing the Uru had surrounded them. Alexander put his hand on his sword, but Caspian held out his arm to settle him. Then he looked back at her, and his heart raced. She was just as he remembered, perhaps even more beautiful.
“How is my sister?” Tahla asked.
“She’s well. She sends us back to Mercia for an exchange of men and goods. We hoped”—he hoped—“that you would see us through the canyons.”
“I might be persuaded.” Her lips curved into a sly smile. Then her eyes found Alexander. “Who’s this?”
“The Mercian lord justice.”
She drew closer to Alexander, and Caspian gave him a small nod of reassurance. “This is Tahla. Daughter of the Urun chief. The Uru are close friends of Salar and Kharav,” he explained.
“And Salara,” Tahla added, and Caspian smiled.
“And Salara,” he echoed.
“Tahla.” Alexander gave a respectful bow of his head.
“The Mercian lord justice,” Tahla said curiously. “That sounds important. Are you an important man, Lord Justice?”
“He is the queen’s right hand,” Caspian told her. “Her commander.”
Tahla exhaled a breath of realization. “The Bear.” A smile peeled across her lips. She stepped closer. “I never thought I’d actually meet you.” Tahla took a torch from the Urun warrior next to her and moved even closer to Alexander. She circled him, running her eyes over him, studying him. “You don’t look like a bear.”
The corners of Alexander’s mouth turned up. “I hope I don’t disappoint.”
