Page 96 of Shadow Queen
As devastating as it was, she nodded. She did understand.
“And it’s why the seer can’t return with you.”
Norah sucked in a breath. “What?”
Naavi sighed, her eyes pleading Norah to understand. “We can’t let Alexander go, Norah.”
“He’s not a seer!”
“Regardless, he knows too much, and we’re unable to take it from him.”
Norah shook her head. “No. I’m not leaving without him.”
Sana’s voice came cold as death. “Then none of you will leave.”
Chapter twenty-seven
Norahsatinthedarkness in the room where Alexander lay, trying to quell the threatening panic. Her hands shook as she tried to think of what to do. She wouldn’t leave Alexander. Mikael had returned, and he sat with her on a stone bench. Silence hung around them like a thick fog.
Alexander stirred, and Norah moved to his side. His eyes opened, and he stared at her for a moment. Then his brow creased. “Where am I?” he asked. “What happened?”
“We’re still in the Wild,” she told him. “You exerted yourself too much.”
He lay still, his eyes hazed, but then she saw the memory flood back to him. Alexander tried to sit up, but he was still weak. He caught sight of the commander and Mikael, and then Caspian against the far wall, and he looked back at her. “What aren’t you telling me? Are we being held here?”
“Not exactly,” Soren spoke out. “We leave at dawn. Well, all except you. They’re unable to erase your mind, protect their secret, so you stay.”
Norah struggled to swallow through the tightness in her throat.
“Well, I suppose we were already down a horse,” Alexander joked in rare form.
Soren let out a chuckle, but Norah wasn’t amused.
“I’m not leaving without you,” she said adamantly.
“You’re not staying here,” he told her.
“You can’t make me go.”
“I trust the Destroyer to do what needs to be done to get you away from this place,” he said as he settled back and let his eyes close again.
Norah glanced at Soren with a flash of anger, daring him to respond. He refrained, but his look told her he would.
Just then, the chamber door opened, and Norah spun around.
Naavi stepped inside. “Hurry,” she said in a hushed voice. “We don’t have much time.”
“What?” Norah asked, her eyes wide. “Where are we going?”
“Hurry! You’re leaving. All of you.” She eyed Alexander. “Even him. But you must come quickly.”
“Help me!” Norah called to Soren as she tried to pull Alexander to stand. Soren’s chest rumbled in objection, but he handed his axe to Caspian and stepped forward. He put a shoulder under Alexander’s arm and supported his weight with his own frame.
Naavi led them through the doors and into a narrow hallway. “Stay close,” the Wild woman said, setting a fast pace. “His shield covers us, but he’s still weak. We have to stay together.”
Naavi clasped Norah’s hand and pulled her along faster. They wound through a series of halls before reaching a door and emerging into the forest. The cold wind hit Norah’s face, and she shuddered.
“We couldn’t have entered from this way?” Soren muttered.
