Page 105 of Shadow Queen
The commander reached out and clasped his chin, turning Adrian’s head and judging the cut above his eye. “That’ll need stitches. Come on.”
It was worth it.
They walked across the courtyard, but Adrian slowed in seeing Alec striding toward them. His stomach knotted. He’d promised his brother he’d keep out of trouble, which was the opposite of what he’d been doing.
“What is this? What happened?” Alec asked when he reached them.
“It’s nothing,” Adrian said quickly.
Alec was calm, but his eyes blazed. He was angry. “Did you do this?” he asked the lord commander.
“No!” Adrian said quickly. “There were these men—”
“You got in a fight?”
“He’ll need stitches,” the lord commander said.
Alec’s voice came low, composed—the voice that Adrian hated the most: the voice of disappointment. “You dishonor me, Adrian; you dishonor your queen.”
The lord commander snorted. “Seems to me that honor is what he was brawling about.”
“You know nothing of honor,” Alec cut back.
The commander’s eyes darkened.
“What’s going on?” Norah interrupted from behind, and all three turned in surprise. “Adrian! Your face!” she exclaimed.
“It looks worse than it is,” he assured her.
“How did this happen?”
“Foolishness not to be repeated,” Alec promised.
“It was for a woman’s fancy, so it probably will be repeated,” the commander said with an amused smirk on his brow.
Adrian felt his brother’s eyes on him, but he couldn’t meet them.
“Are you all right?” Norah asked him.
“Yes, thanks to the lord commander.”
The commander moved to leave, but not before pausing in front of Norah. “That’s three favors now,” he said to her. “Is this another I can call upon?”
Adrian wondered what he meant.
She sighed. “I almost had a positive sentiment about you. Must you ruin everything?”
He shrugged and left them to Alec’s disappointment.
Chapter thirty
Norahlayawakeinthe blissful light of morning, staring out the window. Mikael was sprawled sideways across the bed, his head on her hip. It was a rare moment, relaxing together in the calm, not rushing to duties or responsibility.
Things had settled since they had returned from the Wild. Even the contempt between Mikael, Soren, and Alexander had seemed to die down somewhat.Somewhat. But she couldn’t shake her guilt. She’d asked a lot from Mikael, and he gave her everything. What had she given him?
“Why haven’t you asked me to return the mountains of Bahoul?” she said, breaking the silence.
Mikael drew in a long breath, clearly not expecting this subject. He rolled to his side, looking up at her.
