Page 136 of Shadow Queen
“You know his plans?” Soren asked.
“No, but it just doesn’t make sense that Phillip would march on Kharav, not right now.”
“Whether it makes sense to Salara, the threat is still there,” Soren argued to Mikael. “We need all men in Kharav.”
Mikael moved to Norah and eyed the letter. She offered it to him, and he took it and read it quietly. “It’s so formal,” he said.
Norah swallowed. It was. He hadn’t even asked how she was. She guiltily pushed down the emotion. She shouldn’t want him to. She should want him to not think of her, as she tried not to think about him.
Mikael refolded it, and looked at the seal for a moment before handing it back to her and glancing at Soren. “Send two thousand men.”
Norah’s eyes met his in surprise. He was giving her men?
Soren pushed out a breath between his teeth in anger, but he didn’t speak his objection.
She nodded. “Thank you.”
Mikael reached up and brushed her cheek with his fingers. “Of course.”
Chapter forty
Alexandersatbackinthe chair at his desk and let out a weary sigh. He stacked the army’s status reports and shuffled them into a leather cover before standing and sliding it into the cabinet behind him. It was late morning, and he’d worked all night—preparing updates for the council, issuing directives, reviewing grievances, approving payments—anything to keep his mind occupied.
To keep his mind from her.
Norah.
He’d written her out of desperation, to the horror of the council. They didn’t want help from the Shadowlands, but they were out of options. Alexander had put it off as long as he could—partly at the council’s urging, partly because he couldn’t form the words that he knew Norah would be reading from his pen. He’d started his letter a hundred times, and the fireplace in his study had burned bright with his discarded pages. He wanted to know how she was, if she was well, if she was happy. Did he really want to know if she was happy?
Happy withthe Shadow King.
He could still feel her kiss on his lips, see her smile when he closed his eyes, hear her voice in his mind. But he wrote none of this, at least not in the letter he sent.
Did she think of him?No. She cared for him deeply, he knew, but he didn’t have her heart. Not anymore. Not in the way he used to.
But he did want her to be happy. Even if it wasn’t with him. Even if it was with… he put the thought from his mind. He settled with the hope that she was simply happy.
He wondered how Adrian fared. He surprised even himself when he had sent his brother to Kharav. But Norah needed loyal men, trusted men, good men, and his brother was as good as they came. Adrian would hold the Mercian values and remind her who she was. He wouldn’t let her drown in the darkness of the shadows. Alexander needed him, but Norah needed him more.
The bells rang out, and he headed to the courtyard. His eyes widened at the army of Shadowmen approaching. It was larger than he’d expected, a pleasant surprise, and he strode out to meet them.
James and Edward stood at the top of the castle stair. Edward shook with disgust, and Alexander followed his eyes to the Shadowman leading the army.
Not Shadowman.
Shadowwoman.
A wrap covered her face, as with all Shadowmen, but she wore a fitted breastplate molded to her shape. Hereveryshape. He peeled his eyes from the steel breasts and swallowed back his discomfort as she slid from her horse.
She cast a cold eye around the courtyard. “I’m here for the Bear,” she called.
“Have you come to serve?” Alexander asked.
She stepped in front of him. “Call him.”
“He doesn’t come to your call.”
In a flash, she ripped her short sword from the sheath on her back and had it at his throat. Around him, his Northmen pulled their swords, and the whole of the Kharavian unit followed suit.
