Page 17 of Shadow Queen
“Then you saw? The visions? Did you get your answers?”
Norah shook her head again, the despair returning. Suddenly, her breath caught in her chest. The lord commander stood at the bottom of the temple stairs, axe in hand.
Waiting for her.
Chapter six
Thesunlighthurthereyes. Norah walked slowly down the stairs of the temple of the seer. The lord commander stood at the bottom, waiting. Her stomach churned. How had he found her? Behind him stood Captain Artem and four other soldiers: two of Artem’s men and Bhastian and Javed from her own Crest guard. She hadn’t expected to see Caspian, but he was a welcome surprise.
Cohen stepped in front of Norah and Calla and drew his sword.
“You don’t want to do that, boy,” the commander said from under the wrap hiding his face. He fixed his grip on his axe in warning.
But Cohen didn’t move.
“I’ll tell you only once to step aside,” the commander warned.
“He can’t hear you,” Norah said as she put a hand on Cohen’s shoulder to settle him. “And they’re in my service, seeing me safe.”
The lord commander snorted. “You put your safety in the hands of children instead of your captain? All for a seer who won’t see you.” He was so smug.Ass.
“The captain cares nothing for my safety, and you know it,” she snapped. The commander looked over his shoulder at Artem. There was a strangeness between them, as if the commander were waiting for something. But no matter. “Have you come to escort me back, Lord Commander?” No point avoiding the obvious.
“You’re most perceptive,” he said with an icy edge in his voice.
The bitterness of disgust wormed its way up her throat. She had almost forgotten how much she hated this man. But as her eyes found Caspian, she managed a small nod. At least there was one man she could trust here. “Caspian,” she greeted him.
He bowed with his fist to his chest as she drew nearer to him. “Queen Norah, I’m relieved to see you safe.” He stepped closer, dropping his voice so that only she could hear. “While I’ve come on this mission to find you, it’s not my intention to take you back if that’s not what you want.”
She didn’t want to be taken back, but there was no avoiding it now. She would only endanger those she cared about. “Thank you, Caspian. But I have to go back. I need to repair things with the king.” And she needed to find a way to change the vision.
Her mind turned back to Mikael, and guilt bubbled up inside her again. She wasn’t sure what she would say when she saw him.
She turned to Calla. “I suppose this is where we part. I’m so thankful to you, and to Cohen and your grandparents. I wouldn’t have made it here without you, and I’m in your debt.”
Calla smiled. “It’s been our greatest honor serving you, Salara. I only hope we have the fortune to see you again.”
Norah reached out and hugged her tightly. “You will. I can promise you that.”
She turned to Cohen, and he gave her an awkward bow. She handed him Hamed’s sword and pulled him into a hug too. Then she stepped back so he could read her lips. “Thank you, master swordsman. You honor yourself and your family. Your father would be proud.”
He gave an emotional smile.
“Take them back to their home,” Soren said to the soldiers. Javed stepped forward.
“Caspian,” Norah called, and he gave a nod. “I want you to go with Javed and see that Calla and Cohen return home safely.” She didn’t trust anyone else. Not after what happened to Bremhad, the greenskeeper and Kiran’s father.
He started to object. “Queen Norah—”
“Please,” she said softly. “They’re very important to me. You know I’ll make it back to the castle just fine.”
Caspian sighed, giving a reluctant nod. “I’ll see them safely home.”
“And then I’ll see you back at the castle.” With one last look back at Calla and Cohen, Norah mounted her mare and turned toward Ashan.
The commander led the way, and Artem followed with his two soldiers and Bhastian. She rode between them. An anxious ache rolled in her stomach. Artem would find a way to punish her for slipping him. The commander would too. Had it been worth it? She had no more answers than when she’d started.
The lord commander set a fast pace, no doubt eager to get back. They traveled against the wind, and Norah had to hold the front of her hood while riding to keep it from blowing back. Her arm grew tired, and she let it go. It wasn’t like she was trying to hide herself anymore. She’d been captured.
