Page 163 of Shadow Queen
She smiled sadly. “I think your fears have proven true.”
He shook his head. “What fears?”
“That I’ve decided I like it here, and I want to stay.” She smiled again to hide the glistening in her eyes. “I hope I haven’t corrupted you too much.”
He looked at the ground.Corrupted. The truth was, he’d never felt so right.
“This won’t be the last we see of each other,” she said.
“No, it won’t,” he promised.
The weeks passed, slow and full of tension. Mikael tried to right his words, and Norah appreciated that, but things still felt unsettled between them. She knew she was also to blame. The council still denied her the trade she sought for Kharav, though not directly, the cowards they were. They undermined her efforts throughmisunderstandingsand delays. They gave mining times that sounded too long, but she didn’t know enough to question it. She wished Alexander were with her. Perhaps she needed to go to Mercia herself to resolve it.
No additional news came of Japheth, or of this usurper, or of Aleon looking to invade Kharav. Yet Alexander’s letters came with increasing concerns. He didn’t have enough men to stretch across the kingdom, and the attacks were continuing. He had to leave the outer reaches undefended. The council didn’t understand why Kharav had recalled their men. Strange, Norah mused, because they had been actively working to send them back. But of course, Mikael pulling his forces from Mercia signaled to them he was preparing for something, and she was sure they would assume it was something dark and ill-intentioned.
She searched for ways to help Alexander. He could only encourage villagers in the outer realm to fall back to the central lands for safety. Norah resorted to sending all the Northmen in Kharav back to Mercia. Only Adrian and Caspian stayed with her.
Norah sat at the dining table. The meal was quiet, as they had become lately, strained under the pressures of the crown. She watched Mikael as he ate. He looked up to see her gaze, and he gave a small smile, but it was forced, she knew.
The doors opened and Caspian entered, followed by another Northman. “Queen Norah,” he said, bowing, “there’s news from Bahoul.”
Norah’s pulse quickened. The Northman that had entered with Caspian bowed to her. “Queen Norah, I come with an urgent message. Aleon now occupies Bahoul.”
Mikael and Soren stood abruptly, and Norah rose as well.
“What?” she breathed.
“When did they attack?” Soren asked.
The Northman eyed the lord commander warily, but he answered. “They didn’t attack. They came in peace, but with a vast army. We had no choice.”
Soren’s face shook with a growing fury. “So, you just let them in? You let them take Bahoul?”
“What were we to do with a hundred men? King Phillip came with tens of thousands.”
“What do you mean a hundred men?” Soren asked. “There are two thousand Northmen at the stronghold.”
The soldier shook his head. “No. The lord justice had to call them back to Mercia. They left about a week before your Shadowmen did.”
Soren jerked his gaze to Mikael, who leaned his weight on his fisted knuckles against the edge of the table.
Norah’s stomach twisted as the realization set in on her too—both Alexander and Mikael had withdrawn forces from Bahoul, not knowing the other was doing the same.
“The Aleon king is there?” Mikael growled. “At Bahoul?”
The Northman nodded. “He sends a letter,” he said, pulling it from inside his jacket.
Mikael held out his hand. “Bring it.”
“For Queen Norah,” the Northman said, and presented it to her. “I am to see this directly to your hand,” he told her.
She took the letter, her heart racing. It bore the blue seal of Aleon, the seal of Phillip. She nodded to the messenger. “Thank you. You may go for now.”
He bowed and left.
Norah shakily broke the wax and read the letter’s contents. “He says he bids us tidings of friendship,” she started.
Soren snorted. Mikael drew closer as she skimmed her eyes over the parchment.
