Page 191 of Shadow Queen
“Had I said anything, it would have been for her to have left you,” he snarled. “No, Bear, you’re wrong. I don’t imagine there’s anything she wouldn’t do to get you back.”
Alexander stepped closer to his destrier, speaking low. “There are children in there. Families. If Norah has truly sent you, it’s out of rash anger, but she wouldn’t want them hurt. She wouldn’t be able to bear it. If you care for her at all, you’ll let them live.”
The commander didn’t answer. He simply urged his horse forward, closer to the walls of Aviron. “Abilash!” he bellowed, then waited. “Abilash!” he thundered again.
The king appeared on the top of the wall, looking down at them. Alexander knew the Horseman would be shaking in his boots.
“You are no longer king!” the commander roared. “I take from you your title, your lands, this very castle you try to squat yourself in, hiding like a coward. Everything you have is now Salara’s. And you are no more!” He paused, letting his message sink in. “Anyone who seeks to leave will be given safe passage, but come tomorrow, Aviron and anyone in it will be destroyed.”
The commander reined back his horse, toward the army. “Satisfied?” he sneered at Alexander.
Surprisingly, he was. It was more than he had hoped for.
“Where’s your horse?” the commander asked him.
“Lost.”
“That was a good horse,” the Destroyer said angrily.
Of course the commander was more concerned with his horse. A soldier brought him another destrier, and Alexander mounted. He swept his eyes across the masses of Mercian forces that the commander had brought. He truly was prepared to destroy Aviron, and Norah had given him Northmen to do it. Alexander’s attention shifted back to the commander, who growled out to the men, “I’ll start back with the Bear. They have one day to leave the castle, then I want it torn to the ground. Every stone.”
These were Mercian forces. Alexander’s forces. But they looked to the Destroyer and nodded. Alexander’s stomach turned.
“Every stone,” the Shadow commander emphasized. Then he urged his mount north.
Anger knifed through Alexander, but he knew he couldn’t stay. He knew he couldn’t alter the task, not if Norah had sent the army. He cursed as he followed after.
The Destroyer looked back at the castle as they rode away. “I don’t know which I despise more,” he said to Alexander, “traveling all the way out here and being denied a battle, or seeing Salara absolutely consumed with your return.”
“Is she well?” he asked.
“No, she’s not well,” the commander spat. “She had me march five thousand men to retrieve you. We lost more on the journey than we rescued from that flea-bitten castle. Now eat something. The only thing that could make this worse is having to explain to her how you died on the way back.”
Norah paced her study as the sun set over the snow-packed mountains in the distance. She wrung her clammy hands, trying to force back the sickness bubbling in her stomach.
What had she done?
She had threatened her council with the very man they viewed as their enemy; sent Kharav all the steel trade bound for markets, even that in reserve; and stripped forces from a vulnerable Mercia to aid the Shadowlands. She’d sent an Aleon legion to Kharav, essentially forcing them to a side she wasn’t sure Phillip would choose, and now her lord justice had been taken.
But all of that paled in comparison to the fact that she had sent Soren to Aviron. No, not Soren—the Destroyer. In her anger toward Abilash, she sent hell upon his people. She should have sent the horse of the Wild. She loved Sephir, but she would have sent a thousand horses. Ten thousand. She would have traded most anything for Alexander. But her rage hadn’t let her. Soren would have no mercy, and now she’d have blood on her hands.
There was a shuffle outside. A guard’s voice came. “You can’t go—”
The door to her study swung open, and Soren stepped inside, followed by a few Mercian soldiers guarding the hall. Any other time, she’d have been amused. Some of the guards less acquainted with Soren still tried to stop him from going where he pleased.
But it wasn’t the time for amusement. Norah stared at him, her mouth dry, her skin cold, her heart hammering so hard she thought it might burst from her chest. She was desperate to hear his news but feared what he’d tell her. She waved the guards away.
“I’ve brought him back,” he said after they stepped out.
Her eyes welled. Alexander was safe.
“And I’ve removed Abilash as king.”
“What about his people?” she breathed.
“Given safe passage to join another tribe, or form a separate one, I don’t care, so long as it’s not under Abilash.”
Norah rushed forward and threw her arms around him. He hadn’t killed them.Shehadn’t killed them.
