Page 19 of Shadow Queen
Norah tilted her head, bringing her eyes back to the commander. “Ah, yes. I see they’re so very loyal to me.”
His face twitched in a burning fury. Slowly, he reached up and curled his hand around the dagger in her hand. She wouldn’t kill him, and he knew it. Defeat tethered her spirit. She let him pull it from her fingers, and he stepped backward, toward his men.
Her strength left her.
She wasn’t salara.
She wasn’t queen.
She was a prisoner.
But then the commander turned, letting out a growl, and drove the dagger into the soldier to his left. Bhastian swung his sword out, slicing open the throat of Artem’s other man. The commander recoiled, then grabbed Artem by his breastplate and pushed him to his knees, onto the ground. “You fail Salar,” he seethed.
“My lord!” Artem cried out, but he wasn’t able to finish his plea before the commander pushed the point of the dagger into the front of his neck and through to the back.
Norah stumbled backward in shock and gulped a startled breath.
The commander pulled the blade out slowly and held Artem by the hair, watching the dying captain choke on his own blood. Artem flailed his arms, grasping for life as it left him. When his struggling gurgles stopped, the commander let his body drop to the ground.
Norah gaped at him, wide-eyed and speechless.
The commander turned back to her, stepping forward and sinking to his knees. He held the dagger by its bloodied blade, offering it to her. “If you doubt me.” But his voice still betrayed his hatred.
Of course she doubted him. Did he think this would absolve him? Her breath shook, but she forced it quiet. She could no longer let him go unchallenged. “Killing your men doesn’t remove my doubt.”
“Only one man here is mine, and he still stands.”
Bhastian.
“The others were not,” he added. “They take up arms against you and are traitors to the crown. Let me share their fate if you judge me the same.”
She took the dagger slowly. The commander pulled down his wrap farther and let his head fall back slightly, exposing his neck. She clutched the handle tightly. It was warm from his grip, and she pressed it against his skin at the base of his throat. He sat motionless, except for the rise and fall of his chest.
She wanted to kill him, or rather, she wanted to want to kill him. She wanted to rid herself of him. But she couldn’t. That wasn’t what strength was to her. She sighed, lowering the knife. “You already know I won’t kill you. But just because I won’t doesn’t mean I’m weak.”
His voice came low. “I’ve never thought you were weak.”
“Why do you hate me?”
He clenched his jaw with a twitch of irritation. “Because you’ll be the end of Salar. You’ll be the end of all of us.”
“You really believe that?”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe,” he seethed. “I told you I’m loyal, and I am.”
“Hate pours off you. Is that really loyalty?”
“I am, nonetheless. I have been, ever since Salar wanted you for his salara. In Aviron, he made me swear myself to you, even after he’s gone.”
Norah stopped and swallowed.Even after death?Why would Mikael do that? She eyed him warily. He said he was loyal. How could she believe a man she knew hated her? Yet, for some ungodly reason, she did. “Get up.”
He rose.
“If he dies, what does it matter to you, then?”
His eyes burned into her. “Because I made him a promise.”
And he loved the king. Norah let out a deep sigh. She let her eyes drift back to Artem’s body.
