Page 25 of Shadow Queen
Norah sighed. “Maybe.” He was a difficult man to understand.
“How did you even get away from Captain Artem to begin with?” Serene asked.
She hesitated. She didn’t really want to recount her overly dramatic escape. “I just found an opportunity to slip from sight, and then he couldn’t follow me on Sephir.”
“Sephir?” Vitalia asked.
“Oh, I named the mare. Apparently Savantahla’s not her actual name.”
“You gave her a Kharavian name?” Vitalia grinned at Serene. “It meansspirit. It’s so perfect.”
Norah paused. Sephir meantspirit? But the commander—
“Where were you?” Vitalia asked her, not giving her an opportunity to mull over the difficult man.
Norah pushed out a breath. “I went to Odepeth, to the seer. He showed me the visions. In every way it appears Alexander kills Mikael, but there’s something not right about it.”
“Why not?” her Mercian maid asked. “He’s been battling the Shadow King for years, trying to kill him. Mercia feels Kharav is still a threat. And, if I may be so bold”—Serene shifted uncomfortably—“the lord justice obviously cares for you a great deal, and he’s very unhappy with this current arrangement.”
Norah felt a flash of anger at her maid’s words, but how could she be angry at the truth? She pushed it down and gave them both a small nod. “I know.” Serene was right, but she knew the visions weren’t.
“You’ll figure it out,” Vitalia said. “You’ll find the truth.”
Their eyes were on him. Even in the darkness of night, he could feel them watching. Alexander strode from the stables toward the castle, keenly aware of the Shadowmen who stalked his every move. And the Destroyer was there—unseen, but Alexander knew he was there. No doubt the Shadow commander knew the moment he’d crossed back into the Shadowlands. Did the commander know where he’d been? It was possible. His chest tightened. Alexander needed to find Norah and give her the news himself.
He expected word of his return had spread to her quickly, and that she’d be looking for him. It wouldn’t be good for her to meet him outside under prying eyes, and prying ears. He crossed the threshold inside. Alone, he settled slightly.
The hour was late, and the castle, quiet. The torchlit halls were wrapped in shadows. As he strode the long corridor, a shift of light came around the corner, and he slowed.
Norah stood like a flame, bright against the night, against the darkness that surrounded her—the darkness that always surrounded her now.
“Lord Justice,” she said when she saw him. There was a weight to her voice. A hesitation. A worry.
She knew.
His chest tightened, his heart feeling the pressure as he continued toward her. “Norah.”
Even in the dimly lit hall, the blues of her eyes pierced through him. “Where have you been?” she asked softly, but it wasn’t meant softly.
He heard it, her fear, and he stepped closer. “On a task. From the council.”
“What kind of task?”
His mouth moved to speak, but he paused. She would see this as a betrayal. She wanted peace so badly, it blinded her. But Alexander knew—more than anyone—wanting something couldn’t make it so.
When this all fell apart, and itwouldfall apart, she would need options. “A task of building options,” he said.
“What does that mean? Where have you been?” Her voice begged him not to say it.
He could hear the silent plea for her suspicions to be wrong, and it clawed at his heart. But she needed a way out of this world that was breaking her. Itwasbreaking her. More than that—when this alliance crumbled, it would kill her. And wasn’t this his duty—to protect Mercia? Protect her? To save her, even if she didn’t know she needed to be saved? “Aleon,” he said finally.
She let out a shaky breath. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Aleon?”
“I wanted to fully understand the situation.” And come to terms with it himself.
“No,” she said sharply. “You didn’t tell me because you knew I wouldn’t let you go.” She was upset.
So was he. It had been a hard journey—traveling to the man who still had intentions for Norah, the Aleon king. It had been torturous to look at his face and negotiate her hand. “The offer for marriage still stands.”
