Page 44 of Shadow Queen
Her smile returned. “Not at all.”
A pang of jealousy coursed through Caspian, but he leashed it. He wasn’t blind to seeing Alexander was an attractive man and drew the eyes of many women, but Tahla seemed mostly curious. And who wouldn’t be curious about the famed Mercian justice?
“Have your men make camp where they are,” she told them. “In the morning we’ll provide passage. But you both, we’ll host you this evening.”
“We can stay with the army,” Alexander said.
But she cut him a sharp eye. “I said we’ll host you.”
“We would be honored,” Caspian interjected, and Tahla gave him a wry smile.
They made their way back to the small army and had the men set camp, while the Uru waited just inside the canyon.
Alexander eyed him warily. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’m not sure of anything,” he replied.
After their men were settled, Alexander and Caspian followed Tahla through the narrow slot canyons until they opened up to the sky, then around to where the village appeared, just as he remembered.
People gathered as they approached.
“My father’s away,” Tahla said. “He’s visiting another tribe. He’ll be very disappointed to have missed you.”
Caspian knew she was talking to Alexander. Of course the chief would want to meet him. Everyone always wanted to meet Alexander, but Alexander was a man who kept to himself, and didn’t particularly enjoy the attention. Caspian wouldn’t have either in his place. The life of the justice was one he didn’t envy.
When they reached the village, Tahla waved toward a small house and looked at Caspian. “You’ll find your quarters there,” she told him. Then she turned back to Alexander. “Bear, you’ll come with me.” And she led the lord justice toward the center of the village.
Caspian looked at the small house, then back to Alexander and Tahla disappearing around a corner behind a row of small houses. He sighed, disappointed. His return hadn’t been as he had expected. But what had he expected? He chastised himself. He shouldn’t have expected anything. He’d had only the briefest of exchanges with Tahla. She’d already forgotten, as he should.
Caspian made his way to the house provided to him and stepped inside. It was comfortable, with a prepared bed and a fire. He pulled off his sword and armor, laying them by a small table, and sat on the edge of the bed. His body ached, but he wouldn’t complain. The queen was cared for. Alexander was leaving Kharav with his life and on his way back to the safety of Mercia. The Shadow King seemed committed to the peace the queen sought. War no longer loomed over the kingdoms. With this, he would be content.
A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts, and he rose to answer. He opened it and then stepped back in surprise.
Tahla stood with a small plate of food. “May I?” she asked.
She didn’t even need to ask. “Of course,” he said as he swept the door wider and motioned her in.
“You delivered on your promise, Northman,” she said as she put the plate down on the table.
He hoped his nervousness didn’t show. “And what promise was that?”
She turned back toward him with a slight smirk. “That I would see you again.”
She had remembered. His pulse quickened. “Were you looking forward to it?” he asked.
“Perhaps I was.” She drew closer to him. “I wondered if, perhaps, you were looking forward to it too.”
Caspian swallowed. He didn’t find himself a particularly shy man, but with this woman, he couldn’t think—not enough to trust his words. “Perhaps,” he answered back finally.
“Is that all?” she prodded.
He stepped closer to her. She was playing with him. “You would ask a man to bare his soul?”
“Among other things,” she said mischievously. She closed the gap between them, looking up, her dark brown eyes drawing him in. “Is that all?” she asked again.
In a move that surprised even himself, Caspian reached up and pushed a lock of hair back over her shoulder. How did she have such power over him? He would give her whatever she asked. “Perhaps I thought of you every day since I last saw you,” he admitted. “Perhaps on the journey here, I was consumed with the thought of being able to see you again. Is that enough?”
She raised a brow with a wry smile. “If it were true.” She didn’t know how true it was.
