Page 107 of War Queen
“Show yourself!” he’d snarled.
But nothing came of it.
Except Salara’s unraveling.
He hadn’t meant to upset her; he hadn’t meant to hurt her. She was right—he hadn’t thought of what it would mean to her. In his anger, he hadn’t thought at all. Perhaps he was too desperate to know what it meant for himself. If the Bear still remained, so did his fate.
Or perhaps he was jealous that she still clung to another man. She’d always protected the Bear from Mikael. She’d loved the Bear, and still did. And Mikael wasn’t a fool. If this was the Bear, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep her from him.
But nor would he try to.
No. It was neither of those things.
He was angry, yes, but not because he feared his fate or sharing her love. He feared this vision was a trickster that meant to do Salara harm. He feared not being able to keep her safe, and it was an ever-increasing fear.
They still had no heir. They didn’t talk about it anymore—he’d told her they’d manage without—but it was no less a concern. It still haunted the shadows of his mind.
After his death, Salara would have to fight to keep Kharav. This had always been known, but things had been different before. She’d had Soren, and the Bear, and a formal offer of alliance from Aleon to fall back on. She’d been safely behind the impenetrable walls of the North. Now the Bear was gone, and the Aleon king had wed. She was deep within a kingdom surrounded by a growing enemy, and the political powers within would not be ruled by an outsider. She still had Soren and had gained the loyalty of a few other Kharavian nobles, but it wasn’t enough. She wouldn’t be able to keep the crown. Not without a child.
But there would be no child.
That left her with only one other option—one Mikael wasn’t sure he could convince her of.
Chapter twenty-eight
TheNorthmenarrivedwiththe sun, and Soren was waiting. The Aleon king stood beside him at the top of the citadel stairs. Bells had chimed in the castle, alerting the arrival through the main gates, and they’d gone out to meet them.
“I love this,” Phillip said.
Soren wrinkled his brow and looked at the smiling king—such a peculiar man. Was he always this happy? But it wasn’t entirely annoying.
Phillip tilted his head back in question. “Don’t you enjoy people arriving?”
Soren grimaced. “No.”
The king chuckled.
Why was that funny? Soren shifted his gaze back to the approaching Northmen, and they both took the stairs to the bottom.
Caspian brought his horse to a halt and slid down. “Lord Commander,” he said with a small bow of his head.
“What took you so long?” Soren rumbled.
Caspian’s brows drew together. “I came immediately once I got the message.”
“Lord Justice,” the king greeted.
Caspian shifted his attention to the Aleon king and bowed his head. “King Phillip.”
“Welcome back to Aleon, and congratulations on your position.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that. And it’s good to be back.”
“How is the queen regent?”
“Well,” Caspian said. “Very much herself.”
Phillip chuckled.
