Page 11 of War Queen
She gave an appreciative bow of her head. “Thank you, Salar.”
Mikael looked back to Norah. “I know you’re not going to like this, but I’m going to double your guard.”
He was right. She didn’t like it, but she nodded.
Mikael turned to Kiran. “Find Bhastian.” Of course, he’d rely on Soren’s most trusted man.
Kiran bowed. “Yes, Salar.” And he left to his task.
“I want him with you,” he told her. “Always.”
She wanted to object, but she didn’t. This man unnerved her, whoever and whatever he was. What was this power? Was he a sorcerer? She hadn’t thought sorcery or magic were real, but what does one call embodying another person using blood? Watching through birds—what was that if not magic?
Mikael looked back to Calla. “Take down every bird you see.”
Norah held up her hand. “We’re not going to start shooting all the birds from the sky.”
“Perhaps just the birds that aren’t of Kharav,” Calla suggested.
Mikael paused. “What do you know about these birds?”
Calla shrugged. “Nothing, only they aren’t native to Kharav.”
“Where are they from?”
“I just said I don’t know anything about them.”
“Calla,” Norah whispered.
“I’m sorry,” the girl said quickly. “I mean, I don’t know.Again.”
Norah shot her another daggered look. Despite being at the castle for over a year now, the girl was still oblivious to courtesies and societal norms. Mikael tolerated her, for Norah’s benefit, but she had less desire to push his patience lately. “Wait for me in the hall,” she said to Calla.
“Yes, Salara.” The girl turned and stepped into the hall.
Norah looked back to Mikael. “She’s young.”
“It’s not an excuse, but it’s not the girl I’m concerned about right now.” He tossed the arrow with the dead bird back onto his desk. “I’ll find who’s behind this,” he promised.
She knew he already felt the sting of failure for not finding who was responsible for the assassins. Every path he’d chased led to a dead end. And things had quieted for a time—it was as if her enemy had forgotten about her, or no longer cared. Until today. She didn’t want this to be yet another thing for him to worry about, but here they were.
And in the spirit of additional unpleasant things to deal with—
“There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” she told him. Something else that made her stomach knot.
“And what’s that?”
“I’ve written Phillip for news,” she confessed abruptly, and not as smoothly as she would have liked. She waited for his anger.
The line of his jaw tightened. “I told you not to do that.” His voice came low and calm—the voice that made her squirm the most.
Yes, he had. He had told her. She said nothing.
“He stands with the North,” he said as he stepped even closer.
“You don’t know that,” she countered.
His voice came more pressing now. “You shouldn’t have written him.”
