Page 111 of War Queen
It was nothing.
But it wasn’t nothing.
And where did this leave them now?
“I’m sorry,” said Phillip. “I shouldn’t have done that.” His eyes caught Soren’s again, but it wasn’t a reciprocation of shame Soren saw. The king’s eyes gleamed with a hint of mischief. “I did say it was your move.”
The shock still gripped him. Soren couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move.
The king turned to leave, but paused and looked back at him. His smile grew. “And, Lord Commander, when we become better friends, I’ll tell you about a vision I’ve seen.” Then he left Soren standing alone in the study.
Soren’s heart pounded in his ears.
Phillip knew.
Chapter twenty-nine
Adrian’snostrilsflared.“TheAleon king needs a trusted man, and he can’t pick one from the hundred thousand he already has?” He shook his head. “I can’t go to Aleon.”
Norah sighed. She didn’t blame him. He didn’t want to serve Aleon. He wanted to serve Kharav. He wanted to serve Mercia. She reached out and clasped his arm. “Phillip has given the lord commander control of his army. Think of it as Soren needing a trusted man, and he trusts you.”
“What about Katya?” he argued. “She’d do far better than I would.”
“The lord commander is a purposeful man, and he’s called foryou,” Norah said. “He has a reason. And Katya’s just had a child.”
“You’ll go,” Mikael told him.
Adrian cut Mikael a sharp glance, one that would have normally garnered a swift and harsh punishment. Something had happened between them—she wasn’t sure what. Whatever it was, it fueled Adrian with an anger rarely seen, and drew from Mikael a tolerance rarely given. Norah told herself to pry later.
“I belong here,” Adrian said to Norah. “The Aleon king doesn’t even know me.”
“Adrian—”
“Norah, you need me here—”
Mikael’s eyes blazed, and he grabbed Adrian’s breastplate. “Your salar commands you. Your salara commands you. But that aside, if the lord commander has called you, you’ll go. Do you understand?”
Adrian stilled, but he didn’t respond.
“You leave tomorrow,” Mikael said.
Adrian glanced back at Norah and, finally, gave a reluctant bow of his head. Then he left to prepare without further protest.
“Don’t be angry with him,” she said after Adrian was gone. “He’s still young, unsure of himself.”
“He knows exactly what he’s capable of.” He reached down and took her hand. “He just wants to stay with his queen. He worries for you here.”
“He doesn’t need to worry.” She squeezed his hand. “I have you.”
He lifted her chin to him. “I’m worried too, Salara. I want you to think about returning to the North.”
She pulled back. “What?”
“It’s safer for you there.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not leaving you. I’ve only been back a few weeks. And it’s perfectly safe here, safer than traveling.”
“You’re only thinking about today. You need to think about tomorrow.”
