Page 199 of War Queen
She frowned. “How long have I been asleep?”
“All day,” said Soren, riding beside them. “After sleeping all night.”
“All night and all day!” She brought her fingertips to her head. Shehadbeen exhausted. She glanced back at Adrian, and he flashed her a grin. “Have you been carrying me this whole time?” she asked him.
Soren snorted.
“Uh, no,” Adrian said. “I… we… just, uh—”
“We passed you around a bit,” Soren finished.
If she wasn’t awake before, she was now. “What?”
He shrugged. “You’re heavy.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just the lord commander and I,” Adrian said. “Oh, and Caspian.”
“Cohen,” Soren added.
“Oh, right. Cohen. Titus, for a little while, although he fell asleep too, and you both almost fell off his horse. You didn’t wake for any of it.”
She rubbed her temples again. Gods, help her.
“She drooled on Phillip too,” Soren added. “I almost forgot.”
“Right, Phillip too. Okay, so a few.”
Gods, take her now. She covered her face with her hands. “I drooled?”
“Well, you bled on me,” Soren said.
The cuts. She looked at her hands. Dried blood stained her sleeves and parts of her shirt and breeches. She didn’t even wake for that?
“You were really out of it,” Adrian said. “How are you feeling now?”
“Better, actually. Hungry. Thirsty. But a lot better.”
“Here.” Soren held out a waterskin, and she took it and drank deeply until she coughed.
“How far are we from Bahoul?” she asked.
“Another day and a half yet.”
Any relief she’d previously garnered quickly left her. Norah felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Lucien’s reached Mikael by now.”
Soren’s face was somber. “A small army can hold Bahoul.”
She closed her eyes. She wished she could believe that.
“Salara.”
She looked back at him.
“He’ll hold till we get there.”
So she prayed.
