Page 64 of War Queen
“The fuck,” Soren breathed beside her, and she glanced to see his eyes on the king. He seemed shaken, but she didn’t have time to try to understand as Phillip stepped toward her.
“Queen Norah.” He greeted her with a smile. “Welcome to Aleon.”
Norah slipped down from Sephir, and Phillip took her hand and brought it to his lips. He paused after planting a kiss against her skin, still holding her, as his eyes locked with hers. The painted portrait she remembered didn’t do him justice. Of course, he looked even better having shaved the small animal off his top lip. She judged him to be the same age as Mikael and Soren, but unlike the darkness they carried, Phillip had an air of light. His blue eyes smiled with a boyish enchantment, and his tousled bronze locks fell over his brow. A glow of wild spirit hung around him. He was warm. Likable.
“It’s been a long time,” he said. “I’m so happy you’ve come. I honestly… didn’t know if I would ever see you again. This is a fortunate day.” He stared at her. She stood frozen, not expecting this warmth. He stepped even closer, almost like he might embrace her. Was he going to? His eyes were happy, but they held something else too—a sadness, something still unsaid.
She moved back slightly. “King Phillip.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she hoped he hadn’t noticed. His brow twitched.
He released her hand, and she took a breath—she hadn’t realized she’d been holding it in. His eyes stayed locked on her, as if trying to figure her out. Perhaps he’d known her well in the past, perhaps well enough to know there was something off about her now.
But he only smiled politely. “Well, let me show you—”
His words cut off as his eyes moved past her and stopped. She turned to see they’d landed on Soren.
“You bring the Destroyer,” he said.
Soren wasn’t generally a welcomed presence, and she cursed herself that she hadn’t even thought that bringing him might feel more of a threat than a friendly visit.
But Phillip gave a small smile. “A fortunate day indeed.”
Norah raised a brow. Wait, what? Most people avoided Soren. At all costs.
“And how do you find Aleon, Destroyer?” Phillip asked Soren as the commander swung down from his destrier.
Soren didn’t answer. He only stood with the look of war in his eye and the rigidity of restraint. She pursed her lips. He’d had this entire journey to resolve his feelings of coming to Aleon, of meeting King Phillip. Could he not at least pretend to be civil?
Phillip was a tall man. Not as tall as Soren, and certainly leaner, but he didn’t shy from the mountain of a man in front of him. It was bold. Or stupid.
“The demon of war,” the king said, not taking his eyes from him. “Or so they say.”
Norah frowned.Partlytrue, perhaps.
Phillip stepped nearer to him.
That was close enough, really.She clamped her clammy hands together.
“But you don’t look like a demon,” he added.
Did he not? Soren could look very scary when he wanted to. Still, her commander didn’t answer.
“I want to see his face,” Phillip told her, seemingly unbothered with Soren’s refusal to converse with him.
Norah’s eyes locked with Soren’s, and his silent warning scorched the air between them.
She forced a calm breath and a steady voice. “Kharav believes the markings of accomplishment show a man’s true self, not his face.”
Phillip cast his gaze over the markings covering Soren’s bare arms and torso. “And if I require it?” he pressed.
“That’s how you lose yourself an Aleon king,” Soren snarled to Norah.
Phillip rocked back slightly on his heel. But then he gave a light chuckle, as if more amused than threatened.
“I’d rather you not try to require it,” Norah told Phillip with her sweetest voice. And it would certainly be atrybecause there would be no requiring Soren to do anything. Not by the king of Aleon, and not on this matter.
Phillip shifted his gaze back to her. There was an intensity in his eye that made her stomach clench. There was no fear in him. Again, it was bold, or stupid. But then he shifted back, and a warm smile broke across his lips. “Then I’ll refrain, as you wish.”
She let out an appreciative breath. Excellent. Aleon might see its king live yet another day.
