Page 76 of War Queen
Soren didn’t look at Norah before he turned toward his own chamber.
“Soren,” she called after him, but he didn’t stop. By the gods, she’d murder this man with her bare hands. “Soren,” she called again. She picked up after him, needing almost the full length of the hall to catch up.
When they reached the end, she grabbed his arm. “Soren! Are you going to tell me what happened back there? What was that?”
“He takes too many freedoms,” he said angrily.
“He is king!”
“Not over me! Not over you.”
Norah hushed him as she pushed him inside his chamber and closed the door behind them. She grabbed him again and made him look at her. She was done with this nonsense.
“What’s the matter with you?” she hissed. “Phillip’s done nothing but extend the hand of friendship since we got here, and you spit on it.”
“I don’t want his friendship!” he thundered.
“It’s not about what you want. Phillip is the king of Aleon, he—”
“It’shim! The man in the vision, it’shim.” He pulled down his wrap and roughly wiped his face. “He’s the one the seer showed me.”
Norah stopped. They hadn’t talked about Soren’s vision for a long time—the vision of a man he didn’t know. A lover.
A quiet came between them.
Slowly, he moved to the bed and sat down on the edge. He pulled the wrap from his head, as if he needed to escape it, as if he couldn’t breathe. Then he just sat. Lost.
Norah sat down beside him. But she didn’t know what to say.
His breaths were shallow. His voice wavered slightly. “I’d never seen the Aleon king before. But I recognized him from the vision the moment he greeted us.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I was upset. And… ashamed.”
“But I already knew about the vision.”
His eyes glistened with anger. “It wasn’t just a vision,” he said through his teeth. “Once it was in my mind, once he was in my mind, he stayed. And when something occupies your mind long enough, it becomes real, it feels real. And he’s occupied my mind for a long time.”
“But why are you so angry?”
“Because he’s taken that from me! I know who he is now.” He drew in a breath. “And I’m angry because I let myself…”
He had let himself dream. And he let himself feel for a dream. She had no place to judge him for that; she’d fallen in love with dreams. She sighed. “You haven’t even tried to know him.”
“I don’t want to know him. He’s the Aleon king.”
“Uh, you’re the one they call the Destroyer. Talk aboutperceptions.”
He snorted, and it brought a small smile to her own lips.
“Soren, if you want to hate him, then hate him. But you have to control yourself. We need this alliance. And for gods’ sakes, stop trying to kill him.”
“I didn’t try to kill him today.”
“Then stop threatening to kill him. I know it’s hard, what’s happened in the past, and I know you don’t trust him, but you have to at least pretend civility. Phillip is deeply offended, and you have to help me smooth things over.”
He gave a reluctant nod.
