Page 6 of War Queen
“Why not? Phillip hasn’t shown himself to be an enemy.”
“He hasn’t shown himself to be a friend,” he argued. “He doesn’t come to your aid against treason, and he still occupies Bahoul.”
That was mostly true. She hadn’t heard from him after the coup, and the forces of Aleon still remained in Bahoul, the Kharavian stronghold that Phillip had occupied without her consent first. But they’d come to what she thought were friendly terms in the months leading to the council overthrowing her. She thought hehadshown himself to be a friend. “True, he has no duty to me; he’s not an official ally. But he didn’t recall his forces when I sent them to aid you against the threat of Japheth and Rael. And he did warn you to close your ports, saving Kharav from fever.”
“That was when he thought the North was united with Kharav,” he argued, “which quite obviously isn’t the case anymore.”
She pushed out a frustrated breath. “It’s worth a try.”
“Salara. Donotwrite the Aleon king,” he warned. “If you haven’t heard from him yet, he stands with your council. Don’t show them your weakness.”
Dearest Alexander.
Norah drew her bottom lip between her teeth, biting it raw. She crumpled the parchment into a ball and tossed it into the fire. Tapping the pen into the inkwell again, she brought the tip to another blank parchment.
Dear Alexander.
She stared at the words. His name. She’d started this letter a hundred times over the months, but she could never get past his name. What would she say? Their last words to each other had been harsh. She wanted to say she was sorry—sorry for the distance between them, sorry for the state in which they now found themselves. How did he find himself? Was he safe? Was he well?
The chamber door opened and closed, and Mikael’s footfalls traveled around the hanging panel and into the room. Her breath hitched. She didn’t move. His warmth seeped into her back as he came behind her, but she didn’t try to hide what she was doing. His hand rested on her shoulder.
Norah swallowed. “I’m not going to send anything. I just…” Heat rushed to her cheeks. She was just what? Writing to the man she still deeply cared for? Writing to the man who was still foretold to bring her husband’s end, wishing him unharmed and well?
Mikael’s left hand came to her other shoulder, and he squeezed gently as he leaned forward to see. She held her breath.
“Tell him not to die,” he said.
Her head jerked back to look up at him. “What?”
“Tell him not to die.”
It took a moment for her words to come. “W-Why?”
“Because he listens to you.”
She looked back at the parchment, bewildered. “But I’m not going to send it.”
He gave her shoulders another light squeeze. “Just write it, and he’ll know.” He placed a kiss on top of her head, releasing her, then withdrew and stepped out of the chamber.
Norah looked back at the parchment and drew her fingertip across Alexander’s name.
Don’t die, she wrote.
The mornings were turning colder, and Norah pulled her wrap tighter around her as she walked beside Salara-Mae through the late-summer gardens. Most of the flowers were spent now and had been trimmed back, but the evergreen topiaries still made for an impressive sight.
Their morning walk had started as quiet as their breakfast had been with Mikael, and their dinner the evening before. Salara-Mae walked with a stoic countenance. While Salara-Mae was still the model of regal poise, Norah knew below the surface she was tormented by what she’d done. And she felt for the woman in her silent suffering.
“He won’t be angry forever,” Norah said—no use avoiding the topic. “He just needs time.”
“I know you talk to him.”
Norah nibbled the inside of her lip. As in good talk or bad talk? The woman wasn’t scowling. That was a good sign.
“You’re the only one he listens to,” Salara-Mae said, “and I know you try to talk reason into him.”
Norah breathed out, smiling.Progress.She raised a brow and dipped her head. “Well, he’s actually quite reasonable. He’s just hurt. And matters of the heart aren’t as simple as alliances and battle plans.”
To her astonishment, the king’s mother actually laughed. It occurred to her she had never heard Salara-Mae laugh. It was beautiful.
