Page 8 of War Queen
Norah stared at her for a moment. The woman’s long, black hair hung loose over her shoulders, and her face was one Norah had seen uncovered only a couple of times. “Katya,” she said in surprise. “I didn’t recognize you for a moment. I hardly ever see you.”
The Kharavian captain was rarely at the castle and rarely without her face wrap.
Katya smiled. “You’ll likely see me a bit more, now that I’ve been assigned to matters at home. Until the child comes.”
Child? Norah looked down to see her swelling belly and grinned with a gasp. “Katya! I didn’t know you were with child!” She didn’t even know she was married. Was she married? She supposed it didn’t matter. Not in Kharav.
The captain nodded. “It was a surprise, but a welcome one.”
“I’m so happy for you!” Norah meant it. To be blessed with a child was nothing short of a gift from the gods.
Katya’s smile widened. “Thank you, Salara. It means a lot that you’d find joy for me in times like this.”
“How soon are you expecting?” Just looking at her, it couldn’t be terribly long now.
“Only a couple more months.”
Children were a blessing. “If you need anything,” Norah said, “anything at all.”
The captain nodded appreciatively. “Thank you, Salara.”
Norah watched as she disappeared down the adjoining hall, and pushed down the pang of jealousy. This was a good thing, and she was happy for Katya. She wondered if she’d see the child around the castle—she’d like that. Surely Adrian and Sevina were tired of her constant doting over their little boy, Theisen, and would welcome another child to occupy her attention. Thoughts of Adrian pulled her mind back to her task at hand, and she continued her course to find him.
Adrian had been in Kharav during the Mercian council’s takeover and had stayed with Norah since. She knew he had to be sick with worry for Alexander—his brother was the person he loved most in the world. And Soren’s absence had hit him hard as well, but he didn’t show it. He always wore a brave face, for her benefit, no doubt.
She made her way through the castle, out the east door, and across the courtyard, and he was at the first place she’d guessed—the sparring field with Cohen. Adrian had become close with Calla and Cohen, the young siblings that had helped Norah travel to the seer, and whom she’d brought to Kharav to formally train. She watched as they worked through their movements. Fast. Precise. Deadly. Yet poetic.
Adrian and Cohen had become master swordsmen. Their dance was beautiful, their ease of movement deceiving. When Cohen noticed her, he signaled them to stop.
Adrian turned, and a grin spread across his face. “Norah.”
Salara, Cohen greeted with his hands. Norah hadn’t picked up the silent language entirely, but she could follow most of what the deaf boy said.
“Adrian, Cohen,” she greeted back. “Where’s Calla?”
Adrian smirked. “Where do you think?”
The archery field, Cohen answered. Where the girl always was.
Norah smiled. “Of course.”
Cohen gave a small bow of his head, then signed,I’ll leave you.He was always so perceptive, reading people like a book, and he left her and Adrian to speak privately.
“What do you need?” Adrian asked.
Glancing around, she pulled the letter from her pocket. “I need to get this to Phillip. In Bahoul.”
Adrian shifted as the muscle tightened along his jaw. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“I have to know what’s happened in Mercia. What’s happened to Grandmother, to Alexander. I’m calling on Phillip’s friendship that he himself has proclaimed. And I’ll see where he stands.”
He stood taller at the mention of Alexander. She knew he was as desperate as she was to know how he fared. “And you think he’ll tell you?”
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, but I have to try.” She put the letter in his hands.
Kharavian forces patrolled the border at the eastern pass. She couldn’t send just any Northman without exposing her intention, but Adrian had influence with the Kharavian army. She needed him to help get her letter past them and to the stronghold, where she hoped Phillip still remained.
“All right,” he said as he nodded in support. As she knew he would.
