Her eyebrows shot up. “Why?”
“Because you’re an excellent thief, and if we’re to make them pay, it will have to be literally. That’s the only way we can weaken them, even if it’s only a little, and if we build an army, we’ll need money to do so…theirmoney.”
Her mouth parted as some of the color drained from her face. “You plan to build an army?”
“I hope to, but that will require money and power, and two lightning bearers is a wholelotof power, especially when the identity of one is a secret… for now. When we reveal there’s another lightning bearer in this realm, and that it’s awoman, there will be a lot of amsirah willing to backyou.”
She gulped. “No one is supposed to know.”
“It’s going to come out; that’s inevitable. It already is.”
Her head bowed as she stared at her hands and white knuckles. She was so pale that her freckles were a vivid contrast to the pallor of her skin.
I resisted leaning forward and resting my hand on her knee. I hated seeing her like this.
Fuck her. She brought this on herself.
Maybe some of that was true, but not all of it. She never could have seen my father getting involved in this or the amount of devastation he could render.
“Why don’t you use your money to build an army?” she asked.
“If I drained my accounts, my father would notice. I could sell my mother’s property, but that wouldn’t go unnoticed either, and my father knows I would never willingly part with it. Plus, even if I did both, it still wouldn’t be enough.”
“Oh.”
When the silence stretched between us, I asked the question plaguing me. “How is it possible you’re a lightning bearer, Ellery?”
“I don’t know. The gene does run through my line, but howIgot the ability is a mystery to me and my parents.”
“Who else knows about it?”
“Just my mother.”
“Not Scarlet?”
“No one other than my mother and father ever knew. They were worried about what would happen if anyone found out and told me to keep it a secret.”
“They were right to be worried.”
“I was going to tell Scarlet before I left today.” Her eyes darted to the purse on the table before returning to me. “She should know why I’m turning myself in to them.”
Would her pride cause her to turn away from my money and go to the king instead? It was a possibility; my pride might do the same.
“Tucker also knows,” I told her.
Her mouth parted, and waves of distress emanated from her. “Why… no, he can’t…whywould you tell him?”
She closed her eyes as her throat worked convulsively.
Taking pity on her, I told her, “I trust him completely, and he won’t tell anyone. He’s the reason I’m here.”
Her eyes opened. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s be clear here: I would have let you rot in that palace.”
She recoiled a little before recovering and lifting her chin. Sorrow still shimmered in her eyes, but so did ire. It was good to see she still had fight in her; I would need it.
“But Tucker understands I have to do everything I can to save Tempest from its rulers, even if that means working withyouagain,” I continued.
