“You think the king’s guard would march in there and proudly kill a bunch ofkids?” I demanded.
“I think they’ll do anything they’re commanded to do. If they don’t”—Ryker waved a hand at the small settlement—”thisis their fate… or death.”
“No,” I whispered. “No one can be that cruel.”
His eyes were distant and troubled when they met mine. “But someone already was.”
I gulped as I looked back toward the dirty, bedraggled children. I doubted they escaped the fire with more than the clothes on their backs; some were still in pajamas. Dirt streaked their tiny, precious faces, but they were well-fed and smiling as a buxon came off the fire.
I blinked away the tears filling my eyes as I tried not to think of all the innocence they’d lost and the children who hadn’t survived. “Ihatethis.”
“We all do,” Ryker said.
“They wouldn’t have worn their colors,” I stubbornly insisted. “Yes, they have us trapped and at their mercy, but they must realize that brazenly burning an orphanage would cause the amsirah to rise against them. They would have at least attacked the men who did it.”
“It happened at night, and by the time most amsirah knew what was happening, they were too busy trying to rescue kids and stop the fire from spreading to notice the men. The kids told me they slipped away without anyone noticing them,” Ianto said.
“That’s probably why they wore black,” Ryker said. “They were less likely to be detected, but how did the kids see them?”
“You know kids never like to do what they’re told; some were up when they weren’t supposed to be. It was a lucky thing I was also awake, or they probably would have all died.”
I shuddered and hugged myself. “We’re trapped with these monsters.”
“And since we’re trapped, there’s not much we can do.” Ianto’s gaze raked over Ryker. “Or at least most of us are trapped here.”
Ryker kept his attention on the children while speaking. “I can’t leave Tempest either.”
Ianto snorted. “It’s known that the aristocrats kept the ability to leave Tempest for themselves.”
“Those in chargechoseto keep their family members from the curse. My father didn’t make that choice for me. I’m as trapped here as you.”
Ianto’s mouth parted, and he blinked at Ryker before focusing on me. I gave a small nod.
The giant ran a hand over the stubble lining his chin. “That’s fucked up.”
“How observant of you.”
“Is that whyyou’rein the woods?”
CHAPTERSIXTY-FIVE
Ellery
“I have my reasons for that.”Ryker waved a hand at the children. “Is it just you and them?”
Ianto hesitated over the abrupt change in topic, but he rolled with it. “Yes, it’s only the eleven of us.”
I bit back the words that would tell him about a safer place; Tucker’s encampment wasn’t mine to share. The giant seemed like a decent man, but we’d only known him for a short while.
“What are you going to do with them?” Ryker asked.
“Keep them alive. I can’t think about the future; I can only focus on keeping them safe and ensuring they survive the day. I don’t think many in Tempest have plans anymore; most are focused on survival.”
“That they are. Why didn’t you take them somewhere else, somewhere safer?”
“Is anywhere safer anymore?”
“No,” I whispered.
