“What do you want with him?”
“I think he could help against Ivan and the aristocrats. The amsirah love him and would rally around him if he asked it of them. I believe he’s living in the woods… or spending a lot of time in them.”
The giant rubbed his freshly shaven chin while pondering this. “The poor amsirah do love him.”
“I think most of them are poor now,” Tucker muttered.
“True.”
Ianto studied the growing number of amsirah learning to fight. Despite the amsirah who continued wandering into the woods, barely more than fifty, who could go into battle, had made it this far. The rest were all too young to fight.
Tucker had established traps in the woods and guards to watch over them. Those guards would bring anyone who looked like they required assistance into the encampment or kill any threat.
Only one guard had arrived with someone new, and they hadn’t killed anyone yet. The Revenant Woods destroyed many who entered, but we needed more here.
When a young orphan boy raced past us, chasing a chicken who squawked and ran around in circles, some trainees turned to watch while the rest remained focused on their task… as they should.
“We need a lot more fighters to stand against the aristocrats,” Ianto said.
“That’s where the Hooded Robber will come in handy. Many amsirah will follow him,” Tucker replied.
“Because he gives them money.”
“Exactly,” I said. “But they also like the Hooded Robber for more than the money he gives them. To them, he’s a symbol of rebellion and freedom, someone who stands against the authority of the king and aristocrats who have trapped and impoverished them. Someone they’ll follow.”
“Just like they followed the Scourge of the Ghouls and King Leonidas’s right-hand man into war against our invaders.”
“Leo is dead because I didn’t rescue him from the ophidians.”
“The amsirah blame Ivan for King Leonidas’s death, not you.”
I frowned at him. “How do you know that?”
Ianto grinned at me before shifting his attention back to the trainees. “I’m a commoner, and I lived amongst them. I know what they say and how they feel about things. Your status is too high for them to talk to you about things. They wouldn’t dare approach you, but I hear things, and they blame King Ivan for his brother’s death. They were told they were paying higher taxes to free King Leonidas, but they don’t have him, and they’ve seen nothing in return for their money. TheyhateIvan.”
“We all do,” Tucker said.
“That we do,” I agreed.
“How do you plan to build an army?” Ianto asked.
“We’ll hit Ivan and the others where it hurts them most… in their wallets,” I stated. “And we’ll build an army from it.”
Ianto’s eyebrows rose. “Are you planning to raise an army ofthieves?”
CHAPTERSIXTY-EIGHT
Ryker
“That’s part of it, yes.”
“What’s the rest of it?”
“To win.”
“I like how it ends, but you don’t have much of a plan before then.”
“I know, especially since the king and the aristocrats all have well-trained guards, and all we have is an assortment of farmers, miners, workers, and leftovers from the Ghoul War, but we also have hatred. They might not be well trained yet, but they have a lot of vengeance in their hearts and a fire to take down their oppressors.”
