An icy chill ran down my spine at the possibility as an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. The Hooded Robber wouldn’t have dared to steal from such a thing, but… Ryker was different.
He’d changed; I was part of the reason for that, and so was his father. He was determined to make everyone who had trapped us here pay for it… and what better way to make Ivan pay than to steal from the king he loathed?
“I think they are,” I whispered.
A parade of money would most likely enter the Revenant Woods at some point. Unless he planned to have the carriages travel by portal throughout some of the journey.
But I didn’t see him doing that. He was doing this to show off his wealth and power to all those in the realm. He would make sure everyone saw them.
“Shit,” I breathed.
“Does your mother have the money for it?” Scarlet asked.
I recalled the bag of money Ryker had placed on my table. We had enough to pay for this round of taxes, but it would drain us, and we’d need more carisle soon.
He’d told me he would give me more when the time came; I hated asking for it. I’d have to suck up my pride, as I wasn’t going to make my mother do it.
“Yes,” I replied.
Lifting my head, I studied the Revenant Woods on the other side of the dirt road. Ryker could learn more about the details of this collection than I ever could, but I wasn’t sure I wanted him to.
This would be the perfect opportunity to deliver a blow against the king, but we weren’t ready for something this big. We required time to plot and prepare, and if we didn’t know where the king would enter the Revenant Woods, then we’d have no chance of being able to set up for a robbery.
This is a BAD idea.
That was so true, but possibilities were already spinning through my mind. If we pulled this off, we’d have plenty of money to give to the amsirah and still have some to use toward building Ryker’s army.
If you pull it off. You could all get killed or arrested if you don’t.
That was also very true, and most of Tucker’s followers weren’t ready for anything of this magnitude.You might not need many of them.
I gulped, and my hands tightened on the paper. Was I crazy enough to consider this?
“What’s the matter, Lery?” Scarlet asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I see ghosts all the time, and they never bother me.”
Scarlet chuckled. “Okay then, you look like ten ghosts just went through you.”
I shuddered at the idea of so many icy spirits going through me. “That’s a lot of money for them to parade around.”
Now Scarlet was the one who looked like ten ghosts had gone through her. “You don’t mean….” Her eyes fell on the parchment. “Ellery, no.”
“I’m not saying it’s possible; I’m saying it’s a lot of money.”
“I know you better than that. You’re plotting something.”
“I’m not… not really. It would take far more than me to pull it off, but if Ryker sees this…”
“You don’t think Ryker would agree to this.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I barely know him anymore.”
“This is aterribleidea, Lery.Terrible.Get it out of your stubborn head and tell Ryker it would be a giant mistake. He’ll listen to you.”
“He won’t listen to me.”
“That man loves you.”
