He didn’t know the half of it, but the reminder she’d stolen from me didn’t infuriate me as much as it used to. “We’ll take a look at the spot tonight.”
“How many do you plan on involving in this?” Tucker asked. “We have at least seven trainees who have improved enough to make a stand against the king, and they’ll help if we ask.”
“We should keep the number small,” Ellery said. “That’s why I was so successful. We have to be in and out as fast as possible, and the more amsirah we have with us, the slower we’ll be.”
“There’s going to be alotmore guards than you’re used to,” I told her.
“I know, but more amsirah could cause confusion. If we’re going to take out the caravan?—”
“We’re not taking out the whole caravan,” I interrupted. “We don’t have enough thieves for that, even if we get more volunteers. We’ll go for the last carriage in the line. It will still be enough money for us and a big insult to Ivan. Because it’s at the back of the line, there will be more guards on it, but if we can get in and out fast, they’ll be the only ones we have to be concerned about.”
“We can get in and out fast,” Ellery said, “if you’re okay with getting in the trees.”
CHAPTERSEVENTY-FIVE
Ellery
My mother wasnothappy with me when I told her about the plan to rob the king. She was less happy with Ryker.
She demanded to talk to him, but I managed to talk her out of it. That would be a very bad idea, and while I doubted she could annoy Ryker as much as me, there was no reason for them to argue over this. I believed we could do this robbery and wanted to do it… something she didn’t like hearing.
While there was a good possibility the caravan might not enter the Revenant Woods, if it did, I believed we could succeed in stealing from it. If all went well, we’d get away with a lot of money… and if all went wrong, we’d lose our lives.
I’d debated not telling her about our plan but decided it was better she knew. Not only would she realize what I’d done if we succeeded and word of the robbery started spreading, but if things went wrong and they discovered my identity, she had to be ready to leave here.
If I had my way, she’d go to Tucker’s encampment the day of the robbery and return home if we were successful, but she refused. She said she would leave as soon as anyone arrived, but there was too much work for her to be away.
I liked this response about as much as she liked my determination to get my hands on the king’s money—no, it wasamsirahmoney.
“You’re putting us all at risk by doing this,” she told me.
I pulled my black shirt on over the bandages I’d used to bind my breasts. It had been months since I donned the Hooded Robber outfit, but it felt right as I tugged the shirt down.
“I put us all at risk by falling in love with Ryker. This is all the consequences of one action.”
An action that I never could have seen coming or understood the consequences of until they all landed on my head. And now, it was time to try to regain control of our lives.
“It’s only a matter of time before we lose everything,” I reminded her. “The taxes will keep rising, the duke will come after me again, and the king will push us out. We might as well do what we can to take down the king and all his minions before then.”
“You’re talking treason.”
I sat on the bed to pull on my black boots and looked up at her from under my lashes. “Dethroning the king is the only way any of us will survive in Tempest. While the curse remains in place, we’re trapped here, at their mercy, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it… except getting enough money to raise an army.”
“Why doesn’t Ryker fund it?”
“And how would he do that without his father, the king, or someone else noticing he’s draining his funds? He has his mother’s property, but it would draw suspicion if he sold it. His father knows he’d never willingly let it go.”
She huffed as she folded her arms over her chest.
“Besides, there’s not enough; I already asked,” I told her. “He’ll fund some of it, but he can’t fund it all.”
“And if this plan doesn’t work?”
“At least we tried.” I finished tying my boots and rose. “I know you’re disappointed in me. Iknowwhat I’ve done goes against everything you believe in, and you didn’t raise me to be like this, but I became the Hooded Robber to help those in need and make a difference in their lives. Working with Ryker, I might be able to save us all. He’s powerful?—”
“Not as powerful as you.”
“One day, that will come into play, but not yet. He’s afraid of what will happen if my abilities are revealed.”
