“It doesn’t matter,” Ivan said. “If we don’t know, she’ll tell us. We’llmakeher.”
His words, and the violence they promised, hung heavily over the room.
Which means Callan is now a wanted man. They can’t find him at Ellery’s.
I debated leaving and returning to her home. However, if I left now, I couldn’t be here when she came for her mother.
I couldn’t stand at her side for it, but I could behere, and she would know it was for her. Plus, my father and Ivan wouldn’t allow me to leave again.
They were putting on a show of strength in this room, and I had the strongest powers in the realm… or so they believed. Ellery held more power than me.
Besides, I doubted they would raid any homes today, especially since Samael stood in the center of the room, directing servants where to place the bodies. Many of his men were scattered throughout the bodies, watching as the others worked, which meant no one was out destroying homes.
Samael’s father, the captain of the king’s guard, stood at the front of the dais. If the king was going to send out men, he would have sent Samay to oversee everything.
“You shouldn’t have left,” my father stated as he stared at me.
“I did the same as you,” I replied.
His eyes glittered with malice as some of the servants closest to me exchanged uneasy glances. All those on the dais glared at me.
“Wewere still here.Wedidn’t flee the castle,” my father grated through his teeth.
I shrugged. “I had no way of knowing that, and I returned.”
“You will remain here until we’ve sorted all of this.”
So, I was right; they weren’t going to let me leave, and it wasn’t just for a show of force. These rich, powerful men and women, surrounded by their guards, were scared shitless.
They were starting to realize how despised they were in Tempest and that some of those who most wanted them dead were the ones closest to them. It made me smile.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Father,” I lied, and they all knew it.
“What are we going to do about the servants?” the earl demanded. “I have none left, andnoonecan trust any of the ones they have in their homes.”
“We should kill them all,” one of the earl’s sons stated, “and get new ones.”
A few of my father’s servants stopped to look up. Their faces paled as they glanced from the earl’s son to my father. If they were looking for sympathy or a defense from my father, they hadn’t worked for him long enough.
And if I didn’t do something, they might kill every servant they had and replace them with new ones. Too many innocent amsirah had already died; I couldn’t stand by and watch more suffer for something they didn’t have a part in.
“I’m sure that after seeing this, there won’t be any more talks about rebelling.” I waved a hand at the huddled masses beside me and the bodies littering the floor. “Make a good example of them and let the whole realm know what becomes of them. Once they see that, I assure you, your homes will remain safe.”
I hated throwing these rebels to the wolves, but better this few dozen amsirah than thethousandswho worked for all the aristocrats. And they would slaughter them all if they believed it necessary.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Ivan said as he twiddled his fingers before him. “We’ll make an example of these monsters. We’ll make sure the whole realm sees what will happen to them if they try to rise against us, and we willdestroythem.”
A few of the captured servants whimpered and cowered deeper into their chains.
“And how do you plan to do that?” one of the earl’s sons inquired.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Ryker
When Ivan’seyes narrowed on the captives, some of them started sobbing. I didn’t show any sympathy for them, but it churned within me.
They’d created this fate for themselves, but I’d also created my fate when I entered Doomed Valley to search for Leo. I’d known there would be risks, but I’d believed I could defeat anything to save him. In the end, I paid for my hubris at the hands of the ophidians.
