“How are the two of you involved with eachother?” Luna asked.
“That’s a story for a different day,” I said brusquely.
I’d had enough of this conversation, and Ellery needed a break. She was keeping it together extremely well after everything she’d endured, but her exhaustion and sorrow beat against me.
“Tucker can show you around the encampment,” I told the siblings.
I looked at my friend, who nodded in agreement. Keeping Ellery’s hand in mine, I rose and helped her to her feet.
“If you’ll excuse us,” I said to the others. “We’ll see you later.”
Ianto rose too and clasped Ellery’s arm before releasing it. She smiled wanly at him as I slid my arm around her waist.
I held her against my side as we walked toward my tree house together. She didn’t speak but kept her head high.
We were almost to the ladder hanging from the bottom of my home in the encampment when Mouse darted out of the forest. He dashed in and out of the other amsirah before colliding with Ellery and throwing his arms around her waist.
She let go of my hand to embrace the child with both arms. Mouse buried his face in her belly as his shoulders trembled. Closing her eyes, Ellery rested her cheek on top of his head.
“You’ve heard about my mother.”
It wasn’t a question, but the boy nodded in response. Ellery released him, and when she went to her knees, he flung his arms around her neck and sobbed.
Some of those in the clearing turned to watch, but many looked away again. Callan and Luna got to their feet and came toward us as Ellery tried to soothe Mouse’s tears.
“It’s Mouse,” Callan whispered.
Luna grasped her brother’s arm as they stopped only a few feet away. They stood awkwardly to the side until Mouse stopped crying and peeled himself away from Ellery.
With a small smile, she used her thumbs to wipe the tears from his dirt-streaked cheeks. “It will be okay,” she assured the boy. “Will you stay here now? It will be safer for you. Between the robbery and the rebellion, the king isreallypissed.”
Mouse looked around before his gaze settled on Callan and Luna. His eyes widened a little.
“Hi, Mouse,” Luna greeted. “It’s good to see you. It’s been a while.”
Callan offered him a small wave, and the boy returned it with a tremulous smile.
“Callan and Luna are going to stay,” Ellery said. “Will you?”
Mouse threw his arms around her waist again before pulling away and sprinting into the forest. Ellery’s hands fell to her knees. “Damn it.”
“He’s good at caring for himself,” I assured her.
“I know, but he shouldn’t have to.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Ellery
I couldn’t returnto the manor and face my home without my mother last night. I spent the evening tossing and turning.
During the rare times when I did sleep, I dreamed of my mother, her scent, her embrace, and her death. Sometimes, I woke crying, and others, I woke with a scream on my lips that I managed to bury before releasing it.
Every time I woke, Ryker’s arms constricted around me, and he pulled me closer before kissing me. He didn’t offer false promises about how things would get better; he was just there for me.
As dawn approached, I slipped from his arms and bed. I tiptoed across the small space between his mattress and the doorway overlooking the encampment.
He’d left the canvas rolled up last night so the light summer breeze flowed through the tree house. The windows were also open, and while it was warm inside, it wasn’t unbearable.
