The contingent rode past where I stood. Unlike the king’s guard, the sheriff’s men didn’t wear chain mail. The earl’s men wore his colors and insignia, as did my father’s.
The king’s men wore his insignia on their chests, and his flag bearers waved Tempest’s flag. Like the king’s insignia, the Tempest flag bore a lightning bolt, fog, rain, and snow, but unlike the king’s insignia, a tornado spun in one of the corners, and a lightning bolt shot through the middle of it.
This presentation of a united guard, from some of the most powerful amsirah in Tempest, was meant to instill terror in the hearts of all those watching. And I was sure it was working as the amsirah around me sank further into themselves and the shadows of the huts and buildings lining the street.
When the prisoner wagons rolled past, frightened, dirty faces peered out from the bars they’d enclosed their hands around. Some stretched out a hand and pleaded for help as if these broken masses could somehow save them, but there was no help for those trapped souls.
At the end of the wagons, they’d chained more of the earl’s captured servants to the guards’ horses. While their hands remained bound by the magicked manacles that would keep their powers suppressed, they’d freed their feet.
They jogged to keep up with the animals, but some of them failed to do so and fell to the ground. Unwilling to allow them to regain their feet, the guards sat tall in their saddles as they dragged them onward.
Blood coated their clothes and bruises marred what little flesh I could see through the dirt covering them. I had no idea why some had been chosen to ride in the carriages while the others ran, but I suspected it was one more mind game from Ivan. He wanted the amsirah here to seeeverypossible fate they might receive.
At the end of the procession came a bigger contingent of guards. This one also consisted of Ivan’s, the earl’s, and my father’s men and women.
They surrounded a massive golden carriage with the king’s insignia emblazoned on the side. There was no doubt who sat inside that carriage as Samael and Gaius rode beside it.
At the end of Main Street, just outside the rotary with a large green lawn, the contingent halted. In the center of the lawn, a broken fountain of four dragons no longer spewed water.
The riders dismounted, and steel doors slammed closed, but I couldn’t see what followed. The loud voices of the contingent carried through the street; their words were unintelligible.
While the rest of the amsirah around me remained unmoving, I started pushing through the crowd toward thecenter of Nottingshire. Many were too focused on what was happening ahead to notice me, but once they did, they scrambled to get out of my way as they sputtered apologies I barely heard.
When I reached the edge of the town center, I stopped to watch as Samael’s men erected thirty-six pillories in a straight line, where all could see them. My worst fears about this happening while we were here were coming true.
I wasn’t concerned about myself; I’d seen others tortured before, but Ellery was somewhere in this crowd, and her heart was too big. It was about to be crushed… again.
My eyes scanned the crowd for any sign of her. It was too late to get her out of here; even in this crush of amsirah, there were too many guards for the opening of a portal to go unnoticed, but if I could at least see her, maybe she’d gain some strength from that, but the crowd continued to hide her.
They unchained the prisoners and removed them from the carriages. They huddled into themselves as the sledgehammers drove the wooden pillories deeper.
It said something about Ivan’s reign that this was the first time these wooden structures had been placed in Nottingshire in my lifetime. Leo hadn’t allowed his followers to be tortured and imprisoned unfairly. They were punished if they broke the laws, but not like this.
When they finished with the pillories, the prisoners were led forward by their chains. Reinforced with steel inside them, it would be impossible for these weakened men and women to break free.
Samael and his father led the guards in locking up the prisoners. They shoved them to their knees before the pillories, unchained their wrists, placed their head and arms inside the structure, and put the top piece on before locking them in placeand rechaining their wrists before them. They left their feet unshackled.
After they were all in place, the guards stripped and cut away their clothes to leave them bare to the baking August sun. Some around me shifted uncomfortably, but they were all compelled to keep watching as none turned away.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
Ryker
“Gather closer!”Samael commanded.
Those closest to me exchanged uneasy glances but edged forward until they were on the lawn.
“Closer!” Samay beckoned and waved his hands forward. “Everyone is commanded to gather round to see what will happen to all those who disobey and try to rise against our great king!”
As they spoke and beckoned those near the lawn to move closer, more guards dispersed into the town. They broke apart to enter the homes; cries of alarm came from inside before their occupants fled into the street. The whole time the guards moved, they barked orders for everyone in town to gather at the town center.
“Anyone found in their homes will be punished!” Samael shouted, and the guards tearing through the businesses and homes echoed his words. “Everyonewill attend.”
Murmurs ran through the crowd. They huddled further into themselves and together; some held hands while others hugged their children and loved ones to them.
Their distress only increased their ripe scent as it rippled on the air until it pulsated against my skin. These amsirah were petrified, and I hated it.
I’d fought the ghouls to keep them safe. I’d sacrificed so much to protect these amsirah, but I couldn’t protect them from our kind.
