“What happened here?” I inquired.
“Isn’t that obvious?” Gaius retorted.
I’d irritated him by ignoring him, and I continued to do so while I focused on Samael. Only a few months younger than me, the sheriff and I once played together as children, but we’d drifted apart when we became adults and I joined the king’s guard.
“There was an attempt to free the rebels,” Samael said. “Unfortunately, it was mostly successful.”
My eyebrows rose as if this news astounded me, and I turned to face the man who was only four inches shorter than me. “Someone tried to free the prisoners from the earl’s ball?”
“Not only did they try, but from what we can tell, twenty-five of them escaped. Eight were killed during the rescue—” Samael jerked his head toward the green. “—and the other three are out there.”
“There’s a lot more than three amsirah out there. Are the rest of the bodies from the amsirah who attempted the rescue?”
Gaius scoffed while Samael shook his head. “Only five of them remained behind, and they were all dead by the time we arrived. There were three men and two women. One of the men and both women were wanted thieves. The other two men were wanted for murder.”
This didn’t surprise me. Most amsirah in Tucker’s encampment were wanted for one crime or another. Many had been forced into those crimes by Ivan’s draconian policies.
Some of the amsirah in the camp were there because they’d lost their homes and fled to the woods to seek shelter, food, and anonymity. They’d known many of the creatures in those woods could easily destroy them, but in their desperation to survive, they’d decided to take their chances with the monsters hunting the Revenant Woods.
Many who entered the forest didn’t survive long enough to encounter Tucker. Those who did discovered a new home and family there.
Despite my regret over losing any from our side, I was glad those left behind were already dead when they burned. Tucker’s followers were loyal, but many wouldn’t stand up to interrogation while being tortured.
I shifted my attention back to the bodies on the green. “There are far more bodies out there than the number you’re describing. Who are they?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ryker
“Ivan’s guardsfailed to stop the attackers, because of that, they were also punished,” Samael said.
The amsirah who burned here had chosen their path, and I had no sympathy for them. However, they all died horrendous deaths because of the choicesImade.
Shit.
“He blamed hisguardsfor this,” I stated.
“They failed him,” Gaius said.
Samael shifted, and something flickered through his eyes before he responded. “That they did.”
That was an unexpected turn of events. Ivan had plenty of guards, but to torch…?
I tried to count the bodies but gave up after fifty. There were over a hundred, which meant he’d burned over a hundred members of his guard.
I had no sympathy for those guards. They’d chosen their path to protect a tyrant with no hesitation to destroy anyone in his way; that they hadn’t seen his wrath possibly twisting toward them was an oversight they’d paid the ultimate price for.
“Does he blame you for this too?” I asked Samael.
Samael sneered. “I may have helped organize the transfer of the prisoners, but my men and I didn’t guard them. Ivan was adamant onlyhisguards do so.”
“Lucky for you.”
Something flickered through Samael’s eyes again as some of his anger dissipated. “Yes, I’m most fortunate.”
“What about your father?” I asked. “What does he think about all this?”
“I’m sure he realized how badly he fucked up once Ivan ordered him to be impaled and set on fire.”
