It was tranquil, yet my heart raced and sweat dampened my palms as the guards carried their flags through the town and sat stiffly in their saddles.There were so many of them and so few of us.
We shouldn’t be doing this; we should be safe in the woods, working to ensure we made it through the winter or strengthening the second encampment.The peace we’d found in the forest would come to an end; it was inevitable, but I planned to cling to it for as long as possible.
I’d never considered myself a coward, and I didn’t now, but I yearned for the simplicity of the trees.However, we couldn’t turn back.
As the caravan rattled across the land, it stopped in front of the warehouse.Many guards dismounted as amsirah carried chests full of their hard-earned money out of the building.
As soon as they set the chests down, the guards pushed the men and women back with swords and staffs.The birds’ cries swallowed a distant scream, and I couldn’t tell if they or an amsirah made the noise.
A sudden gust of wind carried a burst of sand that peppered my face.I ducked my head and closed my eyes against the onslaught as I took a deep breath.
Alongside me, Scarlet, Callan, Tucker, Luna, and Ryker lay flat against the ground.Mr.Fletcher had also joined us.They all kept watching while the guards stole the villagers’ money.
And then they’d come toward us.
Our plan was simple, just the way I liked them.We’d wait until the middle section of the caravan was before us and swoop down on it.If everything went well, it would be a mostly silent affair that resulted in no one getting harmed and more money for the communities.
If it went wrong… well, if it went wrong, I’d do everything in my power to ensure the survival of those I loved.
I kept my head down as I reminded myself to breathe through my constricting chest.Normally, I was cool and calculating before a robbery, but not today.
Today, I was a mass of raw nerves that could prove hazardous if I didn’t get them under control.Closing my eyes, my fingers dug into the ground until the sweet scent of the dirt and grass filled my nose.
I’d already lost so much but still had so much more to lose.I wasn’t sure my already battered soul could survive the death of anyone else I loved.
When I first started robbing others, I was naïve to the consequences of it.I’d known others could get hurt or die, but I hadn’t really understood it.
I did now.I’d witnessed and endured too much death for me not to understand how bad this could all go.
We’ll be in and out.I kept telling myself this, and I knew it was possible, but so was death.
As soon as we robbed this caravan, we’d take the carisle straight back to the amsirah who needed it.This time, there would be no distribution of pouches; there would only be teams working together to open portals to the other towns and coastal communities.
We didn’t need any of this money.Before, we’d required some carisle for the weapons we’d ordered, but now that we had the duke’s stash, we’d be giving all this money away.
We’d never steal enough money to pay for an army as big as what the nobles commanded.We could only steal enough to buy the loyalty of the townsfolk and prove we were still there for them.
“They’re coming this way,” Tucker said.
CHAPTERNINETY-NINE
Ellery
I glancedat the men and women gathered around me.Because the grass was still green, we’d matched our clothes to it.Our hoods covered our heads, and mesh hid our eyes; the only openings were for our mouths.
The duke would know Ryker and I were involved in this; there was no avoiding that, but we couldn’t put targets on our backs by completely exposing ourselves to the guards.They would most likely figure out who Ryker was because of his size, but hopefully, in the confusion, they wouldn’t pay attention to that.
When Ryker grasped my hand, my gaze fell on the metal band encircling his ring finger.It was a band that symbolized our love, and one he hadn’t worn for long.
He was my husband, my everything, and because of greed and cruelty, we couldn’t live the simple life we would have much preferred.It was unfair, but I didn’t wallow in it; many things in life wereveryunfair.
My thoughts shifted to the gargoyles trapped beneath the earth.They considered what was done to them unfair, and maybe it was, or maybe our ancestors had a reason to lock them away.
We’d never know the truth unless we unlocked them and saw how they reacted.However, they might have been unfairly imprisoned, and while they were once our allies, they could kill us the second we freed them because of what happened to them.
And who could blame them for doing such a thing?Not me.I’d be pretty murderous too if someone unjustly locked me away for unknown millennia.
If they were innocent in all this, then we were continuing the injustice forced on them; yet, in many ways, they were just like us.They sat in the dark, waiting and hoping someone would free them from their oppression… like many of the Tempest residents.
