I bit into my apple as I sagged against the wall. Farley floated around the cavern, talking with some of the others before rejoining us.
“I’m going to return to my patrol of the woods,” Farley said. “I’ll be near the palace when you’re ready to move, Lery. Are you still emerging into the same spot?”
“We are.”
“The poltergeists and I will make sure it’s safe for you to do so.”
“Thank you. See you soon, Farley.”
He floated out of the exit and disappeared. A few minutes later, the last group of amsirah and gargoyles returned. They trudged through the cavern with their shoulders back and blood spattering their clothes. The gargoyles’ claws clicked against the rocky floor before they took flight and left the cavern.
“That’s everyone,” Indon said.
“And everyone survived,” I said.
“Everyone survived,” Ianto murmured.
Stepping away from the wall, I walked over to where the others were settling in with the group. Luna had joined Scarlet, and they waved me over to them as Ianto settled beside Danica and Avi, two of the children he’d saved from an orphanage fire.
As I sat, I glanced over the dirty, tired faces surrounding me. Not everyone had gone out for this battle, but they’d all been fighting to survive for years. Realization dawned over their pale, thin faces as their heads turned toward each other.
“Does that mean all the aristocrats are dead?” a woman asked.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ellery
“Not all,” a man muttered in response. “The Countess of Halsbad wasn’t at home.”
The Countess of Halsbad was the mother of the Earl of Oakley’s sons. She never married the earl, and her sons resided with their father, but she didn’t. She probably didn’t know her sons were dead.
“Perhaps at the palace,” Ruby said.
“Perhaps,” the man said.
“The Baron of Muzek and his family also weren’t there,” a woman said.
“How many children does he have?” someone else asked.
“Two daughters and a wife,” Luna answered. “His daughters are over three hundred years old.”
“Well, they won’t see four hundred,” someone else stated, and a small cheer ran through the cavern.
“Is that all?” I asked. “Was everyone else there? Are the rest of them dead?”
We all looked at each other, but no one offered any other survivors. Someone started laughing. “They’re dead. They’re almost all dead.”
Silence descended as that realization sank in. For all our lives, the aristocrats had ruled this realm, and while things under Leo’s rule weren’t too bad, many amsirah still experienced cruelty, depending on their status.
Luna endured her abuse at the earl’s hands while Leo remained alive. Even before the Ghoul War and Leo’s capture, the aristocrats made it clear who meant something in Tempest and who didn’t.
All those beautiful castles they’d either built or inherited, and buildings that they considered fortresses of protection, had turned into their tombs.
Despite my sorrow over losing Ryker and the darkness staining my soul, a bubble of happiness welled inside me. That same joy spread over the faces of those from the encampment as hope bloomed like flowers in the spring.
The cheer started low at first, but it built until it rebounded off the walls. They forgot their coldness, hunger, and desolation as many leapt to their feet. Everyone started hugging each other and spinning in circles as they danced around the cave.
While I felt their joy, I couldn’t experience it with the same abandon. We’d cut off most of the tail of the snake and drastically weakened the duke’s position. Until Veni was dead and Ryker freed, I couldn’t experience true happiness, but I could smile over our success.
