Through the small windows in the door, I spotted the soldiers running past with bows, staffs, and swords at the ready. I couldn’t quite make out their jumbled rush of words.
“What are they saying?” I demanded.
The man’s hand fell to his side. “That we’re under attack.”
Another thud bounced off the window, drawing their attention. “You are under attack,” I said. “But we’re not here to kill you… unless you make us.”
The man stepped away from the door.
“Are the soldiers coming this way?” I asked.
The man glanced behind him. “Not yet.”
“If you want to stay alive, then you must go into the dungeon. There are some there who can take you away, or you can stay there until this is over.”
“Away?” a woman whispered. “What about our families?”
“We’ll reunite you with your families once you’re free of the palace,” I told her.
“Some of our families are here,” the man near the door said as he glanced nervously at the windows.
“If you have family here, then we can’t do anything about them right now, and I’m sorry about that, but you’re either going into the dungeon or I’ll kill you.”
Ellery’s breath sucked in, but the time for niceties was over. I sounded like the duke right now, but I had to weigh the value of these few lives compared to the thousands upon thousands of amsirah counting on us.
We would be defeated before we started if we tried to cater to this group. Not everyone would survive this war.
More screams came from outside, and a body battered the glass. Cracks spiraled out from the center of the impact as the guard tumbled into oblivion.
That hit hadn’t come from someone falling off the top of the wall. A gargoyle had thrown them into the window. I still wasn’t sure about Ellery’s decision to free those creatures, but they were helping us, and that was all I could ask for right now.
“What is happening out there?” someone whispered. “How is that possible?”
No one answered her question as footsteps thundered down the hall toward us. “They’re coming,” the man near the door said.
“What’s out there?” a woman breathed.
“You have to move. If you don’t get down the stairs, you’ll be trapped in the middle of a war,” I snarled.
My words snapped them out of their focus on the windows. Most of them tossed aside whatever they were doing and scampered toward us as everyone emerged from the stairway behind me.
“Whatever happens and whatever you see down there, it’s going to be okay,” Ellery assured the servants as they rushed past. “They’ll keep you safe.”
They cast her anxious glances before descending the stairs. When the last of them vanished, Samael grabbed a wooden chair with a high back and smashed it off the ground.
It splintered apart with a loud crash. He lifted one of the broken pieces and wedged it into the bottom of the hidden door.
It wouldn’t keep the servants trapped down there forever, but it would keep them from immediately fleeing back into the kitchen. It would buy enough time for the amsirah and gargoyles below to stop them.
Two of the kitchen staff remained, their faces ashen and their eyes wide. When something else hit the window, the woman screamed and darted for the swinging doors.
Before she could escape, a dozen fighters burst into the room. Caught in the middle of the two groups, the woman tried to turn away, but I’d already lifted my hands and released lightning from my fingertips.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Ryker
One of my bolts struck the woman in the back, lifted her off her feet, and flung her into a combatant. The man she hit tossed her aside without a second glance.
