Page 112 of A Tempest of Shadows

I started running when my shock wore off and I realized they were trying to take her. Panic fueled me to faster and faster speeds as I raced toward them.

Dirt kicked up from under me when I skidded to a halt on the dirt road. The guards barely acknowledged my presence as one removed a key from where they wore it around their neck.

“Stay back,” another guard commanded.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

“King’s orders,” a guard said. “Don’t interfere, or we’ll take you too.”

The threat didn’t stop me; it was the knowledge that if they locked me up with her, I’d never find a way to get her free.

“Stay out of this, Ellery,” my mother commanded.

I followed them to the back of the carriage, where the guard unlocked the gate. My mouth went dry and my chest constricted as they dragged her toward the stairs.

“Wait!” I cried. “You can’t take her! She hasn’t done anything wrong!”

When I reached for her, one of the guards seized my hand and yanked it down. “Back away!”

Inside, those already imprisoned scampered to the back of the carriage, where they huddled in the shadows. My mother couldn’t go in there! She didn’t belong in there! None of them did, but she really didn’t.

“Mother!” I cried.

Her face was a stoic mask when she glanced at me, threw her shoulders back, and climbed the stairs. I winced when the door clanged shut behind her and the guard locked it.

“You’ll need five thousand carisle to free her,” one of the guards told me.

I blinked at him as I tried to process his words through my disbelief over what was happening. Within the shadowy interior of the mobile prison, my mother settled on a bench, folded her hands before her, and lifted her chin.

The guard might as well have said I needed a million carisle, because I had the same chances of getting five thousand as I did a million.

“For what?” I asked. “What do we owe money for?”

One of the guards knocked me back a step when he brushed past me to walk to the front of the carriage. Two other guards grasped the metal railings beside the stairs and climbed onto the steps.

“You’ll have to discuss that with the king,” another guard said before walking to the other side of the carriage.

“How can you take her when she’s done nothing to deserve it?” I demanded.

None of the guards replied. I doubted they knew the answer, and they wouldn’t help me even if they did. They didn’t work for me, and while they should have felt some loyalty to the amsirah of this realm, they didn’t want to end up in a cell either.

I hated them for their cowardice and compliance, but I didn’t blame them.

Besides, I already knew why they were doing this… the duke. The king was doing the dirty work, but I’d bet my left arm the duke was behind this.

I’d done what he commanded of me and destroyed his son’s heart. Now, he’d turned on me.

He’d made sure there was nothing I could do about it too, as Ryker would never forgive me for what I’d done. My mother was the one who would suffer because of it.

I would not let that happen.

As the carriage rattled away in a cloud of dust, I turned and sprinted toward the stables. Scarlet chased me.

I raced into the interior of the cool barn, where the familiar scents of horse and hay greeted me. Many were still out in the pastures, but some were already in for the night.

“What are you doing?” Scarlet gasped.

Throwing open the door to my mare’s stall, a pang of regret stabbed me when she reeled away from my wild charge. We’d been together for twelve years; I loved her dearly, but I was acting like a madwoman as I flew at her.