Chapter 53

Ryker

Ellery frownedat me while she spoke. "I have to go."

My hands flew as I pictured Dragonia with its towering mountains and dragons sweeping across the sky. The image was clear and vivid in my mind, and… nothing happened.

I'd opened a portal already, but I hadn't opened enough portals to drain me of my ability to do so. That would take at least two more times.

"Wait!" I said more sharply than I'd expected.

She froze with one hand on a branch held back to keep it from hitting her. "I have to?—"

"Can you open a portal out of Tempest?"

Ellery glanced back at her manor before moving away from the tree and releasing the branch. She walked back over to me.

Stopping beside me, her hands moved as if she were trying to open a portal, but nothing happened. Her brow furrowed as her hands moved faster. She tried for another minute before her hands fell, and her confusion turned to distress.

"What… what's going on?" she whispered.

We stared at each other before I shifted my attention to the manor, but it wasn't her home I focused on. What is going on?

"The amsirah in the town, some of them stopped in the middle of running to try to open portals and failed," I muttered.

"And so have we, but I don't understand. How is that possible?"

I lowered my head into my hands as I pondered this. How was it possible? How were we trapped here?

And then, as the reality of our situations sank in, so did the truth. "Ivan." The name was bitter on my tongue. "Leo told me that his brother wanted to shut Tempest off from the rest of the realms and was trying to talk him into doing so, but he refused."

"Why would he do that?"

Ellery's voice held a shrill note to it, and I understood her rising panic.

"Power," I said. "If the amsirah can't leave Tempest, he has complete control over them."

She backed away like I was the one who had done this. "No. It would cause rebellion. Everyone in Tempest will rise against him; they'll kill him for this."

"Will they? Have they risen against his taxes? You saw the guards and Samael in town; they were prepared to move against Nottingshire. That was an organized raid they planned to unleash after the windstorm went through. No one turned on them."

Dismay filled her face as her mouth opened and closed in protest before a noise like a half sob, half laugh issued from her. Bending over, she planted her hands on her knees and lowered her head as she took small, shallow breaths.

"Have they resisted anything Ivan has done to them yet?" I inquired.

Ellery shuddered, took a deep breath, and rose. Fire burned in her eyes when they met mine. "This is different! Noone will let him keep us trapped here like this!"

"What if he's the key to getting free again? What if killing him destroys us all and ensures we never leave Tempest again? For all we know, there's a way for us to leave, and only Ivan can make it happen."

"King or not, the aristocrats will never allow him to control them like this!"

"And what if he got their permission before doing this? What if they've joined together to make this happen?"