Chapter 83

Ellery

"My father thinkshis money matters to me, but it doesn't," Ryker said. "I've told him I don't care about his wealth. Besides, I have money and an estate of my own. It's not as much as what he has, and I don't care.

"When my mother died, she bequeathed her estate and all her money to me. Leo held it in trust until I fully aged and could collect my inheritance. Her estate is far from here, on the other side of the realm, but I visit at least twice a year to check in with the property manager and see how things are going. I'm due to go again soon."

"Why didn't you go to live there after the war if you hate it here so much?"

"I had every intention of going to live there when I went to claim the land from Leo, but when he saw how much I'd grown since I last saw him five years ago, and knowing I was a lightning bearer, he asked me to join his army. Knowing it would piss off my father, I agreed.

"Moving to my mother's property would have gotten me away from my father, but he still would have tried to make my life miserable. By joining Leo's army, I was away from him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"So, I went into training and got better and better as the months and years progressed. I moved rapidly up the ranks, and within five years, I was a general and the king's right-hand man. Over time, Leo became my friend, but more than that, he was the good, kindhearted father figure I'd lacked in life.

"I found a home amongst his army and with him. Because of my status as the son of the only duke left in the realm, Leo offered me a room in the palace when I first arrived, but I chose to stay in the barracks with the other troops.

"As I moved up the ranks, I separated myself from the lower-level soldiers more, but all lieutenants, captains, colonels, majors, and generals move away from the privates as they progress upward. I had to distance myself from them to make the commands necessary to win a war.

"It's difficult to send fellow soldiers into a battle they might not return from; it's even harder to command your friends to run toward their possible deaths. No matter what you do to distance yourself, all the lives lost due to your commands are never forgotten."

That was one more reason my heart ached for him. He'd seen and endured so much, and I knew those lives haunted his dreams.

We'd only slept together on those nights when he stayed at my manor, but I'd heard him talk in his sleep, seen him thrash against the blankets, and watched him wake with horror in his eyes. I didn't have to ask; I knew his past haunted him, and I was there to soothe the ragged edges of his pain when he drew me into his arms.

"You did what was necessary to save us from the ghouls," I told him.

"I know, but that doesn't make it better."

"Would you go to live at your mother's estate now that King Leonidas is dead?"

He contemplated this before replying. "Maybe one day, but not now. I promised Leo I would look after this land, and I will find a way to do so."

I bent to kiss his shoulder and then his lips; he had a way of making me fall more in love with him. "I'll help you."

He slid his hand around to the back of my head as his eyes held mine. "I'm going to protect you, Ellery."

Frustration mounted in me; he didn't know I could wield lightning too or that I was one of the strongest amsirah ever to walk the realm, if not the strongest since I could control all the weathers.

And he can't know because if you tell him, he'll also know you're the Hooded Robber.

Maybe it's time to tell him.

It wasn't the first time I'd considered it, but I'd stopped being frightened that he'd kill me over it. He wouldn't. I didn't know if he loved me like I did him, but he wouldn't kill me; of that, I was certain.

Instead, I was terrified of being one more in a long line of disappointments for him. That was worse than death.

I loved him so much and hated lying to him, but if I told him the truth, I'd lose him… I couldn't think about it.

Drawing my head down, he kissed me again as a knock sounded on the door in the sitting area.

"Milord?" a voice called. "Milord, are you in?"

Ryker groaned as he released me, and his head fell back. "Yes, now go away."

He waited a few seconds to make sure no one knocked again before resuming our kiss. Our tongues had just entwined when a key clicked in the lock, and another noise came from the other room.

Ryker tore his mouth away from mine, pulled the blankets around my shoulders, and slid from the bed so fast I barely saw him move before he was on his feet. "I said to go away."

His growled words caused the hair on my nape to rise. I felt sorry for whoever had unlocked that door as, heedless of his nudity, Ryker stalked forward.

When a man stepped into view, my gaze clashed with the duke's, and my jaw nearly unhinged. I kept the blankets against my chest as I debated sliding lower in the bed, but I refused to cower from the man who had so ruthlessly beaten his son and torn his mother away from him.