Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Ryker

He was right. That was my very rough plan before I learned the thief I sought was Ellery.

It was a barely formulated plan at best and one I still wasn't sure how to implement. It would take a lot to cause any real damage to the aristocrats and king who'd trapped us in Tempest, but since they'd unleashed the warlock's curse on us, I had all the time in the world to figure it out.

"I didn't have a fully laid-out plan for anything," I said.

"No, but going for their money is the best option. They'll eventually make it impossible to steal from them. Until then, we can cause some damage while gaining the carisle to fund another plan, and Ellery's an expert at that."

"We can figure out how to steal from them without her, and if we give some to the amsirah in need, they'll like us too."

"Of course we can and they will, but she's already laid a foundation for us to work with. Plus, she's not just a rarity… like you… she's a never been before. When that comes out, and it will, then the immortals of this realm will be more in awe of her. Not to mention, there's a reason she possesses the ability to wield lightning."

"Which is?"

"I don't know, but there's never been a female lightning bearer throughout all the history of the amsirah."

"Maybe in the past?—"

" No , not in the past. When we had downtime on my farm, we would go to the temple to read the history of the amsirah and Tempest. My father's passion was learning as much as possible about our realm and the amsirah.

"From the time I was old enough to walk, he would take me with him, and I would totter around or sit on his lap while he sat and pored over the thousands upon thousands of documents stored within the temple. Before I could read, I'd marvel over the scratches on those parchments while trying to figure out what it all meant and why it kept my father so enthralled.

"Before I turned seven, I started reading them too. By the time I was two hundred, I'd read through them all, as had my father. We would spend hours comparing notes on what we'd read and marvel over the vast history of the amsirah.

"We have a written history that spans a few hundred thousand years. While more of our history exists before then, it's not written down or was lost to time. There was never a female lightning bearer throughout those hundreds of thousands of years.

"There are detailed records about every amsirah born into this realm and their abilities. I read through all of them, and not once was there ever a mention of a female lightning bearer. That would stand out. Not to mention, lightning bearers are kept separate from the rest of the amsirah and are a very short list; it's easy to remember who's on it."

"Another female lightning bearer could have existed but kept it hidden."

"Then she died young. How long do you think Ellery could have kept her ability to herself?"

I shrugged, but I knew the answer. If anyone else was in the woods the day she used her ability against me, the whole realm would have known about the existence of another lightning bearer by sunset.

Instead, it was just me, and I kept her secret because I planned to find a way to use it to help me. If her father hadn't died, if she hadn't taken to robbing, if Ivan hadn't increased the taxes so much, and if she'd stayed quiet on her manor, she might have gone a few more decades without revealing herself.

However, it would have eventually come out. It was inevitable, as even the most docile of amsirah ran into trouble, and Ellery was as docile as a gremlin.

"Not much longer," I muttered, "especially not with the way things are now."

"Yes, things are bad now, but countless times throughout history, Tempest was endangered, the amsirah were under duress, and we've had to fight to keep our home and our lives. Ghouls, dragons, wendigos, crazed rulers, greedy kings, and other rogue immortals have always sought to steal our realm from us.

"Throughout our history, Tempest has rarely known peace. If Ivan and the nobles weren't such greedy dicks, I could almost understand why they'd decided the curse was the best way to keep us all safe. But while they say it's to protect us, we all know it's really to further their power and wealth."

I couldn't argue with that. Tempest was a vast and beautiful land full of many natural wonders and towns along the outskirts of the Revenant Woods.

Between Tempest's fertile soil, precious jewels, and vast forest with all its rare woods that created some of the most beautiful pieces of furniture, many had tried and failed to claim the land as their own. The aristocrats had a reason to guard our realm, but now it required protection from them.

"Tempest has never known peace for more than fifty years," Tucker continued. "Something always attacks us. Many of them aren't as bad as what the ghouls attempted, but how many battles did you fight before that war?"

"Too many," I admitted.

Most were small and against easily destroyed enemies, but there were dozens of them.

"With all the constant fighting Tempest has endured, if a previous female lightning bearer did exist, they would have revealed themselves at some point. But more importantly, why would they hide it? If female lightning bearers had existed since the beginning, why would they keep it to themselves? If they'd come forward, the amsirah would have revered them too."

"Why did Ellery hide it?"