Chapter 40

CHAPTER FORTY

Ellery

I tried not to shift or look anxious while we waited. I'd prefer to lift my chin and stare back at them, but I lowered my head and gazed at the ground as they expected of me.

Where's my mother? Why didn't they know where she was?

I had no idea how much time passed before the king and duke finally shifted their attention away, but I felt the loss of their stares as a weight lifted from my shoulders. They conversed as they picked at the platters of food, but despite my excellent, supernatural hearing, they spoke so low I couldn't hear them.

When my legs started aching and my stomach continued to growl, I resisted the impulse to sit. My eyes burned from exhaustion, and weakness encased me, but I couldn't sit. It would make them too happy to see me do so, and I was afraid I wouldn't get up again if I did.

I'd been sitting for three days. I should be happy to be standing again, but my head throbbed, and I felt encased in a glue-like substance that had mired me in a nightmare. This had been the most stressful week of my life, and it wasn't over yet.

It wouldn't be over until we were free of this horrible place. And even then, it would only be a brief reprieve before the duke decided to come at me again.

The faint pad of footsteps drew my attention, and I lifted my head as my mother, the servant who'd gone to get her, and two guards came into view. My mother's clothes were different than the ones they took her in.

Instead of her farm dress, she wore a yellow walking dress that swayed around her feet when she moved. Chains didn't shackle her wrists or ankles, and she'd styled her hair to emphasize her pretty features.

Joy leapt through me, and I almost let out a cry of delight before running to her, but after taking one step toward her, I froze and resumed my previous position. Knowing how much I'd missed her would only make the duke happier.

Instead, I remained where I was, my hands clasped before me and a lump in my throat as her eyes met mine. Relief and sadness emanated from them.

She leaned over and kissed my cheek when she arrived at my side. "Hello, darling. I'm okay."

I didn't trust myself to speak, so I nodded.

"Your daughter and I have come up with a way to pay your debt, Mrs. Marian," the king said. "You are free to go, but be aware, I will collect soon."

My mother gave a low, elegant curtsy that put mine to shame. "Of course, milord."

I felt the duke's eyes burning into me as I also gave another, not-so-elegant curtsy that almost had me falling on my face as my wooden legs refused to work right. I straightened and took a small step back when my head swam from the abrupt movement.

When I lifted my eyes to the duke's, he smirked. He considered me a beaten animal at this point, but he had no idea this whipped creature would be the one to hand him his demise.

"See them out," the king commanded.

My mother hooked her arm through mine, and we turned to follow the guards away from the archery range. My steps still felt wooden, and I barely took in any details as they led us back through the palace to the outer bailey.

Once there, the guards stepped back and waved their hands at the open gates beneath the castle walls. Amsirah hustled around the courtyard as they delivered their goods, hawked their wares, and went about their lives.

My mother steered me away from two wagons laden with straw as they clattered toward the stables. The horses' hooves clopped along the street as their harnesses jingled and the wagon wheels clattered.

Guards were set up every few feet within the bailey. I didn't know if it had always been this way or if it was a new development that came with King Ivan's ascension to the throne.

I was sure that though he had the support of the aristocrats when it came to the curse, he still dreaded a rebellion from all those he'd trapped in Tempest. There was little the amsirah could do against the king, the aristocrats, and their powerful armies… unless Ryker succeeded in finding a way to bring them down.

Those awful men would never see that coming, and I would do what I could to help him succeed… after some food and sleep.

While Ryker plotted, the amsirah trapped here had no idea that freedom might lay ahead of them. The king probably felt pretty secure in his knowledge the peasants could do little against him.

No, they weren't even peasants to him. They were toys he played with occasionally, sometimes broke, and tossed aside like a petulant child.

Once outside the inner bailey, we walked down the road for a little while. I hoped Ryker would see us, but either way, I'd talk to him soon.

"I'll open a portal to take us home," my mother said.

"That would be fantastic," I murmured.

I yearned to go home, stuff my face, and crawl into bed, but I still had so much to do before that could happen. Once we returned home, I had to meet Ryker at the place we'd designated before I entered the palace.

Of course, I would also have to tell my mother what I'd agreed to give the king, that I was the Hooded Robber, and everything else. I'd worked hard to keep the truth from her, but it had to come out.

She had to know everything if she was going to stay safe, and she had to understand why I was going to help Ryker, even after everything the duke had done, and would still do, to us. Instead of telling her, I could open a portal and sneak out of the house every night, but I was tired of lies and secrets.

When it came time to abandon the manor, we would have a safe place to go, and I couldn't tell her we would one day have to leave everything we knew and loved without telling her why or where we would go.

The consequences of my poor decisions kept coming. It was one hit after another; by the time this was over, I would deliver more blows than a boxer.

I wanted nothing to do with this anymore and would prefer to bury my head in the sand, but that wasn't an option. If we were going to be free, then we had to fight for our freedom and steal for it too.

I glanced toward the forest where Ryker was supposedly watching for us. After three days, he might have left, but I doubted it.

When my mother opened a portal home, I followed her into it.