Chapter 69

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

Ellery

The carriage wheels clattered as they rattled, leaving a cloud of dust that Scarlet and I waved out of our faces while watching the vehicle fade away. Once they were gone, I shifted my attention to the piece of parchment I held.

On it was written…

GUARDS WILL COLLECT YOUR TAXES ON 8/3.

HAVE THEM READY.

My brow furrowed at the words. Before, we either took our taxes to the king ourselves or gave them to the sheriff on the appointed days.

My mother often delivered them in person as she liked going to the palace, but now they were coming to us.

But why?

I knew the answer as soon as the question entered my mind. Ivan was looking to make a spectacle of his power, to show the common amsirah they were beneath him, and he could do whatever he wanted.

It was also a display of his vast power and a way to remind anyone who might harbor ideations of resistance that he had an immense guard and could do as he pleased. He would show everyone in the realm how much money he was collecting and rip it from amsirah's hands if necessary.

"Are they going to have a parade of money?" Scarlet asked.

An icy chill ran down my spine at the possibility as an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. The Hooded Robber wouldn't have dared to steal from such a thing, but… Ryker was different.

He'd changed; I was part of the reason for that, and so was his father. He was determined to make everyone who had trapped us here pay for it… and what better way to make Ivan pay than to steal from the king he loathed?

"I think they are," I whispered.

A parade of money would most likely enter the Revenant Woods at some point. Unless he planned to have the carriages travel by portal throughout some of the journey.

But I didn't see him doing that. He was doing this to show off his wealth and power to all those in the realm. He would make sure everyone saw them.

"Shit," I breathed.

"Does your mother have the money for it?" Scarlet asked.

I recalled the bag of money Ryker had placed on my table. We had enough to pay for this round of taxes, but it would drain us, and we'd need more carisle soon.

He'd told me he would give me more when the time came; I hated asking for it. I'd have to suck up my pride, as I wasn't going to make my mother do it.

"Yes," I replied.

Lifting my head, I studied the Revenant Woods on the other side of the dirt road. Ryker could learn more about the details of this collection than I ever could, but I wasn't sure I wanted him to.

This would be the perfect opportunity to deliver a blow against the king, but we weren't ready for something this big. We required time to plot and prepare, and if we didn't know where the king would enter the Revenant Woods, then we'd have no chance of being able to set up for a robbery.

This is a BAD idea.

That was so true, but possibilities were already spinning through my mind. If we pulled this off, we'd have plenty of money to give to the amsirah and still have some to use toward building Ryker's army.

If you pull it off. You could all get killed or arrested if you don't.

That was also very true, and most of Tucker's followers weren't ready for anything of this magnitude. You might not need many of them.

I gulped, and my hands tightened on the paper. Was I crazy enough to consider this?

"What's the matter, Lery?" Scarlet asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I see ghosts all the time, and they never bother me."

Scarlet chuckled. "Okay then, you look like ten ghosts just went through you."

I shuddered at the idea of so many icy spirits going through me. "That's a lot of money for them to parade around."

Now Scarlet was the one who looked like ten ghosts had gone through her. "You don't mean…." Her eyes fell on the parchment. "Ellery, no."

"I'm not saying it's possible; I'm saying it's a lot of money."

"I know you better than that. You're plotting something."

"I'm not… not really. It would take far more than me to pull it off, but if Ryker sees this…"

"You don't think Ryker would agree to this."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I barely know him anymore."

"This is a terrible idea, Lery. Terrible. Get it out of your stubborn head and tell Ryker it would be a giant mistake. He'll listen to you."

"He won't listen to me."

"That man loves you."

"No, he hates me. At one time, he cared for me, but even then, I'm not sure it was love. Now, he can barely stand to be anywhere near me."

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Sure, that's why he spends every night with you."

"He does that because he believes that, as the Hooded Robber, I can help him rally the support of the commoners."

"That's not the only reason he does it, and you're a fool if you think it is." Scarlet jabbed her finger at the notice in my hands. "You can't do this, and you have to talk him out of it too. You're the only one who can."

I stared at the words before lifting my head to take in the woods once more. Mentally, I tried to plot the caravan's course through the realm.

They would most likely start on the other side of Tempest, in Carthaway, as it was the closest to the palace, and make their way to Nottingshire. They'd save The Hollows for last, as it was the largest town in the realm, and the king would want everyone there to see the full might of his power.

"It's next week," I murmured, "and only two days before the Earl of Oakley's ball."

I'd much prefer not to go, but we'd been invited, and my mother said we couldn't refuse. I was stunned when the invitation arrived. I was sure the earl didn't want to invite the woman who had been arrested and her wayward daughter to his home.

I suspected the duke had a hand in us receiving the invitation, which only made me dread it more. If the duke was somehow involved in this, then it would be more miserable than the king's coronation. I was sure he planned some way to humiliate me or my mother.

Even after discussing this with her, she still insisted we go. To refuse would be rude and might invoke backlash from the earl. It would piss off the duke if we ruined his plans.

Besides, as my mother pointed out, we didn't know the duke was involved. Despite her arrest and obvious spiral toward poverty, we still had a small position in this realm. It would have gotten us invited before and might have this time too.

I didn't trust anything about it and prepared myself for the worst.

"That's not enough time to plan a robbery," Scarlet said, "and this could be a trap, one laid out for you."

But it was enough time… if we devoted the next week to making it happen. I didn't say that; she was apprehensive enough already.

"The Hooded Robber has been retired for months," I reminded her. "They're not hunting him anymore… or at least not with the same intensity as before."

"True, but this is still a bad idea."

She was right, but there was no way I would stay out of it if Ryker decided this might be the perfect opportunity to strike. Our relationship might be one of the most complicated things I'd ever endured, but I would stand by his side for this… even if it got us killed.