Chapter 85

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE

Ellery

Sometime during the night, we finished counting the money. We'd managed to steal fifty-three thousand carisle from the king, a number sure to incense him.

I was sure the realm would endure his wrath over what he lost, but what more could he do to us? Lock us all away? Kill us all?

What fun would that be? What fun was it to rule over a realm with no followers? Who would he play with then? Where would he get his money?

Tomorrow was sure to be a bad day for Tempest, but if all went well, good would come from all of this too. We would reclaim our realm, and the king would know what it was like to feel our wrath for a change.

Until then, there were many difficult times ahead for most of the amsirah here. I could only hope all of this was worth it and everything would turn out well in the end.

If it didn't… if we were doing all this for nothing and no good came of it, then I didn't know what I would do. I couldn't contemplate such a possibility as it was too bleak and resulted in more sadness.

I wanted to be happy now. We'd succeeded!

The money we'd stolen was more than I could have imagined and far more than I dared hope for. We could do so much good with it.

I smiled over the promise of all the bellies we'd fill because of what we'd collected. I happily imagined the irate tantrum Ivan must have thrown when he learned he'd lost some of his money—he still might be throwing it.

I felt sorry for the servants and sycophants who would have to listen to his mad ravings and possibly endure his wrath, but they'd chosen to work with him. They were all supporting his tyranny and could suffer the consequences of that.

When we finished counting, Tucker sent the others back to the encampment to rest as we were all barely standing. There was still a lot to do, but at least they could get some sleep.

Only Tucker, Ianto, and Ryker remained with me as the others vanished through the portal one of them opened. Though we'd all told Ryker to rest while we counted, after an hour, he insisted on getting up to help.

After the others left, he retreated to a tree and leaned against it. The three of us worked on separating the carisle into pouches we'd distribute through the towns over the coming days and weeks.

Doling out the money would be a slow process. We had to ensure we didn't get caught and also find material to create more pouches.

Ryker's bleeding had stopped, but because he refused to rest, he was still pale and weaker than he should be. From narrowed eyes, he scanned the woods.

He was far stiffer than normal, probably because of his discomfort. I wanted to check on him, but I knew he'd only send me away again, so I focused on our task and tried not to worry about him.

That was impossible.

Tucker wrote HR onto the side of a pouch Ianto handed him. He tossed it onto the small but growing pile of them before focusing on me. "Go tell that stubborn asshole to rest."

" Me ? He's not going to listen to me."

Ianto stuffed a handful of money into a purse created from a cut-up feedbag and tied a string around it. "You're the only one he will listen to."

"You don't know all of our history."

"I don't have to know anything other than what I see." The giant tossed the bag to Tucker who wrote on it. "And what I see is you're the only one he'll listen to."

I liked Ianto, but he had no idea what he was talking about. "I'm the only one here he borderline hates… if not fully despises."

Admitting that caused a sharp stab to my heart, but it was true. Our relationship was so volatile, and I'd often seen Ryker shut down and slip away from me. During those times, I knew he was recalling my betrayal.

When this was all over, he'd most likely walk away from me. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but I didn't delude myself into thinking things might ever be different between us… no matter how badly I wanted them to be.