Page 27 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Ellery
“So, no one knows who attacked the guards?” I asked to steer the conversation back into less treacherous waters than my home.
When Gaius focused on me again, he bowed his head. “A group of bloodthirsty amsirah seeking to free the rebels. They were too cowardly to expose their faces while ruthlessly slaughtering all those seeking to keep the prisoners where they belonged.”
“How awful.”
Inwardly, I stuck my finger down my throat and feigned retching over his unwavering loyalty and my lie. While last night had been horrible, and the memory of all the blood and death would haunt me forever, no one there was innocent.
And what did he think about what Ivan had done to all those poor guards not slaughtered by bloodthirsty rebels? I’d bet he relished it.
“What those rebels did was brutal and uncalled for.”
Judging by the set of his jaw and the gleam in his eyes, Gaius truly bought into everything the nobles and Ivan proclaimed. He was certain they were helping to keep Tempest safe, instead of destroying it.
He was a loyal zealot. That was what frightened me most about him.
“I hope the guards were able to stop them from freeing the prisoners,” I lied.
“Some got away, some were never freed, and others were killed during the uprising.”
“So they’re free again?” I hoped I sounded as disturbed by this revelation as I was pretending to look.
“They are, but we’ll recapture them. They’ll try to hide in the Revenant Woods, but that won’t last.”
“How do you know that’s where they’ll go?”
“Because that’s where all the refuse in Tempest goes.”
I thought most of our garbage resided in castles and the palace, but I kept that opinion to myself. Gaius wouldn’t appreciate it.
“There was another interesting development last night,” he remarked as he studied the paddocks and the horses grazing in the fields.
“Oh, really?”
Was this new development going to be about a female lightning bearer or the fact Ivan had slaughtered his guards? I suspected Gaius didn’t consider what Ivan did as much of an atrocity as someone daring to disobey the greedy king.
“There is a female lightning bearer in the realm.”
Even knowing this was where the conversation might turn, I still wasn’t sure how to react to his statement. In the end, I gave a little chuckle that sounded more nervous than disbelieving… at least to me.
“That can’t be true,” I said.
He gazed solemnly back at me. “It is true. And unfortunately, instead of trying to use her ability for good, she’s using it to help those who slaughtered our king’s men.”
I noticed he didn’t mention Ivan’s slaughter of those men, but he probably agreed with that too. Ivan couldn’t do anything wrong in Gaius’s opinion.
“How is it possible a female lightning bearer exists?” I asked.
Gaius shrugged. “No one knows, but dozens upon dozens of witnesses saw her.”
“Do they know who she is?”
“No, but they’ll find her. Ivan is determined to learn her identity.”
I repressed a shudder at the idea of what Ivan would do to uncover the female lightning bearer. Rocks had more soul than that man.
It was probably why Ivan and the duke got along so well, yet they’d turn on each other in a heartbeat. The duke was already plotting how to steal Ivan’s throne from him, and I had no doubt that Ivan would love to get his hands on the duke’s fortune.
“None of this is anything for you to worry about,” he said. “You have other important things to deal with, like running this manor… all by yourself.”
The way he drawled those last three words created a knot of apprehension in my belly. “I’m not by myself. I have help here.”
“But you don’t have any family left.”
“No,” I said, “but the Willsons are like family to me.”
“Are you sure they aren’t trying to make you believe that so they can take advantage of you?”
When he reached out to brush back a strand of my hair, I couldn’t stop myself from recoiling a little. The idea of his touch repulsed me, as did his words about Scarlet’s family.
This man fully believed I was some helpless woman who shouldn’t worry her pretty little head about anything. He thought I was easily manipulated and that, for some reason, he had a right to touch me.
When malice flashed through his eyes, I knew I’d made the wrong move. I was doing my best not to draw any more of his attention and failing.
I could kill him. He didn’t know it, but I could.
The consequences of killing him weren’t something I was ready to face, but it was an option if he tried anything. My fingers twitched before I steadied them again.
I had to find a way to diffuse the situation. It would be just as bad, if not worse , to have this man as an enemy instead of an ally.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting you to move; it startled me.”
This ass already believed I was some damsel in distress; I might as well play into it.
He gave me a patronizing smile as he lowered his hand. “Of course it would. I’m sorry I frightened you.”
I smiled sweetly while imagining what would happen if he entered the Revenant Woods. He wouldn’t last two minutes. I’d love to introduce him to the poltergeist Farley; I was sure he could get Gaius to shit his pants in no time.
We stood awkwardly before Gaius clasped his hands behind his back and surveyed the land again. “It is a lovely property. Perhaps I could get a tour.”
I kept my smile in place and bit back a refusal. Ryker would lose his mind if I brought Gaius into the barn, but I didn’t know what to say. If I told him I’d been about to eat lunch, he’d offer to join me; if I denied him a tour, it would irritate or make him suspicious about why I wouldn’t show him my farm.
I didn’t want this man getting annoyed with me, and I didn’t need him thinking there was something he shouldn’t see here.
“Of course,” I murmured, “but I have to get back to work soon.”
“A woman as beautiful as you shouldn’t be toiling in the fields.”
My smile didn’t falter as my dislike of this man grew. “This is my home, and the work is something I’ve always known and enjoyed.”
“I understand, but if I had a woman like you”—before I could stop him, he linked his arm through mine and turned me toward the barn— “I’d make sure you lived a life of luxury.”
When I gave a discreet tug on my arm, he clamped down with bruising intensity. I gritted my teeth against yanking on it as my gaze flicked toward the window in the hayloft.
It was too dark to see anything beyond it, but I knew Ryker was there, watching and seething. If I tried harder to free my arm, he would see it, and that would be the end of Gaius. If that happened, and if anyone knew he’d planned to come to my manor today, it would bring more trouble down on our heads.
I compelled myself to endure his touch as I gave him a tour of the land and buildings.