Page 85 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
Ryker
The next day, Tucker, Ianto, and I split up to distribute more of Ivan’s stolen money to the towns of Windruff, Calsar, and Hallsey. I’d volunteered to take Windruff, and after tossing out my purses, I visited some of the pubs.
While there, I tried to learn what the townsfolk knew about Ivan and his plans. A few of the locals talked to me, but most kept their distance.
I sensed their curiosity about me, but I was still an aristocrat, and while they didn’t hate me as much as the other nobles—I had been a big part in defeating the ghouls—they still didn’t trust me. I’d fought the ghouls back for them, but I understood why they feared my presence amongst them.
Abuse was all they knew from anyone of my rank, and my father gladly helped Ivan unleash his terror on Tempest. Of course, they distrusted me, but some of the ones with a few more drinks in them were a little chattier.
Unfortunately, none of them had any new information, though one did say he’d delivered a load of straw to the palace yesterday, and there were a lot more guards than usual. I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t like it.
I contemplated asking about gargoyles to learn what others thought of them, but it was better if I didn’t. Gargoyles weren’t the normal topic of conversation in this realm, and while the townspeople couldn’t know about what we’d discovered, they would find my questions odd.
They also probably didn’t have any information and couldn’t know about the hidden chamber.
I had originally intended to go straight back to Tucker’s encampment to wait for Ellery but decided against it after hearing this. The residents of Nottingshire were probably going to be as talkative as the ones in Windruff, but they might know something more.
Ivan had been quiet since Ellery revealed a female lightning bearer existed. The increased guard activity at the palace might indicate that would soon change, and I didn’t like it.
He was seething in that palace, and while I considered him a moron, he was plotting something. The more time that passed, the better his plan to hunt her down would become.
It would have been better for us if he’d been reckless with his attempt to track her. He most likely would have blundered it then, but he’d had enough time and advisors to develop something that might prove effective.
He was calculating something, and while I should return to the encampment, I decided it was best to find out if the townspeople of Nottingshire might have heard something. I debated going to the manor to check on Ellery but decided against the risk of being spotted.
When I arrived in Nottingshire, the streets were abnormally quiet. Almost nobody walked the road, the merchants’ booths were shuttered, and no horses or carriages clogged the streets.
The few men I did see walked with their shoulders hunched up to their ears and their heads tucked as if afraid of a beating. They didn’t look around as they hurried toward buildings and disappeared within. Even the birds were subdued as they roosted on top of the buildings.
From my position in the street, I spotted the torched remains of the amsirah still staked to the poles in the town green. They’d probably remain there until they fell from their posts and the ground absorbed them.
Smoke rose into the air from somewhere I couldn’t see, but it had to be coming from some of the businesses or cooking fires, as it smelled of meat, and the bodies had long since stopped burning. That smoke coiled high before the small summer breeze dispersed it, leaving the sky a pristine blue once more.
I tore my attention away from the dead as a man emerged from the mercantile. Our eyes met, and for a second, he gawked at me; then, he dropped his foot and shifted his stance to go in the opposite direction.
That’s not a good sign .
If the locals wouldn’t walk near me, they wouldn’t talk to me, but I couldn’t leave here without trying to learn something. I’d come this far.
I made my way to the first pub and opened the door. The ringing bell announcing my entrance was the only sound from within. I almost ripped it down when the too-cheery ringing continued in the hushed space.
As I entered the dim interior, the normal hustle and bustle of the tavern didn’t greet me. Instead of crammed tables, only three patrons sat at the bar.
The three men hunched over their drinks while the bartender dried a tankard. The patrons glanced at me, and as if frightened I’d hit them, their shoulders went up to their ears.
I searched for a waitress, but no one emerged from the swinging doors leading toward the back, and the clink of dishes didn’t come from the kitchen. Normally, I sat at a table, but since no one occupied them, I wouldn’t learn anything at one of them.
As I approached the bar, my boots clicked against the warped wooden floor. The dents and scratches on the wood surface were a testament to the amsirah usually filling this place.
I slid onto an empty stool and placed a few carisle on top of the old bar. The bartender put the tankard away before focusing on me.
“What can I get you?” he asked.
“I’ll take an ale.”
The man grabbed a tankard to pour my drink. I turned my back to the bar and placed my elbows on it as I studied the empty interior.
“Where is everyone?” I inquired.
The three men at the bar scowled at me. I wasn’t overly surprised by their hostility, but I was amazed they were so open with it. No one in the towns liked the nobles anymore.
I wondered how they would feel if they knew I’d helped steal the money keeping some of them afloat. Would it make a difference to them?
I hoped so.
“Don’t you know?” The bartender set my drink before me and took my carisle as I settled on a stool.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I did.”
I lifted the tankard and sipped the bitter ale before setting the drink down. It was far from the smoothest alcohol I’d consumed, but I wasn’t here for good drinks; I’d come for information.
“Gone,” the man said.