Page 87 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
Ellery
Every rut and rock in the road caused the carriage to sway as it rattled over them. The bounces jolted my spine and clacked my teeth together.
The sway of the carriage did nothing for my increasing nausea; neither did the cramped, hot confines or the stench of body odor and terror. Sniffles and muffled sobs sometimes broke through the rattle of the wheels, jingle of the harnesses, and clip-clop of the horses’ hooves.
It took everything I had not to lean forward and spew bile all over Scarlet’s and Ruby’s feet. They sat across from me on a bench packed full of women.
They’d crammed us so tightly together that I couldn’t move my arms and my shoulders hunched forward. The press of their hot bodies against mine was one more thing I couldn’t take in the prison carriage.
Clasping my hands before me, I almost stuck my head between my legs to gasp in air. I doubted that, so close to so many feet, the air was fresher.
This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.
I didn’t know why we were all here, but I could guess the answer, which made it worse. Lifting my head, I blinked away the sweat running down my forehead to stick my lashes together.
I stifled a groan and my impulse to rock while hugging myself. I was desperate for solace but couldn’t fall apart in this carriage.
Most of those in the carriage were women, but a young girl sat in the far back corner with her mother. The mother had bruises on her face and a bloody lip; she’d most likely earned them by trying to protect her child.
WHY is there a child here?
And that woman wasn’t the only one who was bloody. At least four or five others had black eyes, broken lips, and battered cheekbones from resisting their imprisonment.
I didn’t blame them for fighting, but their efforts had proven futile, as we were all still here. More women were chained to the back of the carriage and were walking behind it. If they fell, the horses dragged them onward.
When the dozens of carriages and Gaius first pulled up in front of the manor earlier today, I’d been walking toward my porch, out in the open and completely vulnerable to the guards who descended like a swarm of angry wasps. I could have tried to flee, but that would only make me look guilty.
Besides, I didn’t have enough time to open a portal into the forest, and I couldn’t have run into the woods before they captured me. Maybe I should have given in to it all and electrocuted them, but there were so many innocents staring at me from behind bars and the line following the carriages.
I’d been so confused by what was happening that I didn’t even begin to formulate a plan. And then it was too late to do anything other than acquiesce.
Instead of running, I’d stood there, trying to figure out what was happening, while Gaius strolled toward me with that awful smile in place. He’d held out his palms like I would clasp them, and when I didn’t, he grasped my hands and pulled them forward.
“Ellery,” he’d greeted like we were old friends. “I’m so sorry about this, but you must understand that I have orders to carry out.”
“Orders?”
“Yes.” He’d tucked my hand into the crook of his arm and pulled me toward the last carriage. “King Ivan wants the women of Tempest at the palace, and what the king wants, the king gets. Of course, I’ll make sure you’re treated properly. I’ve saved you and your friends a seat inside so you don’t have to walk like a peasant.”
Apparently, he’d gotten over his irritation at Ruby for interfering the other day and was now trying a different tactic for Scarlet and her family. It irritated me that he considered me dumb enough to fall for it.
As we’d walked toward the waiting carriages, my gaze went from him to the women chained to the back of the conveyances. Some had gone to their knees when it came to a stop, but most remained standing with their shoulders back.
A couple of bloody souls lay on the ground, their arms extended toward the back of the vehicle. Judging by their battered bodies and torn, filthy clothes, the horses dragged them here.
“I made sure I was part of the contingent coming to gather you,” Gaius continued. “I thought a familiar, friendly face would make it less traumatic.”
He was wrong; having him touching me only made it worse.
“I promise, Ellery, once this is over, things will be better, and I’ll be here to help with anything you need.”
I bit my tongue to keep from telling him to shut up as another guard opened the barred door to the back of the carriage. I’d gazed in at all those women and almost balked against entering, but I refused to give Gaius the satisfaction of having to shove me inside.
However, once inside the vehicle, I couldn’t leave it. My fingers twitched toward lightning as, drawn by the commotion, Scarlet’s family emerged from around the side of my home.
The guards descending on them swiftly separated Scarlet and Ruby from the others. When Mr. Fletcher took a few steps after his wife and daughter, he was hit on the side of his head and knocked to the ground.
“No!” I cried.
His family screamed and reached for him, but they’d yanked Scarlet and Ruby away. Billy knelt at his father’s side and rested his hand on his shoulder while they dragged his mother and sister away.
I took an instinctive step toward him, and Gaius pulled me back. “Get in, or he dies.”
He said it as casually as someone remarking on the weather, but I heard the coldness in his voice and the steely determination. If we fought, then Mr. Fletcher would die, and while I could kill Gaius right now, I didn’t think I could kill all the other guards before someone took me down.
They’d come prepared for a lightning bearer, which was evidenced by the lightning rods on top of the carriages and the thick chains meant to suppress an amsirah’s abilities. More rods lined the bottom of the conveyances too.
Those lightning rods wouldn’t ground any bolts that hit the carriage, but they would help keep me from drawing the lightning to me as the metal would attract most of the electricity. And if I pulled it from inside me, I’d only succeed in killing those in the vehicle.
Before I could say anything more, or decide what to do, the cool metal of a manacle closing on my wrist surprised me. I looked up at Gaius as he clicked the second chain into place.
Thoroughly enjoying this, he grinned at me. “There you go. I promise, once this is over, I’ll see you safely home. No harm will come to you, Ellery.”
Apparently, he didn’t consider being chained and taken from my home harm. I’d disagree if I believed it would do me any good, but it wouldn’t.
I didn’t say a word while I stood there and endured Gaius’s search of my body. I inwardly cringed when his hands lingered for too long in too many places but kept my face impassive.
He tugged my dagger from my holster and tossed it on the lawn. It was the only weapon I had on me.
When he finished, I’d lifted my chin and climbed into the back of the carriage without looking back. Scarlet and Ruby followed. Once we were squished inside, the door clicked shut, and the lock turned with a sense of finality that rattled me to the core.
And now I was here, trying not to vomit as anxiety ate a hole in my stomach. I’d done the right thing the night I revealed my ability to save Ryker and the others, but I was the reason we were all here.
I was the reason they were all suffering. These women would hate me if they ever learned the truth.
I was pretty sure Scarlet already did.