Page 88 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)

CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT

Ellery

Closing my eyes, I swallowed the thick, coppery tang of vomit filling my mouth. If I threw up here, we’d all be stuck with the stench.

And I was petrified that if I vomited, they all would too. I couldn’t endure the awfulness of that in these cramped confines.

I also couldn’t look at Scarlet or Ruby. They must know I was the reason we were here.

Scarlet was already mad at me, and that was before she and Ruby were placed in jeopardy because of my actions. I had no doubt, this was going to get really ugly, really fast.

What is Ivan going to do with us?

That question battered my brain and made it almost impossible to think through my pounding headache. I swore a hundred miners with their pickaxes had taken up residence in my skull to carve holes through my brain.

“What do you think this is about?” one of the women whispered.

“You know what it’s about,” another hissed back. “They’re looking for her .”

“And how do they expect this to help them find her?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“What will they do when they find her?” another whispered.

No one answered while we all pondered the horrors of what they’d do if they discovered who I was.

“They’ll destroy her,” someone finally murmured.

Even if Ivan didn’t kill me outright, he would destroy me.

The miners started jogging through the tunnels they’d created, swinging their axes like batons and singing a merry tune as they went. If they’d been real, I would have choked them.

My shackled wrists made a small clicking noise when I lowered my head into my hands. I wouldn’t change anything about what I’d done that night with the rebels, and I would save Ryker a thousand times over again, but I hadn’t anticipated this from Ivan… whatever this was.

I was ashamed to admit I’d been lulled into a sort of complacency. Enough time had passed since the rescue that I’d begun to think Ivan couldn’t think of anything to do to uncover my identity.

I’d been so wrong . Instead, he’d been biding his time and formulating a way to bring a lot of women to him.

But what does he plan to do with us?

That was the question on all our minds, even if no one voiced it.

When the horses slowed to a walk, the lessening of the carriage’s sway did nothing to ease my nausea as I was certain things were about to get worse. The clatter and clink of more wagon wheels outside our vehicle caused me to lift my head.

My gaze went to the window across from me and the other prison carriage outside. I suspected more of the conveyances surrounded me; we’d become one of many.

Did Ivan order all the women in Tempest brought to him? But no, that wouldn’t be possible.

Would it?

There were far too many of us for that. Plus, there was no way the women in the sea communities and the furthest towns could be here now.

That would take so much coordination and effort on Ivan’s part… but he had already put a lot of effort into bringing us here.

It would take a lot less for him to concentrate on Nottingshire and the surrounding towns, as that’s where the rescue of the prisoners occurred, but I didn’t think that was enough for Ivan. He’d spent time plotting to pull this off, and while it would require a lot of work, if his soldiers used portals, he could try to gather all the women in Tempest.

But would he?

Yes, I believed he would. He was humiliated when the earl’s servants rebelled at his ball and embarrassed again when we freed most of those prisoners.

He’d waited to put this plan in motion to terrorize amsirah more than he already was. He would do whatever it took to break us, and by stealing women and children from their families, he might succeed.

When my gaze lowered from the window, it fell on Scarlet. She stared back at me with her jaw set; I couldn’t quite read her eyes before they shifted away.

Will she turn me in?

That was something I never would have questioned before. However, I’d hurt her, she was still mad at me, and not only was she in peril, but so was her mother.

And they were here because of me . All these women were.

I couldn’t blame her if she did hand me over to save herself and Ruby; I wouldn’t blame any of these women for doing so. They had families and lives to return to; they might not be able to say that after today.

My nausea intensified as the miners started a drunken jig inside my head. I was sure they’d added dynamite to the mix as my right eyelid twitched.

I looked at Ruby, who sat with her shoulders back, her chin high, and her red hair pulled into a bun. Her brown eyes showed no hint of fear, only anger.

Would she turn me in? I knew she loved me and had watched me grow up, but Scarlet was the baby she’d carried, bore, and raised. She’d choose her daughter if it came between us, and I hoped she did.

But I would never let it come to that. While I faced a lifetime of misery by handing myself over to the nobles, I wouldn’t let others suffer because of me.

However, I wouldn’t give myself to them without learning more first. Maybe, by some miracle, we could escape this unscathed if I remained calm and tried to figure out a plan.

It was foolish of me to believe so, but I clung to the hope that it might happen.

The carriage came to a halt. From outside the walls, shouts rebounded, muffled sobs sounded, saddles and harnesses jingled, and hooves thudded against the dirt.

Confusion reigned out there, but in here, we were protected from it… if only for a few more minutes. Things were bad in here; they were worse out there.

Then the back door opened, sunlight flooded inside, and chaos ensued as guards barked at us to get out. The women at the end of the bench filed out first.

Since we were close to the door, I soon descended the single step to the churned-up grass. The sunshine nearly blinded me as I inhaled large gulps of fresh air and blinked to clear my vision.

It took too long for my eyes to adjust to the sudden influx of light as I was shuffled forward by the bodies surrounding me. When I could see again, my stomach sank and my distress grew.

I didn’t realize I’d stopped walking until the crowd shoved me forward. They propelled me over the field of rolling green hills filled with amsirah women.

The only good thing about it was that I didn’t see Gaius anywhere… or is that a bad thing?