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CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

Ellery

It was almost noon when we arrived at the earl’s castle. When Ryker left, I didn’t have any plans for claiming my mother’s remains. It wasn’t something I ever thought I’d have to do, but I’d anticipated walking in there and taking her away.

When I went to tell Scarlet and her family the news of her death, Mr. Fletcher pointed out that we’d need a way to carry her home. Those words were like a punch to the gut.

I understood she was dead, but the idea of having to carry her, of having to do for my mother something she’d always done for me, almost crippled me. It took me a while to find my voice again.

After further discussion, we devised a plan, and Mr. Fletcher spent most of the morning making a coffin for her. I loathed having her so far from home, but we had to wait until he finished.

And once he did, I cried over the coffin he’d created. Despite what it was meant for, it was beautiful.

I felt his love for my mother in every dip and hollow of the box. I sensed it in the hinges that didn’t squeak and the single rose, her favorite flower, carved into the top.

I had no idea how I would have brought her home if I’d just gone to the earl’s castle like I’d planned. Now she’d return in something beautiful… like she deserved.

We didn’t take the carriage to the earl’s castle. We’d have to strap the coffin to the top to bring her home, and I couldn’t picture doing that.

Instead, Mr. Fletcher opened a portal and the two of us carried the coffin through. My arm had healed enough that I didn’t require a bandage, and I didn’t struggle with the coffin.

Scarlet, her mother, Ruby, and brother, Billy, remained behind. They had wanted to help us bring her home, but with me leaving, someone had to stay with Callan. He had to be kept somewhere he could escape if guards arrived.

Scarlet had offered to take my place, but I would bring my mother home. I wouldn’t let someone else do it for me.

Callan was now ensconced safely in Scarlet’s home. If something went wrong, they could open a portal out of there, and Scarlet would take him to the Revenant Woods.

She didn’t know where Tucker’s encampment was—something I would have to rectify soon—but she knew plenty of other places to keep him safe. We’d agreed to meet by our old hiding place, at the tree with the pixie door, if they had to leave.

If, for some reason, that spot didn’t prove safe, I’d find her by the creek we fished in when we were kids. No matter what, I would find her.

While Scarlet and Billy watched over Callan, Ruby was taking a note to my Aunt Connie. I would have preferred to tell her in person about her sister’s death, but I couldn’t do that and claim my mother’s body.

The outer gates were closed when we arrived at the earl’s castle. When I stated my name and our reason for being there, they opened the twenty-foot-high metal gates, and we entered.

Unlike last night, the inner bailey was hushed. The yellow carpet remained to guide the way, but blood and dirt now coated it.

I’d worn a black walking dress that came to my ankles and black boots. I would have preferred to don my farm clothes as I’d known this place would be a mess, but I worried the earl might take offense if I did.

No fires danced in the torches, and clouds covered the sky instead of snow and stars. The booths that had been shuttered last night remained that way, as no merchants sold their wares.

I didn’t know if some of them had been a part of the rebellion, but I doubted the earl would have allowed those stalls to open today, even if they weren’t. I suspected he would spend the next weeks and months making sure everyone near his castle was someone he could trust.

The merchants who’d probably once moved freely around the bailey would be under constant scrutiny. They would search their homes and interrogate their families; even then, they might not be allowed back into the bailey.

Two guards searched the coffin before escorting us past the bodies piled on top of each other. Then they led us past a smaller row of bodies that I assumed were those of dead guards and guests, as they’d treated them with more care. I couldn’t look at them as I strained to suppress the stench of rot, blood, and something foul clogging my nostrils.

The guards strode beside us as we carried the coffin inside past more of their brethren. Our escorts held their spears before them and kept their expressions stony. They wore the king’s colors, and I had no doubt they’d kill us if we did anything they might consider a threat.

Together, we climbed the outer stairs to enter the bloody interior, where more guards waited for us. I saw more of them now than I had last night.