Chapter 77
Ryker
My warriors and I stood between the fortress and the Northern army, a fierce, impenetrable wall.
Bodies littered our once pristine streets. Some still moved and groaned, among them some of our own, healers flitting between them. The stench of blood imbued the air, but now it was flecked with hints of sour ointments and bitter salves.
Among them, I saw a familiar skirt swishing about.
Mrs. Thornbrew darted from healer to healer, her satchel of herbs bouncing against her waist. She was supposed to be hidden and safe with the other civilians, not jumping over blood splatters. Geryll had snuck between my troops, now she was testing the same fate. I clenched my jaw against the spike of dread.
But I couldn’t react more than that.
I even turned my gaze away.
Any sign of vulnerability could be used against me–especially as Beren, Lioran, and Edrin emerged from the trees, safely tucked behind their soldiers, like the cowardly, pompous bastards they were.
Judging by their pristine armours, all polished and shiny, none of them had fought and were not planning to. But theyloved to stride and show off the uneared golden emblems on their shoulders.
They didn’t even look at their fallen soldiers, walking over their bodies. Edrin even had the nerve to scowl at them for blocking his path.
The three of them did not deserve to live.
But what truly made my blood boil, beyond any remedy my power could afford me, was seeing Nadya trudge right behind them.
She’d abandoned her leather armor in favor of the scaled chainmail the Northern Clans loved so much.
Furs for chains.
From up above, Allie’s energy blistered with the same mix of disappointment, but hers was tinged with more resentment than I could muster for someone who’d grown up under my eyes.
What she felt was irritation and anger.
All I had left to give Nadya was grief.
For what she’d done, what she could have been, and the grim end she was so eager to get to, one that I couldn’t stop her from.
Nadya had made her choice and she truly did have to live with it, whether she wanted to accept it or not.
She couldn’t even look at me, holding onto Francisca for dear life and scowling at the same cobblestones she’d run over countless times.
In comparison, Beren set his dark gaze on me and didn’t let go.
“Nephew.” He raised his arms to the sides, the small golden chains between the emblems jiggling. “I admit, you surprised me tonight.”
I remained silent and furious.
“Hiding in the civilian homes was a nice touch,” he went on. “How’d you come up with that?”
“We figured you’d try exactly what we would never do. And you rose to the shameful occasion.” We knew they’d hit the civilians first. As revenge, show of power, prisoners to sway my hand, so many awful motives to choose from.
So we’d prepared.
“Yes, Nadya said you would protect the civilians above all else.” Beren looked back at her; she still refused to meet my eyes, but stood there defiantly, gripping her axe like she wanted to throw it at someone’s head. Mine, most likely. “Except, I suppose, your Huntress. Where is she, by the way? She promised to face me herself. I’d be disappointed–”
The wind howled around us, sparking blue, as Allie’s voice reverberated all around, infinite and overpowering. “Don’t be, Beren. I can see you.”
Lioran flinched, eyes darting toward the sky as his shoulders tensed. The Northern soldiers cursed prayers into the night.
