Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Ellery
I glanced over to where Luna stood with her chin raised and her fingers gripping her cloak. She had never been fully on board with this plan, but she had to admit there were no other options.
If we freed Ryker and the others first, the duke would take his wrath out on the children, and he cared far less about those hostages than he did his son. And he didn’t care about Ryker because he loved him. To the duke, Ryker was a powerful tool to get to me.
The duke would slaughter some, if not all the children if we freed Ryker first. I didn’t doubt that.
He’d do it to punish us and turn the rest of the amsirah against us… and I wouldn’t blame them if they did. The only reason he hadn’t already killed the kids was because he saw them as a weapon against the amsirah and a future wave of fighters who would stand behind him.
And that was only if we could get to Ryker. Even locked in a dungeon, the children were more accessible than the others, who were locked deep within the palace’s bowels. We could very well fail to free them, and then everyone would suffer.
“No, they won’t,” I said.
Her eyes flashed in the moonlight when they met mine. “Maybe not Ryker, but he’ll kill the others.”
“He needs them too,” Ianto said. “They’re leverage against Ryker and the rest of the rebellion.”
That was very true, and I hoped he was right. I’d hate myself for the rest of my days if the duke killed any of them or maimed Ryker further in a fit of rage. But I’d never be able to live with myself if he slaughtered a bunch of innocents because I chose Ryker over them.
I could live without Ryker. His loss would destroy me, and I’d never be the same, but I’d keep fighting to save the others and to ensure they remained safe. I’d never survive the loss of those children.
We had to move fast enough to prevent the guards from turning on the children.
They wouldn’t do anything without the duke’s command, and while they all followed that monster’s orders, some of them would balk at hurting kids…
or at least I hoped they would. Others would blindly follow his directives.
If this worked and we succeeded, this would be our second major blow against the duke tonight. He still didn’t know about the first; if he did, there would be far more fighters out here, and they’d be a lot more alert.
Most of them looked half asleep on the field. Others chatted in low murmurs that barely carried toward us. Some faced the palace instead of the woods.
If we succeeded in freeing the children, our next step would be for the poltergeists to alert the army gathering in the Revenant Woods. Many of those amsirah weren’t as well trained as the duke’s army, but we still had weapons from Ryker’s raid on his father’s castle, and we had the gargoyles.
We might also have greater numbers and might defeat this asshole. I just hoped Ryker and the others survived it.
I couldn’t dwell on that. If I did, my feet would remain firmly planted where they were, and I’d never strike this next blow.
“Are you ready, child?” Indon asked.
Ice pumped through my veins as I shifted my attention to him. “No,” I admitted. “But we must do this.”
He studied me for a minute before resting his hand on my shoulder. “You have many choices, but sometimes you must make the toughest one.”
And this was most certainly the hardest one. I swallowed the lump in my throat before replying. “Let’s do this.”
“You must lead the way.”