Page 30 of A Tempest of Intrigue
When Gaius focused on me again, he bowed his head. “A group of bloodthirsty amsirah seeking to free the rebels. They were too cowardly to expose their faces while ruthlessly slaughtering all those seeking to keep the prisoners where they belonged.”
“How awful.”
Inwardly, I stuck my finger down my throat and feigned retching over his unwavering loyalty and my lie. While last night had been horrible, and the memory of all the blood and death would haunt me forever,noonethere was innocent.
And what did he think about what Ivan had done to all those poor guards not slaughtered by bloodthirsty rebels? I’d bet herelishedit.
“What those rebels did was brutal and uncalled for.”
Judging by the set of his jaw and the gleam in his eyes, Gaius truly bought into everything the nobles and Ivan proclaimed. He was certain they were helping to keep Tempest safe, instead of destroying it.
He was a loyal zealot. That was what frightened me most about him.
“I hope the guards were able to stop them from freeing the prisoners,” I lied.
“Some got away, some were never freed, and others were killed during the uprising.”
“So they’re free again?” I hoped I sounded as disturbed by this revelation as I was pretending to look.
“They are, but we’ll recapture them. They’ll try to hide in the Revenant Woods, but that won’t last.”
“How do you know that’s where they’ll go?”
“Because that’s where all the refuse in Tempest goes.”
I thought most of our garbage resided in castles and the palace, but I kept that opinion to myself. Gaius wouldn’t appreciate it.
“There was another interesting development last night,” he remarked as he studied the paddocks and the horses grazing in the fields.
“Oh, really?”
Was this new development going to be about a female lightning bearer or the fact Ivan had slaughtered his guards? I suspected Gaius didn’t consider what Ivan did as much of an atrocity as someone daring to disobey the greedy king.
“There is a female lightning bearer in the realm.”
Even knowing this was where the conversation might turn, I still wasn’t sure how to react to his statement. In the end, I gave a little chuckle that sounded more nervous than disbelieving… at least to me.
“That can’t be true,” I said.
He gazed solemnly back at me. “Itistrue. And unfortunately, instead of trying to use her ability for good, she’s using it to help those who slaughtered our king’s men.”
I noticed he didn’t mention Ivan’s slaughter of those men, but he probably agreed with that too. Ivan couldn’t do anything wrong in Gaius’s opinion.
“How is it possible a female lightning bearer exists?” I asked.
Gaius shrugged. “No one knows, but dozens upon dozens of witnesses saw her.”
“Do they know who she is?”
“No, but they’ll find her. Ivan is determined to learn her identity.”
I repressed a shudder at the idea of what Ivan would do to uncover the female lightning bearer. Rocks had more soul than that man.
It was probably why Ivan and the duke got along so well, yet they’d turn on each other in a heartbeat. The duke was already plotting how to steal Ivan’s throne from him, and I had no doubt that Ivan would love to get his hands on the duke’s fortune.
“None of this is anything for you to worry about,” he said. “You have other important things to deal with, like running this manor… all by yourself.”
The way he drawled those last three words created a knot of apprehension in my belly. “I’m not by myself. I have help here.”
