Page 180 of Enchanted Heir
I clutched it to my chest as I walked back to Owen just to sit down and cry beside his boots. It was the only thing it seemed I could do. Mourn for my people and what this night had cost us all.
Owen was there, an arm around me, hugging me hard.
“Stop,” I choked out. “You can’t use your magic if you touch me.”
“But you need me too,” he offered gently.
Minutes later, some men came scurrying over with buckets of water, not realizing Krew had already put out all the fires on this street.
“Jorah?” one of them asked as he approached slowly.
I gave him a nod though I was pretty sure I had never met this man before in my life.
“Are you okay?”
I shook my head. “No. None of us are, but may I borrow that if you don’t need it?”
He looked confused but handed it over. Keeping the scarf in one hand, I headed for Owen’s horse, offering her the water to drink. It took some gentle talking to, but then she drank. These horses had helped saved Nerede. They deserved a lot more than a bucket of water to drink.
I brushed the now very wet nose of the horse. “Thanks, girl.”
I took a moment to pat her, trying to get my wits about me. What should we do first? Go to the orphanage and help Krew? I did want to see with my own two eyes that they were all okay. We also needed to talk to the people and get a gameplan for putting out what remained of the fires. Was there a way I could be helpful right now?
But then I saw him, cautiously approaching me and Owen.
Red hot rage immediately poured through me. He always thought he knew better. Always thought he knew what was best for me.
He opened his arms as I approached like I was going to throw myself into them.
Instead, I shoved at his chest. “Are you happy now?”
Will’s face creased with confusion. “What?”
I shoved him again.“Are. You. Happy?”
“Jorah, I—”
“You thought you knew better than me, someone who is actuallyinthe castle. You all thought you had a better way to take down the king.” I shook my head, tears spilling over. “You attacked Krew, and now all of this is to pay for it.” I ran a hand across my nose, a mixture of snot and tears spilling everywhere. “Did any of you ever stop to consider for one damn second that the best way to get him off the throne was from within the castle itself?”
Will didn’t say anything, just looked down at the ground.
By this point a lot of Nerede men on the street had stopped what they were doing and were standing around watching. I didn’t take my attention off Will. “You will ruin everything we have been working towards if the disloyals in Nerede continue to refuse to work with us.”
“Okay,” Will whispered. “Okay, just calm down.”
I shook my head at him. “No. Our homes areburning, Will.Burning.No one would listen and now we burn.”
“Well I wasn’t a part of the attack that day, okay?” Will said as his eyes moved to someone else in the crowd that clearly was. “I just also didn’t argue that hard against it.”
Likely because he wasn’t opposed to the idea of Krew’s death. I moved forward again, whether to shove at him or deck him I wasn’t sure. But I was hauled away by some arms I knew well before I could even reach him. I looked over at Krew, who gave me the barest of nods.
Warrick was okay. The relief I felt from that alone had my anger stalling.
I looked at Will and to the others as well. “If you do not start working with us, more of us will die.Iwill likely die. I am not your enemy, I am one of you. The princes are not your enemy. There is only one enemy here. And he will succeed if we do not start working together.” I paused, my chest heaving with anger. “I have no idea when the next time is that I will be allowed out of the castle. The attack on the carriage ruined all trips to see my mother, but unless I agree to whatever wild plan you all come up with next time, consider it a wise choice not to do it. Whatever it is.”
“Jorah,” the man Will had looked at before moved forward. I recognized him now that I could see all of his face. Beau Jones. Theodore’s dad. The man Hatcher had been praising for his smart masterminding with the disloyals in Nerede. He whispered, “I apologize. We had no idea when we planned the attack that—” his eyes darted to Krew.
I squinted at him and asked quietly, “That you were trying to kill the original disloyal?”
