Page 58 of Wicked Thieves
“Or the king himself,” Adan snarled as he yanked the door open, letting the cold push itself inside the stables. He peered outside, and when he deemed it safe, he stepped out onto the street. Disappearing amidst the throng of people who kept running, their fear palpable.
“Stay here,” Aeric ordered this time, looking to both of them. As if he’d already sensed what Anelize and Castian were about to say. “Lock the door behind me and don’t let anyone inside. Tell Zara and Henry to close the tavern to anyone who may attempt to come in. Understand?”
“I’ll tell her. You worry about staying safe,” Castian said, his brows furrowed with worry even as he tried to sound sure of himself.
Aeric nodded once, before the prince was moving as quickly as he could back inside the tavern. When Castian was out of sight, Aeric turned toward the door to follow after Adan, but she reached for his hand and gripped it tightly without a second thought. If he sensed her apprehension, he did not say a word as he turned to face her. A crease between his brows.
“Be careful,” she told him.
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about me.” His eyes lit with mirth, though his voice was strained.
Anelize huffed. “Just…make sure you come back.”
His hand turned to hold hers, running his thumb over the back of her knuckles. His voice a dark rasp as he said, “Nothing will stop me from doing so.”
Before she could say another word, he released her and turned for the door. Disappeared far too quickly into the chaos unravelling before him. As if he had never been. If her heart weren’t thundering in her chest, her hand burning from his touch, she would have believed it.
Slowly, she walked to the stable doors and closed them, sealing him and the rest of the world away.
As Aeric had ordered, Zara and Henry had shut down the tavern and kept to making a plan in the case the Watchmen came knocking on their door. Escorting the children to one of the rooms to keep quiet that would lead into the cellar should the need arise.
When Castian began to take ill once more, likely due to the exertion and worry, Anelize helped him up to his room, settling him in bed and giving him a medicine she’d concocted that appeared to help with the pain radiating through his body. It granted him a bit more feeling in his right hand and leg. Though, she knew that the state he was in was one that would remain permanent, if manageable. There would be no true cure for the illness he had. And Anelize had the sense that the prince knew that.
Nevertheless, the worry line between Castian’s brows as he slept only made hers grow before she eased out of his room and hurried down to the stables once more. Well over an hour had passed since Aeric and Adan rushed out of the tavern. Idris was nowhere to be found by the time she finished helping Zara with the children, and she hoped he’d also had the sense to investigate what all was happening outside the same as his brother. That they were together.
Taking a seat on the stool, she listened to the screams that went on and on. The more she waited, the more she felt herself gradually going sick with worry. Waiting for the sound of Adan’s harsh tone and fist pounding on the door to be let inside. For Aeric to stride into the stables in that silent way of his.
They never came.
The screams had yet to cease, and eventually she thought she even heard a familiar voice cry out. It was likely that her mind was merely playing tricks on her. But the longer she waited, the more she couldn’t push away that gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“They are going to kill me,” she muttered as she glanced toward the door and stood.
Raids.
That was what awaited her when she followed the direction where Aeric and Adan had gone. They were raids.
Multiple Watchmen marched down the streets she passed, keeping close to the walls to avoid being seen. The Watchmen were everywhere, some appearing to be searching with their depthless eyes, while others held weapons in their hands at the ready. Like roaches, they were scattered all over the port district.
It wasn’t until she slid through an alleyway that she heard the sound of a woman shrieking nearby. Too close. Anelize sidled up along the wall and peered around the corner. Along a row of half-timbered homes, she spotted Watchmen kicking down doors and ordering the inhabitants to get out. Belongings were tossed out onto the street, trinkets and papers and clothes were all littered along the cobblestones. Men and women, and children alike, had been put on their knees in a line with their hands bound by wooden shackles behind their backs. Trembling in fear as several of the king’s men kept watch.
A man who tried to run was swiftly cut down by one of them and a woman screamed in horror.
It was chaos in its purest form.
It was just as Adan had said.
History repeating itself.
A massacre.
The sound of hooves clacking along the cobblestones caught her attention and she saw a Watchman with a severe face, beard, and cold unrelenting eyes arrive atop a black horse.
He dismounted and handed the reins off to one of his men. He surveyed the detained folk before one of the Watchmen said, “These are the ones that were reported to us, sir.”
“Rebel sympathizers,” the bearded Watchman said, his voice lacking any sort of emotion. “Do you know what the price of treason is for those who would ally themselves with Elvir’s sworn enemies?”
No one spoke, not even the men before him who stared stone-faced ahead.
