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But she continues to stare at me, and despair shadows her face. “But your eyes tell me a different tale.”
I swallow hard, giving her a brittle smile. I never was able to conceal my true emotions from her.
She pulls me back into a hug meant to heal. I hold her tighter for a moment before releasing her.
“I hear congratulations are in order.” Ryuu steps up beside us, a small unsure expression on his face.
I glance around at the rebels in the room before looking back at Ryuu and then to Jarek.
“The captain is here,” I say to him, more in shock than anything else. I never thought I would see the day when he would be in the same room as them, no matter how much they proved how helpful they could be.
Jarek attempts to cut off his rumbling laugh at my facial expression, but his entire face transforms to one of amusement.
“We tied him up and dragged him here under duress, of course.”
Ryuu gives us both an exasperated look, shaking his head before focusing back on what he was saying. “You made it through the first two trials.”
“I plan to do the same for the last one.” The lieutenant and his guards will have to do a lot more than beat me to try to force me to give up. There are too many people depending on this.
I glance around the cold room, the heavy despair thickening over. It makes me pause.
“Why are all these people here? The entire town is quiet.”
I spot the look of reluctance Ryuu and my mother share with Jarek and realize they are keeping something from me. Most likely thinking they are protecting me.
“Tell me,” I demand. I need to know they will be safe down here when I go back to the palace, or I will not be leaving.
“I will not ask how you have come to be here when no competitor is supposed to be able to leave the palace while the competition is taking place,” Ryuu says. “So instead, I will ask why you are here.”
“I was planning to go back soon. I came with hopes to get what I need for the last of my plan,” I tell them truthfully, hoping they will do the same.
“What is it you need?” my mother asks, the look on her face telling me she is ready to get me anything I want.
“A dark creature.”
CHAPTER 19
No further questions are asked as my mother and Ryuu immediately start planning and discussing the best place to find a dark creature at this time.
While they are distracted, I pull Jarek aside to find out what they have been keeping from me.
“Tell me everything, now,” I demand.
He looks at me, and whatever he finds makes him relent instantly. He is well aware of how stubborn I am and knows only too well that I will not let this go.
Jarek sighs, his face aging in minutes. “Ryuu and your mother joined us a few days ago. But most of the people in the town have already moved up here. We work in shifts, and it has worked well for now. A handful of people stay in the town, and all are trained, but the guards are no wiser. Nor do they seem to care. Though, that was to be expected. The Caligo guards have never cared about us. Why start now when we are all dying?” Jarek shakes his head, his eyes burning with rage but also pain.
“Jarek…” I move in front of him to force him to look at me.
He glances down at me, his anger slowly loosening to become a wearied frustration.
“The dark creatures now slip through the shield in multiple places at the same time. It is no longer predictable, but it is a certainty they will show up.” He glances away from me as his eyes glisten with despair.
“They’re strong. They have killed so many already that I…” He shakes his head, stopping himself as if just realizing something. “You shouldn’t be worrying about this. You have enough on your plate.” He says it with more worry for me than him. But I was the one who left them. I left them just when everything got worse, and they have suffered. I can see it in his eyes, in my mother’s and everyone else here. I can feel the despair and hopelessness that seems to be slowly draining them all.
I’ve wasted too much time with a plan that may not yield anything. The royals may already be aware of all of this and still not care, and then my time away will have been for nothing.
I glance around the room, seeing nothing but my doubts and fears. Maybe I could have been here fighting instead. I may not have been able to stop what has happened, but I would have been able to fight. To protect. Maybe so many lives might not have been lost.
