Chapter 432: The Storm Approaches

Chapter 431: The Storm Approaches

Lyria’s POV

The capital was filled with activity at midnight, while the Crown lay sleeping.

I moved through the streets in disguise, my maids and guards about me, and we were by no means the only ones so occupied. Lucian, Duke Thorncrest, Earl Hawthorne, and Baron Redwick all moved likewise through the darkness in disguises of their own, their faces concealed, their true identities hidden from any who might chance to look.

Kathryn was present also, her satchel at her side. And the Tallow and Tide had been closed for business that night entire, its doors barred, its windows shuttered, that no curious patron might stumble upon what we were about.

At first, I had been much afraid upon seeing guards patrolling the streets. My heart had seized within my breast, and I had reached for Bridget’s arm, certain we had been discovered, that the Queen’s men had found us out, and that all was about to fall to ruin.

But then Lucian had appeared at my side, his voice low and even.

"Nothing that transpires this night shall reach the ears of the Crown," he had said. "Every guard patrolling these streets stands bound directly to myself."

I had stared at him.

"B-bound to y-you?"

He had nodded.

And so it was, with the aid of men who had lately become my allies, that I was able to accomplish what I had set out to do.

Earl Hawthorne — who had requested we address him as Bennett for the evening — assisted in conveying the commoners by carriage. Some of them, though released earlier that day, had remained near the building where they had been confined. The building now stood empty, its guards gone, its doors closed.

The guards had simply released them, with not the smallest care taken for what should become of them after.

They had inflicted grievous injury upon these people, and not one guard had paused to consider how such people might even move afterward, for indeed they could scarcely do so, not with the pain and the wounds they yet carried, many of them still fresh.

Their bodies ached, their strength all but spent. Bennett and his people conveyed them into the capital, along a narrow road leading to where Kathryn and the other healers Duke Thorncrest had gathered stood waiting.

I, together with Margery, Pippa, Elara, and even Helen — who had only learned of the whole affair after the first company had arrived, and had not hesitated a moment before closing the Tallow and Tide to join us — laboured among them. I applied ointments to the lesser injuries, my hands moving with care over bruised skin and half-healed wounds.

Then, once the treatments were complete, the commoners were passed to the next stage of the undertaking, overseen by Baron Redwick — still in his own disguise, his spectacles catching the lamplight. He catalogued each person’s origin, noting names, territories, and villages, and arranged them into groups according to where they must be sent.

From thence they proceeded to Duke Valenridge, who furnished them with funds — coin sufficient to see them settled upon their return home, to begin the rebuilding of what had been lost, and to feed them upon their journey. And at the last, they moved to Lucian, who arranged for their conveyance back to their own territories.

It was, in every particular, a seamless undertaking.

And to my very surprise, not a single commoner offered complaint. Not once. Those able to lend aid offered what aid they could. Some prepared food, setting up a makeshift kitchen in a corner of the building where we worked. Every expense was borne by Duke Valenridge, who did not so much as blink at the sums departing his accounts.

And one thing I marked, again and again, was their gratitude.

Every one among them offered us thanks.

One in particular was the boy who had wept and begged to bear his mother’s punishment in her stead — they hailed from Laminal. He thanked me a great many times, his small hands gripping my own, his eyes bright now with tears of gratitude. His mother, too, offered her thanks, her voice hoarse, her body yet trembling, but her gratitude plain upon her face for all to see.

The commoners from the more distant regions were transported first, their journey being the longer. Those from nearer parts were attended to later.

Phineas and Brayden kept watch throughout, alert for any who might think to cause trouble, for there are always those who believe chaos grants them licence to take what is not properly theirs.

At some point, my back ached so grievously that I was obliged to pause, pressing a hand to my spine and drawing a slow breath. But I did not cease my labours. There remained too much yet to be done, and too many souls depending upon us.

Then Elara, who stood beside me, went suddenly went rigid.

She ran from the building at once.

I frowned, watching her go.

"What i-is the matter?" I asked, turning to Pippa.

Pippa gave a shrug, her expression one of bewilderment. "I do not know."

Elara returned in haste, her expression pale.

"There is a great storm approaching," she said. "We must pack up all at once. Immediately."

Helen, who had been nearby, frowned at this.

"Wot d’ye mean, a storm?" she asked. "There weren’t no sign of it, not the whole day through."

Elara tapped her own nose.

"This nose has never once lied to me." Then, turning to me: "Should you doubt my word, you may ask of Lord Evan."

Evan was the name Duke Valenridge had assumed for this undertaking, agreed upon among us all, that he might move about unrecognised.

I frowned.

I did not doubt Elara in the least. But, like Helen, I could not conceive from whence such a storm might have come. The day had been clear throughout. The sky had shown bright and untroubled. There had been no sign whatsoever of anything amiss.

Just then, the door burst open.

Debbie and Tommy entered, making straight for me.

"Is something the matter?" I asked, a frown upon my face.

They spoke at once, their voices overlapping entirely.

"There is a great storm approaching. We must pack up at once."

These were the very same words Elara had spoken not a moment before.

Margery and Pippa, and all the others who had been tending the injured, paused at once, their hands stilling, their eyes turning towards us.

And in the distance, I heard the first low rumble of thunder.