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IF I DIDN’T LOVE WEAVER so much I’d kick him. Why did he leave Millard alone? We are so slow getting back to the cottages that I want to cry. To scream. To punch something. Or someone.
I am so angry I can feel my insides squirming like a trapped rabbit. We are too slow. Too stupid. All of us trooping through the woods. Will is like an old man, wincing and groaning, filled with misery that he didn’t look after Everleigh better. Weaver is angry too, I can tell, but it’s kind of his fault for leaving Millard.
We had him. Damn it. I clocked him twice over the head. I tied him up so tight. And Ginata had drugged him. Whoever freed him would have had to carry him. They wouldn’t have gone too far, and he could be hidden somewhere in the castle but I’d get lost. I’m going around in circles. I hate being helpless like this.
And Ginata, well I don’t know her well enough to say, but she’s as miserable as a dead frog.
I hate this day.
I hate that Millard has escaped. I wanted so badly to get revenge for Archer’s death.
Why didn’t I kill him?
No more weakness. No more second guessing myself. If I see him or Wolf or anyone else I don’t like the look of, they can watch out. I’ll kill them first and ask questions later.
We reach the cottages and Weaver pushes through the door. Della, Finn and Addyson jump up. Waiting for our news. Our terrible news.
“Millard’s gone,” I tell them. Relishing the bad news, actually. Wanting them to feel the way I feel. “Millard’s gone. Everleigh’s gone. We have the crown, but no one to wear it.”
I throw myself down on the chair, scowling at them all, daring them to say a word to try to calm me or placate me. Della stands with her hands over her mouth, masking her horror. We had the man who killed Archer, Halfreda, locked Addyson up, killed Lanorie, would kill Everleigh in a second, tied up and helpless and now he’s gone. I know how she feels.
Addyson walks to my side, perches on the arm of the chair and takes my hand.
Damn her. She’s the only one who even has a chance at softening me now.
“Where’s he gone? How did he get away?”
“We don’t know. We don’t know anything. I know he’s your brother but I wish I’d killed him when I had the chance.”
“I wish you had too. Do you think he’s gone to Everleigh? To whoever has her?”
“If he has...” I shake my head. I won’t say what we all know, no matter how cross I am. If Millard has Everleigh then Everleigh is as good as dead.
“Let’s all go to the castle. To Millard’s rooms. In case she’s brought there.”
“We all need to stay together.” Ginata looks around at us all. At least she’s talking now. Doesn’t look so...sad.
“What if the King’s men come to Millard’s rooms. They’d outnumber us.”
“What if we go to your rooms, Addyson? We need to be at the castle. And we need to be together.”
“Let’s just go somewhere. We can make a plan as we go along. They never work anyway.” I cannot bear this sitting around doing nothing. Waiting. Wondering. I need to be moving, fighting, making stuff happen.
I’m at a loss here, though.
What do we do?
We have lost the King. We have no idea who rescued him or how or where they took him.
We have lost Everleigh. We don’t know where she is or if she’s safe. We think Brett took her but we don’t know anything for sure. The castle seems the only logical place to go. It’s the centre of this whole mess.
I walk with Addyson because I don’t want to talk to Weaver. It made sense to move Addyson, I know she had to be kept safe but if he had stayed with Millard, then we’d still have him. Weaver would have easily fought off whoever took Millard. Easily.
Addyson takes my hand. She needs comforting. “Do you think my sister’s dead?”
I shake my head. Then shrug. “I don’t know.”
I wish I knew. I wish I could comfort this girl who’s so much like me.
“I hope not. I hope she’s alive and kicking. Fighting whoever took her. Battling...”
It hits me then that wherever Everleigh is, she’s alone and scared and helpless. How will she kick, fight, battle? We need to find her. We need to help her. I just wish I knew how. I stop still, causing the rest of us to stumble. “We have to find Everleigh. It’s no use hiding away at the castle. She’s not there and neither is Millard. She’s been taken somewhere.”
“She might be there, hidden...”
“Right, so me and Finn and Ginata will go and search the woods, the river, the villages. You lot go to the castle and look there.”
“She won’t be in the villages. No one in the villages would hide her or harm her.” Will knows more than any of us how well loved and well known the Kingmaker is, strange how he fell in love with Lanorie instead of Everleigh.
“So where? Where would you take someone to hide them away from the castle? But close.”
“There’s a few places...” Finn says. “Between the castle and the village, there’s a few places. The old barns, the caves by the river, the top of the forest where they hunt – the shacks up there.”
“Right. We’ll search around and about. You guys search the castle. Every room, every place you could hide someone. Just be careful. Watch for Millard or Wolf.”
“I’d rather search outside. She’s more likely to be outside and I’m the one who lost her.” Will looks at me, trying to appeal to my better nature. It’s no use; I don’t have one.
I shake my head. I like having a plan, but Will is in no state to hunt outside for Everleigh. He still looks woozy from the blow to his head. And I don’t want him slowing me down. “Will you’re not well enough. Right Ginata?”
She nods her agreement. “She’s right Will. You took quite a smack. You could easily pass out, hurt yourself, even worse. I know you feel helpless but you’re not to blame. Please Will.”
He nods though I can tell he’s not happy.
I squeeze Addyson’s hand. “Weaver will keep you safe.”
We have to find our missing Kingmaker and we have to get that crown on her head before Millard turns up again.