After hearing the message, Aery sprinted off to find Tazz, still clutching Ame. Her thoughts were in such a tumble that she didn't even try to sort them out. As soon as she got within a block of the place, she knew something was wrong, by the high, keening wail that circulated the air. She followed it to find Silly clutching Tazz's lifeless body, sobbing. The boy's head was broken and there was blood all over.
Even though she'd killed before, the sight of the massacre made the bile rise in her throat. She clapped her hand over her mouth, gave up, set Ame down on the ground, and threw up everything she'd eaten that day.
"I'll KILL them! I'll rip their hearts out and pour their blood on the street. I'll torture them until they beg for mercy and I won't ever give it to them. I'll KILL THEM!" She buried her face in her hands, weeping. And of course the commotion woke Ame, who saw blood and freaked out, for lack of a better term.
[i]Get it together, Aery. For Ame and Silly and the hundred other urchins in this town. They didn't all die here.[/i]"Silenia, come on. We've got to go." Her voice was hoarse but it held together.
"NO! We can't leave them here, alone, in the dark. We can't leave them. We can't." Silly's voice cracked with her sobs.
"Silenia. Please. We can't stay here. We've got to warn the others. The killer knows what I promised my lady, though I don't know how." [i]My lady. The princess Aelin Galathyius. We're, well, not sisters, then, but... No. No. Don't think of it, Aery, you'll lose your head and Silly and Ame will die. It's all your fault, you stupid girl. You never should have left them.[/i]
Before she could fall apart, a lad of about thirteen trotted out of the piles of garbage around the camp. "Aery, mum, wha' happened here?" he asked, horror on his face. He was followed by two girls and another lad his own age. All wore colored threads around their wrists and ankles. Clever children, they'd already come up with a signaling system for locations and messengers.
"Mum, wha' happened?"
"my gah, don' tell me all tha' blood's from they!"
"I heared screamin', an' I was all the ways across town, bu' I comed a'fast as I coul', mum."
"A murderer killed them. They were here in their beds for the night, and a murderer snuck in and massacred them." Aery rose to her feet to survey the group. "And you all aren't safe. Go back to your respective groups, all of you. Cut the threads off of your wrists. It was a clever idea, and I appreciate it, but it marks you for the ones who want to hurt you. Round everyone up and get them to... Oh..." [i]The guild is burning![/i] She thought as the fire shot up and the fire bells sounded. "City park. All of the under-thirteens and any older ones if they want to come and haven't been cruel to you. If you encounter any trouble at all, whistle, and I'll come to your aid with my lady Celaena Sardothien." The girls gasped; the boys looked at her in awe.
She shooed them away. "Now go! Have everyone at the park in fifteen minutes! And stick to the shadows; nowhere's safe!"
Turning to Silly and Ame, she said softly, "Come on, girls. We've got to go get weapons. I've got a good stash in the palace. You have to stay with me, you hear me?"
She swung Silly onto her back and cradled Ame in her arms. Then she set off as fast as she dared through the streets to the palace, taking the servant's stair. She changed out of her ball clothes into leggings and a tunic, changed the clothes on Silly and Ame, and stuffed every weapon she could find into two rucksacks, one of which she put on Silly's back, the other on her own. Silly had to sit on top of a pack, then, but the risk was outweighed by the fact that she had seventy-odd daggers for the little ones and thirty slings and... Her longbow. She was an excellent shot, she just preferred not to use her bow as it was conspicuous. But she didn't think she'd be coming back here anytime soon and didn't want to leave it behind. And of course she brought her poisoned sewing needles.
As she ran to the park she crashed into Aelin and someone who bore a resemblance to her (Slendy), and a hauntingly beautiful woman with crimson eyes (Rusalka). She'd drawn a dagger before she realized that they were standing close together like friends.
"Oh, my, I'm so sorry, Ael--Cela--Ae... My lady. I'm so sorry for drawing my weapon on you. I'm just... I'm hypervigilant and I'm trying to be busy so that I don't break down right now. I've got all the urchins headed to City Park. I've got enough weapons for all of them in these packs. I'm scared, my lady. All the ones who looked to me for protection are dead, and I've got a hundred more that I need to try to protect now. Will you come with me? They all saw the scene, or talked to children who saw the aftermath, and they're hungry for revenge." Her voice was steady, carefully measured, almost; her eyes were wide and frightened. She took two deep, shuddering breaths. "I'm okay. I'm okay. I can grieve later, once everyone is safe and their killer is brought to justice. I can do this. Just hold it together, Aery, just hold it together." [i]Hold it together; don't you DARE fall apart yet, Aery. Don't you DARE.[/i]