August led them down a hallway to his right. She found herself in a round, brighter entryway with two extravagant staircases that arched around and almost met at the bottom.
A man was descending the staircase on the left. He wore a deep-red tunic and black pants, his blond hair brushing his shoulders. He looked very much like August, though he was a bit shorter. This must be Lucio.
“August brought you a guest,” George said. “Against her will.”
Lucio stepped off the staircase and headed straight for Em without sparing a glance at his brothers. He was almost ten years older than her, but it looked more like twenty. Tiny lines appeared at the edges of his eyes as he sized her up.
“Emelina Flores,” she said, since no one had bothered introducing either of them. “One of the queens of the Ruined. And yes, I was brought here against my will.”
Lucio’s jaw clenched. “King Lucio. Nice to finally meet you, Emelina.” He said the words like he was furious.
Then he turned and punched August in the face.
August hit the floor. “I can explain! I—”
“I sent you as a representative of Olso and you do this?” Lucio pointed at Em with such force that she took a tiny step back.
August sat up, bracing his hands behind him on the floor. “She betrayed us! She was communicating with Casimir behind my back!”
Lucio’s gaze snapped to Em. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” No point in denying it now.
“So you snatched her up and forced her to come here,” Lucio said to his brother. “That was the best solution you could come up with.”
August glowered at Lucio and said nothing.
“Come with me,” Lucio said to Em. He turned and began to walk away. She followed him. Shoes squeaked against the floor, and she looked over her shoulder to see August scrambling to his feet and rushing toward them.
“Not you!” Lucio called without turning around. August stopped, fury etched across his face.
Lucio led Em through a winding hallway and opened a door on the left. He walked across the room and threw open the curtains, dust dancing in the sunlight.
The room had bare wooden floors and several crimson couches and chairs on the left side. On the right was a cabinet that had been built into the wall. It was lined with glasses and wine and bottles of brown liquid.
“Would you like a drink?” Lucio asked, striding to the bottles. He pulled one from the shelf.
“No, thank you,” she said.
He took out two glasses anyway and poured some of the brown liquid into each. He handed it to her and sat down in the largest chair. “Please, sit.”
She put her glass on the table and sat down on the couch. It was incredibly soft, and she sank so far in, it would take some effort to get out.
Lucio took a sip of his drink. “How did my brother get you away from the Ruined?”
“He followed me to where I was meeting Cas.” She rubbed the red welts on her wrists, where the ropes had been. Lucio watched.
“Is what I heard from my warriors true, then? You’ve fallen in love with that Lera prince?”
She didn’t respond.
Lucio leaned his head back with a moan. “That is so unfortunate.”
“You have to let me go. If Olivia—”
“I had so much hope for you,” Lucio interrupted. “You send word of this absolutely crazy plan to marry Casimir, and I don’t mind admitting, I thought you’d be dead as soon as you stepped foot in that castle.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said dryly.
“And then you do it.” Lucio slapped his knee. “You do it! You marry that squirt and you get the Ruined to us and you find out where your sister is. Everything you said you were going to do, you did. And then you go and wreck it all by letting your feelings get in the way.”
“My sister—”
“Your sister,” Lucio repeated, raising his voice to talk over her, “definitely would not have developed any feelings. Everyone thinks her strength is in her power, but perhaps it’s in keeping her emotions in check.”
Em let out a humorless laugh. “You think Olivia doesn’t have any emotions? You don’t know her at all.”
“She certainly wouldn’t have fallen in love with that prince.”
“She would have ripped his heart out and made a necklace out of it.”
“She sounds fabulous.”
Em leaned forward. “She’s going to kill every one of you if you don’t let me go. I guarantee you she’s already on her way here.”
“Oh, good! I was hoping to meet her.”
“You don’t understand. She won’t ask questions. She will storm in here and kill everyone in her way. She’s been looking for an excuse to do it, and you’ve given her one.” Her voice edged on panic. She didn’t much care what happened to Lucio and his family, but the thought of Olivia killing even more people made her stomach churn. Another massacre and she might lose the ability to reason with Olivia forever.
Lucio took a slow sip of his drink.
“Let me go. Right now,” she said. “If I can get to her, I can talk some sense into her. If she sees I’m all right, I can get her to turn around before the damage is done.”
“I can’t do that, unfortunately,” he said. “This is not how I would have done things. But you’re here, and I can’t just let you go. If Olivia is coming for you, we’ll have a conversation when she gets here.”
“Are you not listening to me? Olivia doesn’t have conversations. She will kill everyone between here and the border.”
“I will order my warriors to let her pass. She won’t encounter any resistance in Olso.”
“Oh, good. That will make it much easier for her to kill all of you.”
He lifted an eyebrow at her sarcasm. “You don’t have a lot of faith in Olivia, do you?”
“I have all kinds of faith in my sister. I have faith that she’s not going to sit back while a foreign king takes me prisoner.”
“You’re not a prisoner. I’m sorry for the way August brought you here, but you’re our guest now.”
“If I’m your guest, then I’d like to leave.”
“Perhaps ‘guest’ is the wrong word.”
Em rolled her eyes.
“I simply meant that I’m not going to throw you in a dungeon,” Lucio continued. “I’ll have a room prepared for you, and you can have a bath and some new clothes. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like you’re about to die.”
Lucio chuckled. “You remind me of your mother. Such a hostile bunch, the Flores women.”
“We have reason to be.”
He drained the last of his drink and stood. “I’m sure I can get at least a few words in before Olivia rips off my head. I’m assuming she doesn’t know you were meeting with Cas behind our backs?”
Em glared at the floor.
“Right. I thought so. Listen, Emelina. I’m going to be honest with you. I will have Ruina, whether I get it by marrying you to August, or by sending my warriors in to take it from you. Think about that while we wait for Olivia.”
She turned away so he wouldn’t see the spike of panic on her face. If Olso invaded Ruina, it would be like the Lera invasion all over again. Even if Olivia defeated the warriors, they would certainly lose more Ruined. They might lose the miners’ cabins as well, and then they’d truly be left with nothing.
Lucio strode to the door, smirking at her over his shoulder. “I’ll send some ladies to show you to your room. You’ll feel better after you’ve bathed and changed.”
She sat back, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. “I’ll feel better when I’m not being held against my will.”
He laughed, throwing the door open. “I always knew I’d like you, Emelina.”
THIRTY-SIX
AREN SHIFTED ON the tree branch, his gaze fixed firmly on the fortress. He’d been up a tree with Iria for at least an hour, waiting for Lera guards or soldiers to leave.
“
They may never venture beyond the walls,” Iria said. She was straddling a branch on the other side of the tree, her legs dangling.
“That would be stupid. You have to send people out to scout the area, especially if you see something suspicious. They must have seen the smoke.” The smoke from the fire he lit on the other side of the fortress was no longer visible in the darkness, but the lookouts must have seen it. Aren was counting on it, to draw a few guards into the forest.
“You’re right,” she said with a sigh, arching her back.
“I can watch by myself if you want to get down.”
“I’m fine.” Her dark hair was piled into a messy bun on top of her head, and a few pieces had escaped and brushed her shoulders. She pushed a strand out of her face, her eyes catching his. He was staring.
Her eyebrows lifted slightly in question, but he didn’t look away. He wasn’t close enough to reach out and touch her. Who had decided on this wildly stupid position in the tree?
Right. That was him.
She let out an exhalation of air that was sort of like a laugh. If they’d been closer he might have brushed her hair behind her ear and seen if it made her smile again.
He quickly looked away. He needed to focus. He was never going to get into the fortress to talk to Cas by staring at Iria.
“Do you really think Cas will know anything?” Iria asked.
“I don’t know. But I’m sure Em will head back this way if she escapes August. I’m sticking near Cas until I find her.”
Iria nodded, then lifted an arm to point straight ahead. “Look. They’re leaving.”
He straightened and followed her gaze. The fortress gates opened, and a group of about ten guards walked out.
“Perfect. Let’s go.” He gripped the tree branch and quickly climbed down. Iria’s boots hit the ground a moment after him, and they both took off running. Aren ran as quietly as he could, ducking around tree branches and keeping Iria in the corner of his vision.
He’d chosen a route with heavy foliage, so it was unlikely that lookouts could see them in the darkness. He stole a quick glance at the back of the fortress. He didn’t hear any yelling, which was a good sign.
He slowed to a stop as they got closer to the guards and ducked behind a bush. Iria crouched down beside him.
It looked like the guards had split into two groups. Three men and two women were walking away from them, swords drawn. Aren had been hoping Galo or Mateo would be among them, but it seemed he wasn’t that lucky.
“It was here,” a woman said, nudging the remains of Aren’s fire with her shoe.
“Can you tell which way they went?” a man asked.
“No. Certainly not in the dark. It was probably just some warriors or Ruined passing through.”
“Just?” the man repeated. “I don’t know about you, but that sounds bad to me.”
“Let’s go back,” the woman said. “We’ll inform the king and see what he wants us to do.”
The guards turned and began walking back to the fortress. Aren closed his hand around a rock, his gaze on the guard in back, Nico. Aren had met him in the Lera castle.
He tossed the rock into the trees across from him. It landed with a soft thud. Nico whirled around. He opened his mouth to speak and Aren grasped Iria’s hand, focusing his Ruined power on Nico’s neck. Nico’s eyes widened as he grabbed his throat. He opened his mouth wide as if he was trying to yell, but no sound escaped.
Aren ran to him as quietly as he could, carefully watching the guards in the distance. Their backs were still turned as they walked to the fortress. Nico’s eyes widened in recognition.
Aren dropped Iria’s hand, grabbed Nico from behind, and pulled him out of sight of the other guards. Iria grabbed Nico’s wrists, yanking them behind him.
“Don’t panic,” Aren said quietly. The feeling of Iria’s skin still lingered on his hand, his Ruined power buzzing inside him. His magical grip on Nico’s throat felt almost effortless. “I’m only going to hold on until you pass out. When you wake up, we’ll be gone. But I’m sorry about the clothes.”
Nico’s eyebrows lowered in confusion, but there was no time for explanations. His head lolled to the side a few moments later.
Aren and Iria carefully lowered him to the ground and pulled off his pants and jacket. Iria averted her eyes as Aren pushed down his pants and put on the blue ones. He shrugged out of his jacket and buttoned up the guard’s jacket. He handed his clothes to Iria.
“Wait for me in the tree where we were before,” he said.
“I know.”
“If I’m gone too long you should just leave. It’s not safe to stay here. Especially for you.”
She let out a soft laugh. “I’m not leaving you, Aren.” She jerked her head at the fortress. “Go.”
He took off, resisting the urge to look back at her. She was probably already running to their meeting spot anyway.
He sprinted away from the guards who’d been with Nico and came up on the fortress gate from the other side. The other group of guards weren’t far behind him, and he slowed a bit so it would look like he was with them.
The gates were still open, and he ducked his head into his chest as he walked through. There had to be at least a hundred guards here who knew what he looked like. He needed to find Cas, quickly.
He put a hand on his neck to cover his Ruined mark as he approached the front doors. He pulled one open, not daring to look up at the men guarding the entrance.
Inside, the fortress buzzed with noise, and he risked lifting his eyes just slightly as he crossed through the entryway. Two soldiers rushed past, pausing to glance at Aren. He quickly turned away and scratched his cheek.
“I have a report for the king from the scouting group,” he said.
“He should still be in his room,” the female soldier said. “Did you find anything?”
He shook his head and quickly walked past them. He had no idea where Cas’s room was, which posed a problem. He couldn’t ask where it was without giving himself away.
A stairway loomed in front of him, and he sidestepped an older woman and started up. The king’s bedroom was probably somewhere quiet, as secluded as possible. The second floor seemed a good bet.
He stopped at the top and looked left, then right. Many of the doors were closed.
An unfamiliar woman with a basket full of clothes walked in his direction.
“The king?” he asked carefully.
She tilted her head to the doors behind her. “He’s in his room.”
“Thank you.” He waited until she was down the steps, then cleared his throat. “Your Majesty?” he called loudly.
“Yes. Come in.” Cas’s voice came from the end of the hall, and Aren walked to the last door. He opened it carefully, hoping he’d gotten the room right.
Cas sat at a desk, a map rolled out in front of him. Galo sat in a chair on one side of him, Violet on the other.
Aren let out a sigh of relief and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Cas glanced up and did a double take, his eyes widening. He jumped out of his chair.
“Aren? How did you—what did you—why are you here? How are you here?”
“I grabbed one of the guards you sent out to scout. It was pretty easy, actually. You really need to work on your security.” He looked pointedly at Galo, and the guard flushed.
“What do you mean, grabbed?” Cas asked.
“He’s not dead. He’ll be waking up shortly, so I have to be quick. August took Em.”
“I know. I told Olivia. She went to get her.”
He winced. He was glad Iria had separated from the warriors. They were all doomed.
“You came here looking for Em?” Galo asked in confusion. “You really think she’d come here?”
“I think she’ll go to wherever Cas is.”
“And you don’t have anywhere else to go,” Cas finished.
Aren nodded and quickly relayed what had happened with the warriors and other Ruined he’d been
traveling with.
“Iria and I could go back to Sacred Rock,” Aren said. “If the Vallos people haven’t realized we left, anyway.”
“Little chance of that,” Cas said. “I have a better idea.” He looked back at Violet. “You should take him with you when you go south.”
“What?” Violet asked, clearly alarmed.
Cas turned back to Aren. “I’ve amassed an army there, and I’m bringing them back here. We’ll be marching to Royal City.”
“I have no desire to go back to Royal City,” Aren said.
“You can’t stay here. Sacred Rock isn’t yours anymore. You can try to catch up to the Ruined, but I saw them march by a day ago. They’ve probably already crossed into Olso.”
“I can travel faster by myself,” Aren said. “I may be able to catch up to the Ruined.”
“If you knew where they were,” Violet said.
“I assume August took her to the castle. Olivia would think the same. Iria can tell me how to get there.”
“That sounds like an excellent way to get yourself killed,” Cas said.
Aren ran a hand down his face. “So, what? I’m supposed to just leave Em in Olso?”
“Olivia is already on her way. I think we can both agree that Olivia is more than capable of rescuing her sister?”
He let out an annoyed sigh. “Of course.”
“Then help me. You said it yourself, Em will come find me. You protect us, and we’ll protect you until you find her. Deal?”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“Fine. But I could really use yours. My army in the south could permanently defeat Jovita, which is exactly what Em wants. I think if Em was here, she would tell you this was a good idea.” His lips twitched a little when he said the last part, like he knew how much it would annoy Aren.
“I think Em wouldn’t be stupid enough to ask me to join the Lera army,” he said dryly. But Cas had a point. Em did want Cas firmly on the throne, and she would probably help him if she was here. And what else was he going to do? Go hang out by the Olso border, hoping to spot Em after Olivia saved her? He had no idea when that would be, or how long it would take. He certainly wasn’t going back to Ruina without her.