Em pointed east. “Go.”
The woman stepped forward, tears filling her eyes again as she closed her fingers around Em’s arm. “Thank you so much. I’ll tell everyone you saved me.”
The woman turned and ran. A disbelieving laugh escaped Em’s lips.
Emelina Flores, the girl who killed the princess, the girl who destroyed Lera, the girl who rode with the king to put it back together.
Emelina Flores, the hero.
No one would believe it.
TWO
“THE RUINED DO not have horns.” Cas tried to keep the exasperation from his voice, but it crept in anyway.
The man in front of him gave him a deeply suspicious look. “I’ve seen paintings.”
“The artist took some liberties.” Cas shifted on his throne. The Great Hall was full of Lera citizens lined up to talk to him. The room was sometimes filled with tables for dining, or featured musicians at the back wall so people could dance. But today the hall was empty, tables cleared out, only a blue rug running up the center of the room that stopped at Cas’s feet. His guards stood on either side of him and mingled with the people, checking baskets for weapons.
He’d insisted they take a few days for the people of Lera to bring their questions about the Ruined to him, and the guards were doing their best to keep him safe in the process. Cas thought the number of guards in the room was excessive, but just recently he’d been stabbed, shot by an arrow, and poisoned, so what did he know?
Two hours in, and he was starting to doubt this plan. Most of the people of Lera had never even seen a Ruined, and the rumors had not been kind to them. An alliance with the Ruined felt unrealistic at best.
“Are you sure?” the man asked, still skeptical about the horns. His wrinkled face was scrunched up like he’d have to rethink every idea he’d ever had. Or he thought Cas was insane. The latter was more likely, actually.
“Positive. I have met many Ruined.”
The man must have known this—everyone knew Cas had married Emelina Flores, that Olivia had killed his mother, and that he’d spent time with the Ruined in Vallos after being poisoned by his own cousin—but he still didn’t seem convinced.
“Thank you for coming,” Cas said. The man opened his mouth to say more, but two guards swooped in to show him to the door. The guards around him were much more stiff and serious than Galo, Cas’s best friend and captain of his guard. Galo had asked for a few days off to travel north and check on his family, and Cas had agreed.
“Would you like to take a break?” Violet asked. She stood next to him, greeting people as they came in and introducing herself as the governor of the southern province. Violet put people at ease, with her pretty face and calm smile.
“No. Let’s keep going. I want to at least get through everyone in the room.”
She nodded and beckoned for the guards to let the next woman come forward. She bowed her head as she approached, her light hair falling over her shoulders as she did it.
“Is it true the Ruined can kill you with just one look?” she asked as she straightened.
“That is true,” he said. “Some of them can. But I think it’s more important that they chose not to, don’t you think?”
And so it continued for an hour, the people asking questions and Cas trying his best to answer them. Some of them were outright hostile, like the woman who yelled that Cas’s father and grandfather and great-grandfather would be ashamed that their descendant defended the Ruined. Considering Cas’s father was dead as a direct result of his Ruined policies, he couldn’t muster up much of a reaction to that.
He spent a lot of time actively trying not to think about his dead mother and father. He’d had time to slow down and really think about what had happened to them since returning to the castle. He was occasionally overwhelmed with grief, then with guilt, for missing people who had murdered so many. It was better to just not think of them at all.
Luckily most of the Lerans who had come to talk to him were kind enough not to bring up the late king and queen. Few were supportive of his ideas about the Ruined, but there were some who were just curious, and it gave Cas hope. The Ruined and Lerans wouldn’t be best friends anytime soon, but perhaps they could be in the same room without killing each other.
“There’s one more,” Violet said when Cas finally rose from his throne. “But I think you should take this one in private.”
The guard led them out of the hall. The Grand Hall was on the second floor of the castle, which hadn’t been damaged by the Olso invasion weeks before. The first floor had blackened walls and some rooms that were nearly totally destroyed. But the second floor was still bright and merry, the walls painted red and green and blue and purple—a different shade every time you turned a corner.
Cas’s office was also on the second floor, an office that had technically been his father’s but was rarely used. The late king had preferred to take meetings in his private library, where there were comfortable chairs and a view of the ocean. Cas liked the small office, tucked away in the west corner of the castle.
A young woman waited in front of the office door with four guards. Her clothes were dark with dirt or soot, but her face was bright like she’d just scrubbed it clean. A little boy stood next to her.
“Your Majesty,” the woman said with a bow of her head. “Thank you for seeing me.”
“Of course. Please come in.” He opened the door to the office and swept inside. A large wooden desk was to his left, shelves of books stretching up the wall behind it. Directly in front of him was a tall window overlooking the west entrance of the castle with four chairs and a small round table in front of it. As usual, a jug of water and a pot of tea were on the table, along with some breads and sweets. They were replenished several times a day, though Cas never saw the staff member do it.
He gestured for the woman and the boy to sit. The little boy scurried to the table, eyeing the pastries.
“Please, help yourself,” he said. The woman nodded to the little boy. His eyes lit up, and he grabbed a tart and plunked down in one of the chairs.
The woman extended a tin to Cas as he sat. “It’s cheese bread. I know it’s your favorite.”
“Thank you,” he said with a smile, even though it would have to be thrown out. He wasn’t allowed to eat anything that wasn’t prepared under strict supervision of a guard, or was prepared by Cas himself, which always gave the kitchen staff a laugh.
The guard took the tin from Cas’s hands. Three guards had followed them into the office, including the one hovering over his shoulder.
“What can I do for you?” Cas asked the woman.
“I’ve come with a message from Emelina Flores.”
Cas’s eyebrows shot up. “Violet,” he said quietly.
“Please wait outside,” Violet said to the guards.
“Your Majesty—” the hovering guard began.
“I will call if I need you,” Cas said firmly. The guard obviously wanted to argue, but he quickly shuffled out of the room, taking his two friends with him. Violet looked at him questioningly, and he motioned for her to stay. She closed the door and walked across the room to join them.
Cas turned back to the woman. “Where did you see Emelina Flores?”
“Westhaven. I am—was—a maid in the governor’s household. The Ruined have taken over the town.”
Cas already knew this. He’d sent soldiers to follow the Ruined and they’d reported back just yesterday about the Ruined’s movements.
“Emelina said you’re safe for now, but she needs some time to figure out the next step. She’ll get another message to you eventually.”
A smile twitched at Cas’s lips. He’d already assumed as much, but it was nice to hear.
“She saved me,” the woman said. She gestured to her son. “Both of us. The Ruined lit the house on fire and trapped us inside, but she saved us.”
“I’m not surprised,” Cas said. “She’s not what people say.”