“I think so, yes.” Cas leaned forward. “I could pass along a message, if you’d like.”
Galo was silent for a few moments. “Just tell him I’m sorry.”
Galo left the castle with Aren the next morning. A carriage took them halfway, but now they were on foot, still a couple of hours from Westhaven. They mostly walked in silence.
Galo had hoped Mateo might return that morning, but no luck. Galo wasn’t sure what he would say to him anyway. He wasn’t sorry that he’d gone, but he was sorry about how he’d left things. He wasn’t sure how to express either thought.
He glanced at Aren, who was staring at the ground as he walked. He’d barely seen Aren yesterday, after he retreated to his room. He’d come out once, to discuss troops joining the Ruined with Cas’s advisers.
Aren stopped suddenly, turning to face the direction they’d just come from. “Why don’t you go back?”
“What?” Galo asked, surprised.
“You should stay with the soldiers. I should be able to get away again to pass along our plans.”
“Aren, that’s ridiculous. We just set up a plan where I need to know all the information about your plan of attack. I need to be there to get that information. And you don’t know for sure that you can get away.”
“I also don’t know for sure if I can protect you. I don’t think we should risk it.”
Galo stared at him for a moment. Aren seemed genuinely worried, his brow furrowed and his gaze directed east, like he could still see the town where the soldiers were waiting for Galo to return.
He was realizing that he didn’t really know Aren at all. He wasn’t cocky and rude. Or maybe he had been, but it was certainly gone now. He seemed sad, and tired, and it was hard for Galo to hold on to any of the animosity he’d felt for him before.
“I’ll be fine, Aren.”
Aren laughed hollowly. “You don’t know that.”
Galo put a hand on Aren’s arm and turned him back in the direction of Westhaven. “I made my choice. I’m sticking to it.”
Aren sighed heavily and began walking again. “Fine. But I should tell you something.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to go back to Royal City after the battle.”
“You’re going to go to Olso?” Galo guessed. Aren looked at him in surprise. “Where else would you go?”
“Right,” Aren said softly. “Where else would I go?” He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “But, I just thought you should know. I won’t be around to protect you—or anyone—when you ride back to Royal City.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine. Is Em going to go with you?”
“Oh, no. I’m going alone.”
“Alone?” he repeated incredulously.
“There’s no one to go with me. Not that anyone would anyway.” He laughed, though it wasn’t really full of humor.
“You don’t have . . . any friends?” Galo asked slowly, unsure if it was a rude question.
“Besides Em? Not really. I know all the Ruined in Westhaven, of course. And I’m friendly with those that are loyal to Em. But I wasn’t close to any of them before, and it’s the same now.” He kicked a rock. “Damian would go with me, if he were still here.”
“The Ruined who was executed at the castle?” Galo asked.
“Yeah. He and Em were my best friends. He would go with me, even if he’d never even met Iria. Just because I asked.”
Galo stared at the ground, fully understanding for the first time how much Aren had lost. Galo remembered feeling sorry for himself at Fort Victorra and in Vallos, thinking about how much he’d lost. A large portion of the guard, gone. The castle almost destroyed. Both his king and queen dead. But his parents were alive and well, as were his best friend and his boyfriend. A lot of his really good friends on the guard had come through fine, because he’d rounded them up and taken care of them when Olso attacked.
“I’m sorry, Aren,” he said quietly. “About Damian. And everything.”
“It’s not your fault. I know you and Cas tried to stop his execution.”
They had, but Galo couldn’t think of much else he’d ever done to help the Ruined, beside his current mission. While he’d always found the king’s policies abhorrent, he hadn’t spoken out against them. He didn’t want to risk jail. He hadn’t even talked to Cas about his opinions, not until after Cas met Em and started to reconsider everything.
“It’s better I go by myself anyway,” Aren said, his tone a little lighter. “It’ll be easier to sneak around. And I’ll be surrounded by humans. It’ll give my power a boost.”
“You can’t take what they won’t willingly give,” Galo said, repeating Aren’s own words.
“Well, yes. Let’s hope I find some friendly humans. I’ll have to talk to some of them, at least. I don’t even know what prison she’s in.” He scrunched up his face. “I’ve never even been to Olso.”
“Me either.”
“Hopefully you never will,” Aren said with a smile. “I hear it’s not very nice there.”
“Yeah,” Galo said. “Hopefully.”
SIXTEEN
EM OPENED THE door to find Aren on the other side. She pulled him into a hug and squeezed him a little tighter than necessary.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, even though she wasn’t. She’d alternated between worrying about him and drowning in guilt over Olivia since he’d left.
“Did—” he began.
“Olivia is here,” she whispered before he could finish.
He pulled away, his eyes darting to the kitchen, then the sitting room.
“Do you . . .” Her words were barely a whisper, and she had to blink back tears before she could finish the sentence. “Do you want to tell her?”
Aren nodded solemnly.
Em took a deep breath. “Olivia! Aren’s back!”
Footsteps sounded in the hallway as Olivia walked over. She stopped and leaned against the wall, cocking an eyebrow.
“Had he left?” she asked.
“You know he did,” Em said. Olivia had grilled her about him yesterday, actually. Where is Aren? I know you know where he went. Is he coming back? Did he go to Olso? Em played dumb, acting like she had no idea where he’d gone.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say good-bye,” he said. “I was going to Olso, and I was worried Em wouldn’t let me.”
“Do you take orders from Em?” Olivia asked, eyes narrowed.
“Yes. Sometimes.”
“Why’d you come back? Is Iria dead?” Olivia asked, and Em flashed her a dirty look. Olivia had only asked that question to be mean—she knew there was no way Aren could have already traveled to Olso and back to check on Iria.
“I didn’t make it to Olso,” Aren said. “I heard some news and I had to come back.”
Olivia lifted her eyebrows in a silent question.
“There’s an attack coming,” he said. “An army made up of joint Olso and Vallos forces. And Jovita is with them as well. They’re coming for us.”
“So?” Olivia scoffed.
“From what I heard, it’s a sizable army.”
“Let me go to Cas,” Em said quickly, just as they’d planned. “I’ll ask him to help us. With Lera soldiers we can—”
“He knows, Em,” Aren interrupted. “I heard this from soldiers. They were told to monitor the troop movements, but not attack. Cas doesn’t want to risk his people right now.”
“He only cares about himself in the end, after all,” Olivia said smugly.
Em swallowed and tried to appear upset. It wasn’t difficult. Her stomach was churning as she and Aren lied to Olivia.
“We don’t need his help,” Olivia said again. She drew in a breath and was quiet for a moment. “By being here, we’re protecting Casimir. You see that, right? They’re not attacking him because they’re attacking us.”
“They hate us more at the moment,” Aren said.
“Maybe we should go back to Ruina and just let them fight it out,” Olivia said.
Em blinked in surprise. She felt a surge of hope for the first time in days.
She grasped Olivia’s hand. Her sister reeled back with a startled look on her face. She snatched her hand away.
“Let’s go back,” Em said, her desperation real. “I think going back to Ruina is the best choice right now.”