“They’re slowing us down,” she protested.
“It’s not about speed. We’re going to cut off the troops in a few days anyway. We gain nothing by getting there faster.” Em would have preferred to go slower, actually. Put off the inevitable for as long as possible.
Olivia wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t protest. She glanced around at the Ruined, who were eating and talking quietly.
“You did a good job, Liv,” Em said quietly, honestly.
Olivia regarded her suspiciously. “With what?”
“Getting the Ruined prepared. You’re even better at it than our mother was.”
Olivia snorted. “What do you want?”
“Nothing!”
“Please.”
“Seriously. I was just . . .” Em shrugged, staring at the ground. Feeling guilty. “I just thought you should know.”
“Thank you,” Olivia said shortly. She began walking away, but then abruptly turned back, her lips set in a hard line. “Tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
“You went to see Casimir, didn’t you? That time you said you were going for feed.”
Em considered for a moment. “Yes,” she said finally. “I went to see him. He gave me the feed, actually.”
Olivia’s nostrils flared. “Why’d you come back?”
“I always intended to come back. I just wanted to see him.” Em met her sister’s gaze. “You said I could have him. We agreed. You do what you want, but you don’t harm Cas.”
“We did agree to that.”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No.”
“I’ll give him up if we can go back to Ruina,” Em said, even though the thought of never seeing Cas again was horrifying. She had to try one last time. “If we turn now, it won’t take us that long. We have plenty of supplies.”
Olivia studied her. “You’re suddenly so eager to go back to Ruina.”
“It seems like the only good option at this point.”
“Does it? What’s wrong with this option?” Olivia gestured around them. “Aren was the one who suggested all of this. You didn’t challenge him.”
Em had nothing to say to that.
“Tell me the truth,” Olivia said again.
Em looked at her sister. Worry seized her chest. Did Olivia know something?
“About what?” Em asked, her breath getting stuck in her throat. The words sounded strange. It was a terrible attempt at a lie.
Olivia just stared at her. She stared for so long that Em got uncomfortable and had to look anywhere but at her sister.
“I’m ditching the wagons,” Olivia finally said. “We should cut off the troops soon anyway. Maybe tomorrow. We can come back for them if we want.”
“Someone might take them,” Em said.
Olivia shrugged and turned away. “Then we’ll kill them, too.”
On the third day of travel, the Ruined scout, Ester, informed Olivia that they were close to the Olso army.
“How many?” Olivia asked quietly. She jumped off her horse and walked a few steps away from the rest of the Ruined so she could talk to Ester privately. Em watched them curiously from atop her horse.
“Hundreds, that I could see,” Ester said. “A thousand, maybe. I couldn’t get a good look, though. I wanted to get back here as soon as I could. They were letting the horses take a break when I spotted them, so we have a little while to get in position.”
“Good.” Olivia resisted the urge to look at Em. “And did anything seem . . . off?”
“Off?” Ester blinked in confusion.
“Did you spot anything odd?”
“I don’t think so.” Ester gave her a strange look. “They looked like every other human army I’d ever seen.”
“Right.” A burst of nerves exploded in her stomach. She thought she’d figure out Em’s plan before they encountered the army.
“Olivia?” Em called from behind her. “Has Ester spotted the army?”
“Yes,” Olivia said. She turned to face Em and the rest of the Ruined. Her mind raced as she tried to decide what to do next.
“When do you want us in position?” Em asked after several seconds of silence.
Olivia’s eyes skipped over the Ruined until she found Aren. He was in the back, slipping off his horse. He looked over his shoulder, in the direction they’d just come from.
“Jacobo, find a tree to keep watch,” Olivia said. He took off toward a tall tree and began climbing. “Everyone else, get in position and secure your horses, but stay on the ground for now. Hide when Jacobo gives the word. I’m going to do a quick scout of the immediate area. I need to know where the warriors can hide.”
Em nodded and dismounted her horse. She didn’t glance back at Olivia.
Olivia stepped away from the Ruined and darted through the trees once she was out of sight. She caught a quick glimpse of Aren as he broke into a run, headed south.
She ran behind him. Her breath caught in her lungs, either from anger or lack of exercise. She’d spent so much time on her magical training she hadn’t thought about her physical limitations.
She forced herself forward, almost losing him twice. But he ran in a straight line, and it was easy to keep him in her sights, even at a slower pace.
He finally stopped. She darted behind a tree and watched as he approached Galo, who was on a horse. He said something to Galo and the human nodded.
Aren ran back in the direction he came and Galo turned his horse to ride south. Olivia let out a frustrated breath as she broke into a run again to follow Galo.
She lost sight of him quickly and instead followed the sound of horse hooves pounding the ground. They stopped very quickly, and she skidded to a halt when the Lera soldiers she’d seen before came into view. There were still just ten of them.
Olivia braced her hands against her thighs and took a moment to catch her breath. She couldn’t hear what they were saying from this distance, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t have time to waste. She needed to get back to the Ruined before the Olso army attacked.
She straightened, closing her eyes for a moment as she steadied herself. She stepped out from behind the tree.
Galo spotted her first. His body stiffened and his eyes rounded with fear. He said something to the soldier next to him. The soldier quickly grabbed the bow off her back and pointed an arrow at Olivia.
She waved her hand, throwing Galo and the soldier in opposite directions. The remaining nine soldiers sprung into action all at once. Several grabbed their swords. One tried to hide behind his horse. Another just started running.
She snapped their necks, one after the other. Each one slumped to the ground as the others screamed. The screams died with the last thump of a body hitting the dirt.
Galo was several paces away, slowly getting to his feet. She strode to him.
“Galo, right?” she asked.
If he was scared, he was doing a good job of hiding it, she noted with some disappointment. He just stared at her without a word.
“You should kneel when a queen approaches you, Galo.” She waved her hand and he fell face-first to the ground. She crooked her finger to make him slide across the dirt toward her. He yelped as his face collided with a large rock.
“Get on your horse,” she said, pointing. “And don’t even think of trying to take off. I’ll snap your neck.”
He didn’t move.
“I’ll also snap your neck if you don’t get on that horse in the next three seconds,” she said. “One . . . two . . .”
Galo quickly walked to the horse and swung his leg over the saddle. She would have smiled if she didn’t want to tear out his heart so badly.
Blood poured from a cut over Galo’s eyebrow and streamed down his face. He kept glancing around, like he thought someone would pop out and save him.
She got on the horse behind him. He leaned forward, like he didn’t want her to touch him. The feeling was mutual.
“Go,” she said.
“Where?” His voice was quiet, serious. He probably thought he was about to die. He was right.
“To the Ruined. You know where they are.”
The horse began moving forward. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt to keep steady behind him.