His father seemed to read the expression on Galo’s face and quickly changed the subject. He asked a few more questions about the last few weeks—Cas’s poisoning, their trip to Vallos, the march back to Royal City—until Galo caught Mateo trying to hide a yawn, which Galo used as an excuse to retreat to his room.
He said good night and took Mateo’s hand to lead him to the back of the house, where his room was. It was small and bare, with only a bed and a wardrobe. He didn’t come home much.
Galo sat heavily on the bed with a sigh. Mateo kicked off his shoes and flopped down on his back next to him, running a hand through his dark curls.
“Your parents like me,” Mateo announced.
“Everyone likes you,” Galo said with a smile.
“Well, yes. But your father disapproves of everything you do, so I thought that might extend to me.” Today was the first time Mateo had met his father, but Galo had told him stories.
“Apparently he doesn’t disapprove anymore,” Galo muttered. “Is it weird that all the praise made me uncomfortable?”
“Yes.” Mateo gave him a hard look. They’d had this conversation before.
“I’m just saying that Cas got captured and stabbed and poisoned recently. Maybe I’m not actually that good at being a guard.”
“Would you stop it with that?”
“Remember when Aren said I wasn’t doing a good job? He kind of had a—”
“Who cares what Aren thinks?” Mateo interrupted. “That guy is the worst. And the entire guard is to blame for Cas being captured. You can’t keep taking responsibility for that. Plus, you weren’t even there when he was stabbed.”
“Because I let him get captured.”
Mateo made an annoyed noise. “And Jovita didn’t let you near Cas when she was poisoning him. There was no way for you to stop it.”
“Because I let him get locked up.” Galo scooted back to lie down next to Mateo.
Mateo rolled onto his side, draping an arm over Galo’s stomach and resting his head on his shoulder. “Not everything is your responsibility, Galo. You don’t have to save the whole world.”
“I have to save Cas, at least. It’s my job.”
Mateo snorted. “Please. You have to save everyone. It’s your most endearing and most annoying quality.”
Mateo might have had a point. It was even how they had gotten together—Galo had helped Mateo save his brother from being shipped off to join the hunters. Galo had barely known Mateo at the time, but Galo had taken the risk anyway. Of course, Mateo’s dimples had also played a role.
“Besides, you’ve saved Cas. He’s back in his castle, protected every minute of the day. You succeeded.”
Galo wasn’t so sure. Cas was alive thanks to Em, not him. Thanks to Aren, of all people, who helped them get out of the fortress and away from Jovita without a fight. Everyone on the guard knew it, and Galo had noticed the way some of them stopped talking when he entered a room. He knew many of them thought he wasn’t qualified to be captain of the guard, that Cas had just picked him because they were friends.
Galo hated to admit it, but maybe they were right. He was already overwhelmed thinking about all the things he needed to do as captain, and half of them he wasn’t even sure how to do. Cas’s previous captain was dead, as was the last captain of the king’s guard. Captains usually had at least a decade of experience, not three years of service and convenient connections to the royal family.
Not to mention that Galo hadn’t planned on being a guard forever. There were good parts to the job, but it was often dull and repetitive. He might have quit in his first year if it weren’t for his friendship with Cas and the fact that his father would have never let him live it down.
He slid his arm around Mateo’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze. “I think I’m going to step down,” he said quietly.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Mateo said affectionately.
“I’m serious.”
Mateo lifted his head with a start. “You’re really considering stepping down as captain?”
“Yes. I think I’m going to ask to leave the guard entirely.”
Mateo sat up, a baffled look on his face. “I think that’s an overreaction.”
Galo sat up as well, crossing his legs and leaning back against the wall. “There are people who could do better. And Cas needs the very best right now.”
“Is this some sort of weird reaction to your father being proud of you? You shouldn’t give this up just because of him.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with him. It’s about what’s best for me, and Cas. They’re rebuilding the guard; it’s the perfect time for a new captain to step in. I can be of more help elsewhere right now.”
“Where?” Mateo asked with a frown.
“I don’t know. But doesn’t this”—he gestured around the room—“make you feel strange? That both our homes were fine, like nothing ever happened?”
“Strange like relieved? Yes.”
“No, like . . . we got incredibly lucky. Buildings in Royal City are gone, everyone who lived in Gallego City is still displaced, all of the people in Westhaven had to run for their lives, and the Ruined lost everything. I hadn’t even thought about it before, but Cas said Em went back to the site of the castle in Ruina, the place that used to be her home. It burned to the ground. The entire country burned to the ground.”
Mateo just stared at him.
“I just feel this incredible sense of guilt, and I don’t know where to put it. But I know that staying on the guard isn’t the best choice right now.”
“Now is the time you should stay on the guard. Nothing is safe.”
“It’s better to do it now, when there’s a break from the madness.” If the past few months had taught him anything, it was that the quiet times never lasted long. There was always more danger right around the corner.
Mateo gave him a look like he still didn’t understand. Galo hadn’t expected him to. He’d been a guard for three years; Mateo had only joined a few months before Em arrived and everything crumbled. He hadn’t been around for the boredom of the years that had come before, the ones Galo hoped would come again.
“What are you going to do instead?” Mateo asked.
“I have no idea.”
FOUR
EM HAD RESCUED three more humans since the fire. It was getting ridiculous.
Two she’d found hiding in a barn. They’d screamed when she discovered them, screamed again when they spotted her necklace and figured out who she was, then stared in confusion when she told them to shut up and run. She wasn’t sure they would make it very far.
The other was simply wandering down the road like an idiot, and she’d turned him around and told him to go back to Royal City. He’d smiled and agreed, then patted her on the head.
It had been a weird few days.
Em walked out of her bedroom and through the quiet house she was sharing with Olivia. The house was one story, with a large seating area, kitchen, and dining room visible once you walked through the door. At the back of the house were three bedrooms and another room that had been turned into an office. From what Em could tell, the people who lived here were teachers. They had walls and walls of books, and the office was full of textbooks and papers and essays.
Em walked into the dining room and slid into one of the chairs. She put her cheek on the large wooden kitchen table and spread her arms out on top of it. She always ate breakfast alone, at this big table. It sat eight, yet it was always just her. She was surprised Olivia hadn’t secured her own house away from Em, but perhaps she figured this one was so big that they could avoid each other.
A yell sounded from outside. Em didn’t move at first. Screams weren’t unusual. They hadn’t been for over a year, but they were especially common with Olivia around.
She considered just going back to bed. She couldn’t be responsible for what she didn’t see.
She stood, slowly. That excuse would never work. She didn’t even believe it.
Em walked to the door and stepped outside. Their house was on Market Street, in the middle of Westhaven. At the end of the street were a bunch of shops and food carts, now abandoned and looted by the Ruined.