“Are you hungry?” he asked. “I can go find some food for you. Or do you need a bath? I can find a maid to bring up some warm water.” He didn’t know what to do, and he felt like if he offered everything, maybe something might be the right thing to say.
“I just want to rest,” she said, scooting back on the bed. She pulled back the blankets. That was clearly his cue to leave, but he lingered by the door anyway, hesitant to leave her alone.
“Do you mind if I come check on you in a few hours?” he asked. “I know it’s uncomfortable, staying in the Lera castle.” He almost added for me, too to the end of the sentence, but that wasn’t really true. His first visit to the castle had been horrible and terrifying, but this one was not. He was relieved to be back.
“Sure, that’s fine,” she said, pulling the blankets over her. She hadn’t changed her clothes, and Aren realized suddenly that she didn’t have any. She didn’t have anything, except for the clothes on her back.
He almost told her he’d find some, and anything else she wanted, but she’d already closed her eyes. She probably didn’t care about her things right now. He hadn’t, when they’d all burned. His possessions had been pretty far down the list of worries.
He walked out of the bedroom, then the sitting room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Em was walking down the hallway, and she stopped in front of her old door.
“Did those men have useful information?” Aren asked.
“Not really. They spotted Jovita. Still alive.”
Aren winced. Olivia certainly wasn’t treating Jovita well. Death might have been kinder.
“I know.” Em tilted her head toward Iria’s room. “Is she all right?”
“I think she needs some time to . . .” He wasn’t sure what she needed time to do. Not just heal, but to adjust.
“Is the injury serious?” Em asked.
Aren glanced over his shoulder at the maids clustered at the end of the hallway. “Come on,” he said, leading Em down the hall, to the corner room Violet had just shown him. It was smaller than Iria’s, just a single room and bathroom, but it was still impressive, with a huge wardrobe, a large desk, and giant windows that overlooked the south lawn. It was obviously used for important guests, and Aren wasn’t sure it suited him.
He shut the door behind Em and sat down in the desk chair. Em perched on top of the trunk at the end of the bed.
“Some of the guards attacked her,” Aren said. “She took a knife to the foot. They cut off a good portion of it.”
“Can she still put weight on it?” Em asked.
“She can. Or she will, eventually. It’s still painful. She’ll walk with a limp, though.”
“She might have a hard time with a sword as well,” Em murmured. “Balance, I mean. It’s fine. I’ll work with her.”
“Galo and I were talking about it, and we think we can make her a boot to wear that will help. It’s not a terrible injury, she just needs something to balance out the part of the foot she lost.”
“It’s lucky you got there so fast,” she said. “It could have been much worse.”
He’d been trying not to think about that. “How are things here?”
“We haven’t started any formal meetings yet. We’ve been working on armor and putting together battle strategies so the Ruined can fight with us. Plus, we were hoping you would return soon.”
“You were waiting for me?” he asked, surprised.
“There aren’t a lot of Ruined leaders left. Everyone looks up to you. And I think it might be better if you and Mariana take the lead in negotiations, considering my relationship with Cas.”
“I’d be happy to. I need a day or two to rest, though.”
“Of course. The other Ruined are downstairs, if you want to go see them. We offered to put some of them in a few rooms like this one, but they wanted to stay together in the guards’ quarters.”
Aren nodded. He didn’t feel the same, he realized. He wanted to be up here, close to Iria, not back in the tiny guards’ quarters.
He wasn’t sure how to balance his feelings for her with his responsibilities with the Ruined. He’d never known, but the answer was muddled now. Putting the Ruined first had always been natural, a given, but that wasn’t the case anymore.
“I want to see about getting some clothes for Iria,” he said. “Is that possible?”
“They provided some basic stuff to the Ruined, so check with Mariana. There are a lot of refugees from Gallego City and Westhaven in Royal City, so they’re stretched thin, but Cas is doing his best to get everyone basic necessities.”
He realized that the burst of annoyance that used to accompany any mention of Cas’s name had disappeared. “And you and Cas? Are you officially staying married?”
“Yes. We’d have to marry again, but we’d like to.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I was hoping I could get your support on that. I think the other Ruined will follow your lead here.”
“Em,” he said gently. “Of course. It’s your choice.”
She looked a little surprised. “You’re sure? You told me once that he was nothing compared to me.”
“I was wrong. He’s not as strong as you, he’s not the natural leader you are, but he’s not nothing. He’s a good man, and you deserve to be happy. Everything you’ve done has been for the Ruined. We can let you have this.”
She got to her feet, crossed the room, and circled her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Aren.”
He laughed as he embraced her. “You must have known I wasn’t going to fight you on Cas. I just went to Olso to rescue a warrior.”
She was smiling as she pulled away from him. “I hoped. But I also would have understood if you told me I had certain responsibilities as queen.”
“You do, but we’re about to upend the entire Lera government, and probably our own as well. I’ll fight for you to marry Cas in the meetings, if that’s what you want.”
“It is, thank you.”
THIRTY-NINE
A DOCTOR VISITED Iria and examined her foot. He said she was healing fine, but she needed to stay off of it as much as possible for the next few days. Apparently he relayed this information to Cas, because a staff member showed up in her room with a pile of books, a tray of snacks, and a bell. She told Iria to ring it whenever she needed something.
Iria had pushed the bell across the nightstand. Her new personal goal was to never ring it.
She lay back on the pillows. Her foot hurt a little, but it had healed a lot on the journey from Olso to Lera.
She’d asked the doctor how long it would hurt, and he said not much longer, provided she rested and took care of it. She supposed that was good news, but she was having a hard time getting excited about it.
If the journey from Olso to Lera had taught her anything, it was that she wasn’t nearly as strong as she used to be. She couldn’t walk without limping, and that wouldn’t change once her foot healed. Her balance was off without toes to steady her, and she frequently almost fell on her face just trying to move from one place to another. Aren was constantly catching her, and it was humiliating.
This could have been good timing—she was no longer a warrior anymore—but it didn’t really feel like it. She wasn’t sure what skill she had if she couldn’t fight. Her loyalty to Olso felt thin at best after her time in prison, but it wasn’t like she could offer to help Cas. What was she going to do in Lera?
A knock sounded on the bedroom door. She’d left the sitting room door open so she wouldn’t have to get up when Aren returned. She called for him to come in.
The door opened to reveal Em, and Iria sat up a little straighter, surprised.
“Hello,” Em said. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” Iria said dryly, even though she knew it was true. She’d caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror after bathing. The bruises on her face were an ugly shade of yellow and blue, and she was gaunt and pale.
Em shut the door behind her and crossed the room to perch on the edge of Iria’s bed. “Who did that to you?” she asked, gesturing to Iria’s face.
“Cellmate.”
Em glanced around the room. “This used to be my room, you know.”
“I remember. Where are you now?”
“With Cas.”
Iria smiled. “Of course.”
“You didn’t come out for dinner last night. Are you hiding from us?”
“Just from you, actually.”