Em shook her head, trying to keep her face calm. Olivia was sure to lunge at her at any moment. “What were you planning to do when you got into the castle? Kill me?”
“Yes. And Casimir. That’s how I got Jovita to tell me about this stupid passageway. I promised to kill him. Though I’m sure she won’t cry over your death either.”
Em felt a sharp stab of disappointment, even though it was the answer she was expecting. She blew out a breath and nodded.
Olivia stared at her like she was expecting something else. “Is that it?”
“What do you want me to say? You were right. I led you into a battle where I knew you might die. We’re not that different. You just don’t . . .” She shook her head.
“What? What don’t I do?”
She didn’t have the ability to see outside herself for even a moment. Em was sure that Olivia would never understand Cas’s point of view, or Aren’s, or Iria’s, and certainly not Em’s. She didn’t budge, she didn’t compromise, and it didn’t matter how much Em begged her. She couldn’t change who Olivia was, and accepting that made her feel the tiniest bit better.
“Nothing.” Em leaned her head back against the door and spoke her next words quietly. “It just makes me really sad that we couldn’t find a way to make peace with each other. You’re the only family I have left.”
Olivia’s expression changed, and Em had to turn away. For a moment, she’d appeared startled and upset, and Em was afraid that if she looked for too long, she’d forget that Olivia could no longer be reasoned with.
Another boom sounded from behind her, and Olivia’s face snapped back into its angry mask. She took a step forward.
“Move.”
Em met her sister’s gaze. “Make me.”
Olivia lunged, arms outstretched. Her body crashed into Em’s and Em easily pushed her away. Olivia stumbled, almost falling into the hole, and made an annoyed noise from deep in her throat.
Em extended her sword in front of her. “I’d rather not use this.”
Olivia snorted. “You’re not going to use it.” She lunged at Em again, darting to the side to avoid the sword. Em slashed it across Olivia’s arm.
She’d expected her sister to yelp, or jump back, or at least flinch, but she barely seemed to notice. She grabbed the blade, making Em gasp. Blood trickled from her hand where she held it.
“It goes here,” she growled, aiming the sword at her chest.
Em realized too late that Olivia was reaching around her, fumbling for the door handle, and she fell backward as the door swung open. She let go of the sword as she stumbled, afraid it would plunge into Olivia’s chest as her sister fell with her.
Olivia’s elbow slammed into Em’s stomach as they hit the ground, and she wheezed. Olivia had her hands wrapped around Em’s throat suddenly, but her body was only half on top of Em’s, and she easily threw Olivia off.
Em scrambled to her knees but a hand grabbed her ankle, pulling her back down. Her face hit the dirt. She rolled over onto her back just in time to see Olivia leaping into the air, her eyes on Em’s leg.
Her boots slammed into Em’s ankle, and Em screamed as the crack reverberated in her ears. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise.
“There.” Olivia blew a piece of hair out of her face. “That should make you stay put for a minute.”
Em sat up, pain screaming down her leg. She gasped at the sight behind Olivia. The Olso army was pushing the Lera soldiers back, advancing closer to the castle gates. Smoke billowed from cannons, and bodies flew through the air, propelled by Ruined magic.
Out of the corner of her eye, Em saw Olivia grab her sword. She snapped her attention back to her sister. Olivia pointed the blade at Em’s neck. Em dug her fingers into the dirt, swallowing hard as she looked up at Olivia. Her sister wore an expression Em had never seen before—defeat. Anger, resolve, and resentment, but also defeat.
“You told me once that you didn’t really expect to make it out of the Lera castle alive,” Olivia said. “So this is fitting, right? This is how it was always supposed to go.” She looked from Em to the soldiers and back again, a sad smile on her face. “I don’t think I ever really expected to make it out of this alive either. We’re not the ones who live, Em. We’re the ones who fight alone, so others can live better.”
Olivia edged the blade forward so it touched Em’s neck. Her sister’s breathing was heavy, her chest heaving up and down in short, panicked gasps. Em stared up at her, relief exploding in her chest. Olivia wasn’t going to kill her. She couldn’t do it.
The blade lowered just a little. Frustration crossed Olivia’s face, and Em could have sworn she blinked away tears. She opened her mouth to speak.
Something whizzed through the air from behind Em. It slammed into Olivia’s head, sending her stumbling backward. Her face contorted with rage as she touched her bleeding forehead and squinted at the object on the ground. A rock.
Em looked behind her, but she didn’t see who had thrown the rock. She couldn’t see anyone in the shadows of the castle. All the soldiers were at the front of the castle, not the southeast side.
Em scrambled to her feet, yelping at the pain that seared through her leg, and grabbed for the sword in her sister’s hand. Olivia let go of the blade without a fight. Blood poured down her face and into her left eye, but she didn’t wipe it away.
Em watched as Olivia looked left, to the dark buildings of Royal City. If her sister ran now, she would certainly make it out alive. Olivia looked right, to the battle raging in front of the castle. Yells rose up from the mess of soldiers, bodies scattered on the ground near the fighting.
Olivia turned right. She strode toward the battle, her coat billowing behind her, arms waving wildly.
Lera soldiers began flying through the air.
FORTY-SEVEN
IRIA DARTED OUT from behind a bush and ran for Em. Her foot protested, but the pain was dull now, only a hint of what it had been.
Em was trying to run, but she was dragging one leg behind her, and Iria easily caught up with her. She laid a hand on Em’s shoulder.
“Em,” she said.
Em jumped, relief crossing her face when she turned to see Iria standing there. Iria wrapped an arm around Em’s waist, letting Em lean against her for support.
“Was that you? With the rock?” Em asked.
“Yes. It was all I could do.” She gestured to her clothes. “I don’t have Weakling armor. She would have killed me on sight.” Iria followed Em’s gaze to where Olivia was headed to the front lawn of the castle. Hundreds of soldiers stretched out in front of the castle, swords, battle-axes, and other weapons flying. A few arrows whizzed over their heads.
The Olso and Vallos armies had clearly taken significant casualties—bodies were strewn about—but they showed no signs of retreating. She spotted several warriors swinging their swords at Lera soldiers.
Olivia was approaching from the east side, running toward the back of oblivious Lera soldiers. A body flew straight up in the air. Screams rippled through the crowd.
Em grabbed Iria around the waist, trying to hobble forward.
“We need to get you inside,” Iria said. “You’re injured.”
“We need to get to Olivia.” Em let out a cry as she tried to walk too fast, pain shooting up her leg.
Iria grasped the material of Em’s shirt, bringing her to a stop. She knelt down. “Get on my back. It’ll be faster.”
There was a brief silence, like Em was thinking of protesting, then Iria felt her arms loop around her neck. Iria stood, grabbing underneath Em’s thighs to keep her steady.
She’d lost some strength in the last few weeks, but not all of it, and she was able to break into a run with Em on her back. Olivia had disappeared into the mess of soldiers, screams rising up from the crowd. Iria followed them.
An arrow whizzed by, narrowly missing Iria’s ear. She felt Em jerk to dodge it.
Iria ran straight into the crush of bodies. She was surrounded by Lera soldiers shouting orders to each other.