“You shouldn’t let Cas go at all,” Jacobo said as they walked down the dirt road. “We should keep him prisoner until we don’t need him anymore.”
“He’s not worth anything as a prisoner,” Ivanna said. “Besides, there’s no use destroying the potential of an alliance. We don’t need it now, but you never know.”
“Ruined aligning with Lera,” Jacobo said with a snicker. “That’ll be the day.”
Ivanna shrugged. “I’m just saying that Emelina is smart to stay on good terms with them.”
“Thank you,” Em said, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. “Would you and Mariana start feeling out the Ruined for me? Find some who would be interested in going up north with the warriors?”
“Sure,” Mariana said. Ivanna nodded, and they turned to follow Jacobo and Davi back into the center of town.
Em looked at Aren. “That was strange.”
“Not really. I think you made the right call too.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You’d be doing Jovita a favor by killing Cas. Besides, he’s not that …” Aren scrunched his face up. “He could be worse, I guess.”
“Wow,” Em said with a laugh. “I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard you say about a Leran.”
“Don’t go spreading it around.” He paused. “He told me you and he never consummated the marriage.”
“He did?”
“He thought you’d already told me. Which you should have, by the way.”
“Oh. Well …” She shrugged, avoiding his gaze.
“I was worried about that, you know. I thought you were traumatized by having to have sex with him. You could have told me you were too scared.”
“I was not scared! I was … uncomfortable.”
“I don’t blame you.”
She was definitely not too scared at the moment, though. She scanned the area, and found Iria walking away from the cabin. Em waved good-bye to Aren and jogged to catch up with her.
“Can I ask you a question?” Em asked as she fell into step beside her.
“I’m volunteering to join the team going north, if that’s what you were thinking.”
“No, but that’s not a bad idea. I was actually wondering, uh, if you have any of the Juner herb. Or if you’ve seen a place nearby where it’s growing.”
Iria came to a stop, a grin spreading across her face. “Going to make use of those last three days, huh?”
Em’s face flushed. “Uh, well …” Yes, she was. But the last thing she needed was a baby, and the Juner herb prevented pregnancy.
“There’s a field of it outside of town, northeast. I saw it on our ride here.”
“Do you … do you think you could show me? I don’t actually know what it looks like.”
Iria’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Sure. We can walk. It’s not far.”
“Thanks.”
“Your mother didn’t show you?” Iria asked as they walked. “Or does it not grow in Ruina?”
“It does. I don’t think it was a priority for her. I know a bunch of herbs that will kill you, though.”
“Well, that’s helpful too, I guess.”
NINETEEN
“GOING SOMEWHERE?”
Aren jumped at the sound of the voice. Iria stood at the entrance of the barn, gathering her windblown hair into a ponytail. When he didn’t reply, she pointed at the horse he’d saddled.
“I’m … going to check something,” he said.
“To check something,” she repeated, suspicion in her voice.
He swallowed down a wave of nerves. He wanted to check if Olivia had killed all those people yesterday. He’d fled like a coward when she killed the first one, and had no idea if they were all dead. Maybe she’d left some injured. Olivia knew, of course, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask her. He didn’t want to go anywhere near her.
A wave of panic crashed over him as Olivia’s words replayed in his head: I guess you’ll be marrying me, then. How could he marry someone who killed without a hint of remorse? Not just without remorse, but with absolute glee, on occasion. What would she do when she got angry with him? He might lose a limb every time they fought.
He let out an almost hysterical laugh, and Iria looked at him with concern.
“Do you want some company?” she asked.
Yes. The word sat on the tip of his tongue. He wanted her to come. He wanted to tell someone what Olivia had done. Someone who wasn’t Em. He hadn’t figured out how to talk to Em about her sister yet.
“Whatever you see … will you keep it a secret?” he asked. “Just until we can figure out what to do.”
Surprise and concern lit up Iria’s face, but she nodded in agreement. He helped her saddle another horse and they rode out of the barn and through the town. He looked over his shoulder as they passed the statues of the ancestors in front of the courthouse. He didn’t like those statues. Their eyes followed him wherever he went.
The sun was sinking at his left shoulder, casting an orange glow over the area, and he focused straight ahead, pretending he didn’t feel the eyes of the ancestors boring into his back.
It was almost dark when he pulled the horse to a stop. The cluster of tents next to the road was still there.
Bodies littered the ground. Flies buzzed around the corpses. She’d killed them all.
Aren slid off his horse. He knew his boots hit the ground because he heard it, but his body had gone numb.
You could have stopped it. The voice in his head scream-whispered the words to him.
“What happened?” Iria gasped. She dismounted her horse and ran toward the bodies. She came to a sudden stop and pressed the back of her hand against her nose.
Aren reached for his horse. His legs wobbled beneath him. He needed something to hold him upright.
His mother was probably saying something in his head, but he couldn’t hear anything but the roaring in his ears. He was partly responsible for this. He should have never followed Olivia to kill those men at the cabins in Ruina. He should have never killed with her. Look at what he’d caused.
“Aren.” Iria was in front of him. He hadn’t noticed her walking to him, but there she was, close enough to touch. “What happened?”
An unexpected tear fell down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away.
“Aren,” Iria said softly. She reached for his hand. Her skin was soft and warm next to his, and he gratefully closed his fingers around hers.
“Olivia,” he whispered.
“She killed them? Why?”
A hysterical laugh bubbled up in his throat. Why? Why did Olivia do anything? She hated humans.
Aren looked up at Iria. He’d thought he hated them too. He was relieved to realize he was wrong.
“Does Em know?” Iria asked. He shook his head. “We need to tell her.”
“It’s already done. I didn’t stop Olivia.”
“The Vallos people could retaliate. They already hate Em for killing their princess. They don’t need much of a push to launch an attack.”
“Right.” It was stupid of him not to think of that earlier. They were technically in enemy territory right now.