“I don’t want to marry August,” she whispered. His eyes darted to hers. “I have to make smart choices, but it’s not what I want. You’re the only one I want.”
He shook her hand off, and for a moment she thought he was going to walk away. But he turned, grabbed her around the waist, and roughly pulled her against him. She wrapped her arms around him.
He put one hand on the back of her head, holding it steady as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Thanks for the push.”
He released her and quickly turned away.
Cas sat in the back of the wagon with Violet, their legs hanging out the open back door. Mateo hung a blue shirt as a makeshift flag on top of the wagon, and it flapped in the breeze as the horses plodded through the forest.
He ripped open the letter as they neared the fortress. Em’s handwriting was messier than he’d expected, the letters loopy and running into each other. It made his chest ache. He slipped the letter into his pocket.
“I can’t decide if this is brave or stupid,” Violet said.
“I guess we’ll find out.” The sun was sinking lower in the sky, and he lifted a hand to shield his eyes. “Thanks for sticking with me.”
“Don’t make me regret it.” She grinned and bumped her shoulder against his.
He had to force his smile. “I’ll try.”
“I see the fortress!” Galo called from the front of the wagon. “I think we’re being watched. They’re letting us get close. Do you want to go to the front or back?”
“Front,” Cas replied. “Stop a good distance from the gate and we’ll walk the rest of the way.”
Galo obeyed, and the horses came to a stop a few minutes later. Cas offered Violet his hand as they jumped out. The gates of the fortress loomed ahead of them. The wall had been almost fully repaired while he was gone. Five guards stood in front of the gate.
“Behind me,” Cas said to his friends. Galo, Mateo, and Violet lined up behind him.
One of the guards had an arrow pointed at him, and Cas lifted his hands in surrender as he walked. “I don’t think you want to shoot your king!”
The guard slowly lowered his bow. “Your Majesty?”
“Nice to see you again, Jared,” Galo said from behind him.
“We didn’t know you’d be returning, Your Majesty,” Jared said. He whispered something to the other guards. The gate opened. One quickly hurried inside.
“Why wouldn’t he return?” Galo asked. Jared just swallowed.
“Should I wait here?” Cas asked, stopping a few paces from the guard.
“Um …” Jared looked behind him, obviously flustered. “The order was not to let anyone in without Jovita’s approval… .”
“He’s your king,” Galo spat.
“It’s fine,” Cas said. “Best to be cautious. I’ll wait here.” Jared. Loyal to Jovita. He repeated the name several times in his head. He needed to memorize it.
His cousin burst through the gate, utter disbelief on her face. Danna and Julieta followed her. People flooded the courtyard behind them. Jovita yelled for them to go back inside, but no one moved.
Jovita let out an annoyed breath and stomped to Cas. “Cas.” The scar on her cheek twitched. “I thought …”
“You thought perhaps I was still locked in my room? You did make it very hard for me to leave.”
Silence fell over the crowd. Shock colored a few faces.
Jovita narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you abandoned your kingdom. Considering you ran away in the middle of the night like a criminal.”
“I was poisoned. I thought it best that I leave while I recovered.”
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
“Are you all right, Your Majesty?” Julieta asked.
“I am, thank you. Galo took care of the guard who did it.” Cas strode forward, sidestepping Jovita. “Advisers, follow me.” He looked over his shoulder to see Jovita rooted in place. “Now.”
The guards rushed to open the front door for him, and he walked inside and straight to the meeting room. He took the seat at the head of the table. Violet sat next to him, and the other advisers took their seats around her. Cas motioned for Galo and Mateo to stay in the room. They both hovered near him.
“The attack on the Ruined,” Cas started, before Jovita had settled in her seat. “I understand it didn’t go well. We lost all soldiers except one, correct?”
“That’s correct,” Danna said. She shot an angry look at Jovita.
“It was only our first—” Jovita began.
“Enough,” Cas interrupted. “You’ve had plenty of time to speak. It’s my turn now.”
Jovita turned red, but she snapped her mouth shut.
“I’ve come to a few conclusions. One, sending our soldiers to attack the Ruined without proper preparation was deeply stupid. It was reckless and immature and caused us to lose soldiers when we need them most.” He leveled his gaze at Jovita, but she refused to meet it. “Two, locking me up under the pretense of being insane simply because I disagreed with all of you was treasonous, a crime punishable by death in Lera.”
Silence descended on the room. General Amaro’s throat bobbed as she swallowed hard.
“Three, you were right about the Ruined, and because of that, I will spare your lives.”
Julieta’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean, we were right?”
“The Ruined are plotting to attack the fortress again. Emelina and Olivia have formed a diarchy and they’ve taken up residence in Sacred Rock. I’ve been there.”
“You went to Sacred Rock?” Jovita sat up straighter.
“Briefly. I went to speak with Emelina about the possibility of a peace treaty between the Ruined and Lera. She was not amenable to the discussion.”
Jovita snorted. “No kidding.”
“However, it turns out you did accomplish one thing by attacking the Ruined.” Cas turned to Jovita. “Emelina has plans to kill you. You’re her highest priority.”
The smug look on his cousin’s face faded. “I—I guess that was to be expected.”
He reached into his pocket for the letter and slid it across the table to her. “I intercepted a letter from Emelina on my way out of town. I suspect you’re the leader she’s talking about in it. She sent Ruined after us to kill me—she must have thought I was already taken care of.”
Jovita hastily opened the letter, frowning as she read it. “It’s to an Olso leader. They still have an alliance.”
“They will continue to have one. Emelina is considering an offer of marriage from August, the youngest prince of Olso.”
Julieta pressed her palms to her forehead. “We thought the Ruined might reject the warriors once they were back in Ruina.”
“Perhaps they would have. Then you attacked them and made their alliance even stronger.” Cas looked at each adviser in turn. “This nonsense about me being insane ends now. I will admit that I was wrong about the Ruined. And you will admit that the attack on them was a mistake. From now on, we will be cautious and smart. We will form a plan to defeat the Ruined and retake the castle when it makes the most sense.”