She took the other empty seat next to Cas. “How are you, Casimir?”
“Fine,” he said, unable to hide his suspicion at the friendly greeting. “You?”
“I’m well, thank you. I noticed you left the fortress again this morning to visit the scene of the queen’s death.”
Every pair of eyes in the room turned to Cas. He resisted the urge to squirm beneath their stares.
“You go there often,” Jovita said.
“Yes,” he replied. “It gives me a chance to think.”
“I understand that you’re grieving, but now is the time for action, not thinking. How do you expect to get anything done if you spend most of the day wandering around aimlessly?”
“I don’t spend most of the day there. But it appears you spend most of your day tracking my movements.”
Annoyance flashed across Jovita’s face. “I’m worried about you. And by extension, Lera. You’ve offered no plan, so—”
“I believe that’s what this meeting is about,” he said. “So if we’re done talking about how I grieve for my mother, I’d like to move on.”
Jovita snapped her mouth closed, her jaw twitching.
“Good.” Cas faced forward, trying to avoid looking at his cousin. “The fortress is already at capacity, but we still have people arriving every day. We’ll need more space soon, and I think the south is our best bet. I’d like to send a group of soldiers south to speak with the leaders of the southern province. We have the governor with us”—he gestured at Violet—“but I’d like to know how the people there are doing. None of them have joined us here.”
“The Ruined were headed south after the battle,” Danna said. “There may not be many people left.”
“They were going south to Ruina,” he said. “They didn’t attack anyone.”
Danna’s eyebrows shot up. “What makes you so sure?”
“They weren’t prepared for another battle when they left. They lost too many here.”
“A Ruined is always prepared for battle,” Jovita said. “The truth is, Emelina told you she wouldn’t attack anyone if you gave her Olivia, and you stupidly believe her.”
Cas tensed. He couldn’t deny it. He assumed Lera still controlled the southern province because the Olso warriors hadn’t invaded past the fortress yet. He didn’t actually know for sure.
“I’d like to be part of the group that goes south,” Violet said. She looked worried suddenly.
“Of course. As governor of the province you should lead the soldiers,” he said.
“As governor of the southern province she should stay here, where it’s safe,” Jovita said. “We can’t afford to lose any more leaders.”
“What do you suggest, then?” he asked. “That we all hide in here until Olso attacks again?”
“No. With the hunters back, we have enough soldiers to launch an attack.”
“On who, exactly?”
“The Ruined.”
Cas didn’t try to hide his incredulity. “You want to attack the Ruined?”
Jovita leaned forward. “Of course I want to attack the Ruined. The question is, why don’t you? Emelina Flores killed the princess of Vallos. She partnered with Olso, took the castle, and started a war. We are in this mess because of her, and you just let her go. You ordered the hunters to stop killing the Ruined, even though they will take every opportunity to kill us!”
“They left! We are the ones who should be feared, not the Ruined. We murdered them without provocation.”
“Without provocation?” Jovita reeled back. “Is that really what you think of the Ruined? That they’re not dangerous?”
“Not all of them, no.”
Jovita plastered a worried expression on her face. “I … I don’t really know what to say to that, Cas.”
“They’ve just attacked us,” General Amaro said. “I don’t know what else they’d have to do for you to consider them dangerous.”
An uncomfortable silence settled into the room. Cas searched the faces of his advisers, trying to find someone who agreed with him. Galo and Violet were the only ones who didn’t look angry or horrified. Heat rose up his neck.
“The Ruined are not my priority right now,” Cas said. “We need to focus on maintaining our hold in the south and prepare to retake the castle. The best thing for Lera is—”
“You have no interest in what’s best for Lera,” Jovita said.
“All I’ve ever done is what’s best for Lera!”
“You released Olivia Flores. She killed the queen and countless guards and soldiers. Was that really best for Lera?”
Cas’s stomach churned. His mind was suddenly blank. He had no good response to that.
“I don’t mean to attack you, Cas,” Jovita said softly. No one else seemed to notice her voice was thick with condescension. “I think you need to take a step back and consider your mental state right now.”
The room tilted, and Cas wondered for a moment if he had lost his mind. Surely going insane would be less painful than this?
“My mental state,” he repeated.
“You’re still grieving your parents. Your wife betrayed you. You were attacked in the jungle. I’m not judging you, Cas. Anyone would start to crack under those circumstances.”
“He is not insane,” Galo said fiercely.
Jovita held up a finger like she wasn’t interested in Galo’s opinion. “I didn’t say he was. I was simply suggesting that perhaps you’re not thinking clearly right now. Have you taken any time to rest? That might be just what you need.”
“I’m fine,” Cas said sharply.
Jovita cast a worried look across the table. The advisers were buying this charade, it seemed. None of them wanted to meet Cas’s gaze.
“Why don’t you take some time to think about my plan to launch an attack on the Ruined?” Jovita said. “We can reconvene tomorrow after you’ve given it some thought.”
Cas stood, his chair scraping the floor. “I don’t need to think about it. The answer is no.”
“But—”
“No,” he repeated firmly. He strode out of the room, Galo following close behind. Whispered voices drifted out of the room as the door shut.
“They can’t do anything without the king’s approval,” Galo said.
Cas ran a hand down his face. He wasn’t so sure about that.
Almost two hundred faces stared up at Em. She swallowed, trying not to let her nervousness show on her face. She half expected the Ruined to start rioting.
Olivia stood beside her, in front of all of the Ruined who had made it to Ruina so far. They’d set up tents near the castle, and Olivia had called everyone out and ordered them to sit in the dirt as she announced the new leadership plans. The tents flapped in the wind behind the Ruined and a light rain had started to fall. Em wished, not for the first time, that they had a place to go with actual walls. She hated seeing them out in the cold.