Em’s face the last time she’d seen her flickered across her vision. Her sister had been unsteady on her feet, pieces of her clothing burned away to reveal angry red flesh underneath. But she hadn’t looked like she was in pain. She’d looked horrified.
All her horror was directed at Olivia. She could still feel it, like it was flaming rocks Em had hurled at her. Em had taken down an entire country to save Olivia, but when Olivia did it she was worthy of contempt?
She shook the image of Em out of her mind. Ivanna and Mariana stood apart from the other Ruined, their heads bent together as they whispered to each other and stole looks at Olivia.
“Something you’d like to share?” Olivia snapped.
Mariana stared at her for a moment. “Em wouldn’t have wanted you to do that.”
She was so tired of hearing about what Em wanted. Whatever Olivia did, Em wanted the opposite. Even when Olivia was rescuing her.
“Then it’s a good thing Em isn’t the boss of me.” Olivia strode to her horse and quickly mounted it. “Let’s go. She can’t have gone far on foot.”
She rode as fast as the horse would go. The rest of the Ruined trailed behind her and she’d have to go back for the stragglers, but she didn’t slow down. The important thing was to find Em. Despite everything, she had to make sure Em wasn’t dead.
Then she had to figure out what to do with the Ruined following her. She’d torn them from Sacred Rock and they couldn’t go back. It was a pitiful home, but still, she knew that they’d become to grow comfortable there. Now they resented her for making them leave.
She sensed the humans before she was able to see them. A tug on the reins brought her horse to a halt. The Ruined who’d managed to keep up stopped as well.
She jumped off the horse and held out a hand, indicating for the Ruined to stay where they were. Jacobo nodded.
The sound of horse hooves and the rustling of a flag drifted through the trees, and she carefully stepped away from her horse. She walked quickly, the trees growing thicker as she approached the road. A Lera flag flashed through the leaves.
They’d left the fortress. She’d expected them to hide much longer.
Soldiers stretched out on the road in both directions in front of her, and she stood on her toes, trying to see if she recognized anyone. There were hundreds of soldiers, maybe more than she could handle alone. Annoyance flickered through her chest.
She jumped over a log and took off in the same direction as the soldiers. She needed to see who was leading this group. And kill them, maybe.
Cas. She spotted him as soon as she reached the front of the group, riding a horse with a girl tucked up against him. He had one hand on the reins and the other on her waist.
Em looked like she was asleep. Asleep. Surrounded by the Lera army, and her sister slept. Olivia’s relief to find her sister alive was immediately swallowed by a wave of anger.
A familiar face caught her eye. Olivia gasped. Aren. He was riding not far from Cas and Em, on his own horse. No ropes bound his arms or legs. He was riding with them willingly.
Olivia darted behind a bush and sank to her knees. She clenched her fingers into fists.
Aren was helping them. Em had run straight from the warriors to Cas. Traitors, both of them.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. First Em and Aren wanted to partner with Olso. Now they partnered with Lera. A Ruina queen, riding with the Lera army. Olivia’s mother would dig herself out of her grave and die again if she knew.
Her sister would tell her to stop and think. To be logical. Fine. She could be logical.
Cas had risked his life to tell Olivia Em had been taken. He cared about Em. There was no doubt about that.
His army rode north. There was only one reason for the king of Lera to ride north right now—to retake his castle. Considering the size of his army, he had a decent shot. If Aren was truly helping them, the odds were even better.
Em claimed that Cas would end the extermination of the Ruined. That was probably true. For his reign, anyway. He could make no guarantees about the next heir to the Lera throne. She had no confidence in future Lera kings or queens.
Was that all it took to earn her sister’s loyalty? An “oops, sorry” and a promise to stop murdering people? Olivia didn’t see how that was nearly enough. Nothing would be enough, but Cas could have at least offered to help them. Had he sent supplies or workers to help rebuild Ruina? Had he offered funds? Had he done anything to help them rebuild the life his people had destroyed?
No. His regret was not enough for Olivia. Regret did not give her back her mother. It didn’t erase the year of torture she’d endured. No apology, no matter how sincere, was enough for her people. Accepting it would make her weak, and the Ruined would never bow to a weak queen.
And they certainly wouldn’t bow to her if she took them all back to Ruina. Ruina, with its pathetic miner cabins and land where nothing would grow. She didn’t want to be queen of that.
She curled her fingers around the grass beneath her. Lera was green. The elemental Ruined were so much happier here, surrounded by trees and plants and water. She hated to admit it, but Lera was much nicer than Ruina.
Calm washed over her, and she slowly got to her feet. She wasn’t going back to Ruina. The Ruined were staying right here in Lera, where they belonged. It was the humans who had taken the other three kingdoms from them and banished them to the worst one. Her people would never doubt her again if she claimed the most powerful kingdom for them.
She walked back to where the Ruined were waiting. They looked at her expectantly.
“I found Em and Aren,” she said.
“What?” Mariana blinked in surprise.
“They’re with the Lera army.”
“As prisoners?” Jacobo asked.
“I don’t think so. We’re going to follow them. I suspect they’re going to Royal City, and I’d like to see how things play out.”
Ivanna and Mariana looked at each other uneasily.
“If Em is with them, maybe it means they’ve come to an agreement,” Mariana said.
“Probably. But how well did our agreement with Olso work out?”
Mariana snapped her mouth shut.
“Em and Aren are smart,” Olivia said. “They could be riding with the Lera army for safety. I’m not concerned with them right now. I’m concerned with Casimir, and his desire to retake the castle.”
“He can’t,” Jacobo said fiercely.
“No, he can’t,” Olivia agreed. “So we stay out of sight until we get to Royal City.”
“And when we get there?” Jacobo asked.
“We keep them from reclaiming it. And we move in.”
“Let’s stop here,” Cas said, pulling on the reins of his horse. The sun had just set, and they were in a quiet spot of Lera, between the fortress and Gallego City. There was plenty of space to set up tents between the trees, and he could see a stream not far away.
Em took in a breath as she stirred against his chest. He put a hand on her head, brushing the hair out of her face.
Aren jumped off his horse and held the reins out to Iria. “Do you mind?”