She glared at him, and he laughed as he sank down farther into his pillows.
“I wasn’t planning to poison you before, but now I definitely am,” she said as she threw open the door. “Watch your back, Prince Casimir.”
He grinned at her. “I have Mary to do that for me.”
“Why is it always sunny?” Aren looked up at the sky in disgust, shielding his face with his hand. “Even their weather is mocking me.”
Em followed his gaze to the clear blue sky. The air was fresh and cool, the birds soaring in the direction of the ocean. The castle gardens bloomed with red, yellow, and pink flowers, and various citrus fruits hung from trees. It really was disgustingly beautiful in Lera.
“The ancestors blessed them,” she said with a mock-serious expression.
Aren rolled his eyes. “If I have to hear that one more time, I’m going to kill someone. Don’t be surprised if you see one of their heads just suddenly separate from their body.”
She glanced over her shoulder, at the empty path behind them. “Say that a little louder. I don’t think they heard you on the other side of the gardens.”
“Sorry.” He lowered his voice. “My mother used to tell me the ancestors had blessed me. I don’t like hearing it out of their mouths.”
“I know,” Em said softly.
“Maybe the ancestors didn’t bless anyone. Maybe they never even existed,” Aren said, his voice wobbling. His mother had been the castle priest, and his words weighed heavy on Em’s heart. He never would have dreamed of saying those words a year ago.
She reached over and squeezed his hand briefly. He squeezed it back.
The castle wall came into view as they reached the edge of the gardens. A wide swath of grass stretched between the wall and the gardens, making sure that anyone who jumped it would be in plain view of the guards.
“There’s one guard in that tower,” Em said without looking back at it. The tower was on the east side of the castle, stretching higher than the rest of the building. A perfect spot to watch the entire wall.
“Maybe two,” Aren said. “And did you see that watch post when we came in? From where it’s positioned, the guard would also have an excellent view of the entire castle grounds.”
“I couldn’t see anything in that stupid carriage.”
“It’s in the trees, not far from the main castle gate.”
“Find out how those shifts are assigned. I want to know if it’s always the same few people, or if they rotate.”
“Got it.”
She touched the wall. Stone. It was very tall, but there was a tree near the wall ahead that could easily be climbed, though it would be quite a jump to the other side.
“Guards posted on the other side of the wall?” she whispered.
“Yes. Not a popular position. Very boring, apparently. And you have to stand the whole time.”
“Find out how many and where.”
“Already on it.”
“A Ruined could take this wall down, right?” she asked. “At least a piece of it?”
“Damian could take down a large chunk of it at full strength.”
“Good.”
They continued walking, Em making a note of how long it took to walk the entire perimeter. If a hasty escape was necessary, the wall would pose a significant problem.
“How was the prince last night? You saw him, didn’t you?” Aren asked.
“Fine. It’s just a shoulder injury.” She blew out a breath of air. “He wants to talk to me about the Ruined.”
“What? How did that come up?”
“It’s my fault. I can’t keep my mouth shut. I may have said they were murdering us.”
“Mary would have hated the Ruined, Em. They murdered her parents.”
“So? No one here ever met her. They don’t know that for sure.”
“Was he mad? Was it like, ‘We’ll discuss this later, peasant. Now leave me to my murdering’?” He lowered his voice in an impression of Cas and grinned.
“No. It was more like he was intrigued. Like he was willing to talk about it,” she said, and Aren gave her a baffled look. “I know! I never considered the possibility that I could actually talk sense into him.”
“It’s not a possibility,” Aren said. “Even if Cas is willing to listen to you and the king died tomorrow, it wouldn’t change anything. The king’s advisers support the Ruined policies. Besides, he’s what . . . seventeen?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s been able to take the throne for two years. He was in those meetings when they decided. If he had something to say, he would have done it already.”
“True. Sympathy doesn’t mean much if you don’t take action.” She shuddered as the image of a shirtless Cas ran through her head. She didn’t like him in her head.
“Have you heard anything about Olivia yet?” Aren asked.