“Not the time,” the queen said, shaking her head at her husband. He raised his hands in surrender. She focused on Cas again. “Right now we need to assess the damage done. What does she know? What was she doing while she was here?”
“She was with Iria all the time,” Cas said. “They’d become friends.”
“Or they were already friends, before she got here,” his mother said. “Given that the warriors have mysteriously disappeared with her, I think we can safely assume that they knew exactly who Mary really was.”
Cas cracked all the knuckles on his left hand, one at a time. “We went down to the shore. She was interested in the towers and how we protected our borders.”
“And you showed her all that?” his father exclaimed.
“It doesn’t matter now,” the queen said before Cas could reply. “We need to prepare for the possibility of an attack. Let’s call in the hunters from Vallos and Ruina.”
“It will take weeks to get them all back.”
“We caught Emelina off guard,” his mother said. “Hopefully we have some time. But we’ll put the guards at the towers on high alert.”
His father frowned at Cas. “I can’t believe you just handed over that information to her.”
“She was my wife! I trusted her!” The last words tasted bitter as he said them.
He’d thought she cared about him and was excited about the prospect of ruling the kingdom with him one day. He’d thought she was strong and brave and would be the best queen Lera had ever seen.
He’d thought she was falling in love with him.
Maybe she had fallen in love with him. Her tearstained face filled his vision. I don’t think this is who I want to be, she’d said. His brain screamed that she was a liar who couldn’t be trusted, but he couldn’t help but think that last night had been real.
The thought flooded his body with a sudden burst of rage. If it had been real, why hadn’t she told him the truth? He’d told her, Choose better next time. She could have chosen to tell him the truth. She could have trusted him to listen, to be willing to negotiate about Olivia. She’d chosen violence, and deception, just like her mother.
She’d chosen wrong.
TWENTY-THREE
EM AND IRIA spent an unfortunate amount of time hiding in a horse stall not far from the castle. By the time they were able to step out, they both smelled and were stiff from crouching.
The hem of her light-blue dress was covered in mud, and she wished she’d had time to change into pants before escaping. She had nowhere to put the sword she’d stolen, and now that the sun had set, there was a bit of a chill in the air.
“Give it to me,” Iria said, holding out her hand. “I have a spot on the other side of my belt.”
Em hesitated. She didn’t want to be without a weapon while Iria had two. If she’d been smart, she would have put together a bag to easily grab on her way out of the castle. Now she was stuck out here with nowhere to put her weapon, no water, and no food.
“Would you prefer to carry it?” Iria asked, raising an eyebrow. “It will just attract attention.”
Em handed the sword over, and Iria slipped it through the leather on the right side of her belt.
“We’re supposed to meet Koldo, Benito, and Aren not far from here,” Iria said, taking a glance around. The main road that led into the center of Royal City stretched out to the east.
Behind them, the wheels of a cart squeaked as a man pushed it toward the center of town. They were so close Em could hear the laughter coming from the cluster of buildings. A few more steps and maybe she’d be able to smell cheese bread.
The man glanced over his shoulder as he turned the cart around a corner.
“Let’s get out of here,” Em said.
“Follow me.” Iria took off jogging, and Em hurried behind her. They ran across the road and through the tall grass until Em’s legs and lungs burned. She’d lost some of her stamina while in the castle.
They headed away from the center of Lera. They were traveling west, to the jungle. Em had taken the main roads and skirted around the edge of the jungle on her journey to Royal City several weeks ago, but she’d already considered it as the best way to go south.
The heart of the jungle was still a half day’s walk away, but Iria led them into the thick band of trees just outside Royal City. She slowed to a walk and Em coughed as she tried to catch her breath.
“You should have gone running with me in the mornings.” Iria was annoyingly smug.
“I’ll . . . be fine in a few days,” Em said, taking in gulps of air. “I always adjust quickly.”
Iria smirked. “I hope so. They’ve only just begun to send out guards after us.” She took off at a quick walk, and Em struggled to keep pace behind her.
Two figures came into view, and Em frantically scanned the area around them.
“Where’s Aren?” she asked, jogging past Iria.
Koldo’s eyes were wide with regret. “I’m sorry. I got separated from Aren right after we left the castle. There were guards everywhere, and we were both just trying to get away.”