“Thank you,” Daniela said, her eyes shining with tears. Several more thank-yous rumbled through the crowd, and he gave a tired smile before turning away. Galo stood behind him, watching the staff.
“I think you’ve just created thirty people who would do anything you say,” the guard said.
Cas walked to his horse. “It looks like a few died since the last time I saw them.”
“That’s not your fault.”
Cas shrugged as he mounted his horse. The guard climbed atop his as well, and the rest of the guards spread out in front and behind him as they started down the trail.
“I’m sorry about your father,” Galo said after a long silence.
“A warrior came through the window and stabbed him before I could react,” Cas said. “I couldn’t save him.”
“No one expected you to,” Galo said. “You shouldn’t have had to face a warrior alone anyway. I failed you.”
“No, you didn’t,” Cas said, frowning at him. “If I remember correctly, you stayed behind to fight off a rather large number of warriors. I’m surprised you made it out alive.”
“I am too.”
“It’s a good thing. I don’t know who else I would have named captain of my guard.”
Galo looked at Cas in surprise. “I’m too young to be captain of the king’s guard.”
“Well, I’m too young to be king, but here we are.”
“Here we are,” Galo repeated quietly. He gave Cas a sad smile. “All right. Thank you.” He paused, glancing at Cas for several moments. “We haven’t found a trace of Emelina Flores.”
“Ah.”
“You hadn’t asked.”
“I guess I figured you would say if you had.”
Galo gave him a thoroughly suspicious look but didn’t push further. Cas would confide in him eventually, but not when the other guards were so close.
Cas glanced at his friend, realizing for the first time that Galo was the only person he trusted enough to tell the truth about Emelina. His mother and Jovita would have a nervous breakdown. None of his father’s advisers had ever taken him seriously enough to build any kind of relationship.
“I’m glad you’re not dead, Galo,” he said softly. He wanted to say more, to tell Galo everything and ask for advice, and he could see Galo reading that emotion on his face. Cas turned away, kicking his horse until it began galloping. “Let’s go.”
THIRTY-FIVE
LERA SOLDIERS SWARMED the fortress. Jovita had described Fort Victorra to Em as “simple,” and she wasn’t wrong. While the Royal City castle was all windows and lavish decorations, the fort was nothing but a square pile of bricks.
Two towers flanked the main building, with openings at the very top, presumably for the soldiers to keep watch. A brick wall ran around the entirety of the building, though it wasn’t so high that it couldn’t be climbed if necessary. But it would be hard to climb it without drawing attention from the guards.
Em crouched on a hill not far away, where she could see the soldiers milling around behind the wall. A huge number had made it to the Southern Mountains without being captured by Olso guards.
Em pressed her hands into the grass, craning her neck to peer at the winding road leading to the fort. The queen and Jovita had arrived several minutes ago, but there was no sign of Cas yet. Hopefully he wasn’t far behind.
A flash of movement caught her eye in the woods beyond the fort. A few red jackets came into view. Warriors.
She jumped to her feet, keeping her body low to the ground as she jogged down the hill. She needed to find Aren before Olivia was released. She wanted to hightail it out of Lera as soon as she had Olivia, and she wasn’t leaving without Aren.
She broke into a run as she entered the cover of trees. The woods were too quiet. No animals scurrying around, no insects chirping. A lot of people had been through the area recently.
A powerful gust of wind blew across her face, too strong to be natural. She whirled around, searching for the Ruined. Dirt sprayed across her face, and she blinked, her eyes watering.
A body smashed into hers, and Em grunted as she hit the ground. She threw her elbow back, connecting with soft flesh, and managed to wriggle away as the woman cried out in pain.
She scrambled across the dirt, her sword half drawn before she caught a glimpse of her attacker’s face. She froze.
“Mariana?”
The Ruined girl blinked, giving Em a baffled look. “Emelina?”
Footsteps pounded the dirt, and Em whipped her head around to see two Ruined men running toward them.
“It’s fine, it’s just Emelina.” Mariana jumped to her feet, dusting the dirt off her pants. “What are you doing here? We thought you were dead.”
“Nice to see you too.” Em pushed off the ground, adjusting the sword on her belt. “What are you doing here? Did you come in on the warrior ships?”
Mariana nodded. “The warriors wanted us to help take Fort Victorra.”
Em looked at the empty space around them. “Where are they?”