He dropped his eyes and tossed his canteen back in his bag. He couldn’t leave Em to deal with Olivia by herself. He couldn’t leave the Ruined to Olivia’s mercy.
He slowly walked to Iria, trying to calm his racing heart. He was more nervous than he’d been the first day in the Lera castle.
He almost reached for her hand when he stopped in front of her. It was becoming second nature, taking her hand. They both pretended it was to fuel his Ruined power, but it felt like more than that. But now didn’t feel like the right time to take her hand.
“Take a walk with me?” he asked.
She nodded and followed him away from the camp, into the thick trees. It was dark, the chatter fading behind them as Aren stopped and turned to face Iria. It was hard to make out her features in the darkness. He hadn’t planned that, but now he was glad for it.
“Do your powers work with Cas?” she asked before he could get a word out.
“What?”
“I saw you grabbing his wrist a few times. Does it work with him like it does with me?”
“Oh. Yeah.” He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know why. He’s the only one besides you.”
She laughed softly. “And here I thought I was special.” Her fingers brushed against his and he quickly pulled his hand back.
“Um …”
“What’s wrong?” Iria’s voice had turned serious.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Em and I were talking, and we think we’ll need some time with Olivia before we can bring any warriors near the Ruined again.”
“‘Any warriors’ meaning me.”
“Em said Olivia was crazy in Olso. We need to talk her down or figure something out. Em asked Cas if you could stay in Lera until I can come back for you, and he said he’d be happy for you to stay in the castle and—”
“In the Lera castle?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t stay in the Lera castle.”
“Cas said he would welcome you.”
Iria let out a short, humorless laugh. “I’m sure he would. And he’ll expect some information in return?”
“He didn’t say anything about—”
“I’ve become worse than his mother,” she interrupted. “She was the most notorious traitor in Olso, you know. We learned about her in training. How she took secrets to Lera in order to marry a king. And now I’m her!” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “No, I’m worse, because I did it during wartime.”
“You don’t have to give Cas any secrets,” he said.
“I don’t want to live in Lera. I didn’t betray my fellow warriors for him, I did it for the Ruined.” She didn’t say for you, but the unsaid words hung between them.
“I know,” he said quietly. “But there’s nowhere else …” He let his voice trail off.
She pressed her lips together. “There’s nowhere else for me to go.”
He nodded. She turned away, blinking like she was trying not to cry.
“It will only be temporary,” he said. “I’ll come back and—”
“It’s fine. You don’t owe me anything. You didn’t ask me to save you.”
He grabbed her wrist, making her face him. “I’ll come back, I promise. I would stay with you in Lera, but I can’t abandon the Ruined right now.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” She yanked her arm from his grasp.
“Iria, I—”
“Don’t worry about it, Aren. I never expected anything from you anyway.” She didn’t glance at him once as she walked away.
FORTY-THREE
CAS AND THE rest of the army spent two days on the road to Gallego City. Em asked to stay with them temporarily, and he happily agreed. She alternated between riding on his horse, Aren’s, and Iria’s. When she was with Cas she’d wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head against his back. He almost wished the journey would never end.
They found Gallego City completely devoid of warriors. Cas had been expecting a fight. He’d worried they wouldn’t even make it past Gallego City to the Royal City and the castle. He’d sent scouts up ahead and had the army in battle formation, ready to take on the warriors.
Instead, the town square was empty. A park sat in the center of Gallego City, and it was so quiet the sound of the water splashing in the fountain could be heard from a ways away. A door to one of the shops swung open in the breeze.
He dismounted his horse and walked across the street. The two-story white building housed the governor’s office for the central province, but the door was locked tight. He peeked in a window. An empty desk sat in the corner of the room, the chair next to it overturned.
He walked back to his horse and looked up at Em. “I thought you said the warriors who brought you over the border were headed to Gallego City.”
“They were. But they only had one carriage and could travel faster. They probably arrived yesterday.”
“And left,” he murmured, studying an abandoned canteen on the ground. His eyes skipped over the people around him. Many were on horses, but a large group had to walk, and he found Iria in the middle of them. He waved her over. She came slowly, her face tight like she was trying not to show her anger.
“Where would the warriors have gone?” he asked her quietly. “Why did they leave Gallego City?”
She pressed her lips together and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been with you or Aren the whole time.”
“A guess?”
“I don’t … I don’t want—” She cut herself off suddenly and blinked several times. Cas realized with a start that she was about to cry. He put a hand on her arm and gently pulled her away from the crowd. She jerked her arm away but walked beside him until they were standing on the porch of the governor’s building. She put her hands on her hips and turned her back to the soldiers.
“I liked it better when Em hated you,” she said, roughly wiping a hand across her cheeks.
“That didn’t last very long, you know. I won her over quickly.”
She rolled her eyes, but a smile twitched at her lips.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I noticed you and Aren haven’t been together since they asked if you could stay in Lera. You’re mad that he’s leaving you?”
“Yes, but it’s more than that.” She nudged a rock with the toe of her shoe, staring at it as if fascinated. “I made this split-second decision to save Aren and now I’m marching to Royal City with the Lera army to fight my own people. I wasn’t thinking about you or Lera when I saved him, I just didn’t want him to die. I didn’t think it was right for him to die.”
“But you regret it now?” he asked uneasily. He’d trusted Aren’s judgment in bringing Iria along, but it had occurred to him that having a warrior in his army was a risky decision.
“No,” she said, looking up at him quickly. “Of course not. I’d do it again. It’s just sinking in, what I did. I can never go back to Olso. I can never see my parents again. Not that they would want to see me. They’ll disown me the minute they hear. And now I’m supposed to give the Lera king information about the warriors?”
“Not if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t know what I want.”