“Let’s go see,” Em said, breaking into a jog. The logical part of her brain knew it probably wasn’t Olivia—there was no fire, and certainly not enough screaming—but her heart pounded anyway.
She ran in the direction of the scream, Mateo picking up his pace to run slightly in front of her. They skidded to a stop as they turned onto Main Street. A fruit cart was overturned, and an elderly woman sat on the ground with a hand pressed to her bloody head. A few people were running down the street, following a person Em couldn’t quite make out.
“That can’t be Olivia,” Mariana said. She’d obviously been thinking the same thing. “She wouldn’t run. Not away from violence, anyway.”
A young man rushed to the side of the elderly woman, and Em grabbed the cart and righted it. Mateo helped her.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“The king’s cousin,” the young man said, bending down to examine the woman’s wound.
“What? Jovita?” Em whirled around, but the end of the street was empty. She turned back to the woman, who was trying to wipe blood from her eyes.
“Do you have a clean rag?” Em asked the man.
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. Em grabbed a jug of water from beside the cart and held it up. “Is this yours?” The woman nodded. Em poured some water on it, then knelt down next to the woman, who hesitantly moved her hand from the wound. It was deep, but the bleeding had slowed. Em wiped the blood from her face, then folded the fabric and pressed it to her forehead. The woman winced.
“Just keep pressure on it so it doesn’t start bleeding too bad,” she said. “And don’t try to get up. You might feel woozy if you stand.”
The woman nodded, blinking at Em like she’d just realized who she was. The man was staring at Mariana’s arms. Em stood, putting her hands on her hips.
“Do you think Jovita went to the castle?” Em asked.
“Maybe, but she’ll never get in. We have it totally locked down,” Mateo said.
“True,” Em murmured. She looked at the woman. “Was she alone? Why did she hit you?”
“I didn’t see anyone else. She was trying to grab some fruit, and I didn’t recognize her at first. I thought she was a thief. She started screaming when I tried to stop her.”
“Let’s go see,” Em said.
“How about you wait here, and I can go check?” Mateo said.
“Or I can go with you to check,” Em countered.
“You don’t even have a sword because you want people to think you’re nice,” Mariana said.
“I do not want people to think I’m nice,” Em said. “I was trying for less scary, but there’s no need to get carried away with nice.”
“I’m not scared of you,” the elderly woman said with a hint of a smile.
“Thank you. See? It’s working.” She started walking backward. “I’m going after her.”
Mateo looked like he wanted to protest further, but Em turned and started to jog away. She heard his and Mariana’s footsteps behind her a moment later.
She turned a corner to see a small crowd in the street, all of their faces turned upward. Jovita stood on the roof of a three-story building, her body turned to face the castle. “I see you!” she yelled to the castle.
“Jovita!” Em called.
She turned around, losing her balance and almost falling off the roof. She crouched down for a moment to steady herself. She squinted at Em.
“You!” she yelled.
“What’s she doing up there?” Mariana asked.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s . . .” Jovita pointed a shaky finger at Em. “Do you people know who that is?”
A few faces turned to Em.
“Emelina Flores!” Jovita yelled, for those who hadn’t figured it out. “She’s just standing there with you!”
“They know who I am,” Em said. “I’ve been living in the castle for a while now.”
“Oh!” Jovita slapped her hands on her thighs. “I’m sorry. You live here now.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Mateo asked quietly.
“Someone has been in her mind,” Mariana said. “Olivia must have tortured her.”
Em took a quick glance around. Chances were good that Olivia and her Ruined were still lurking somewhere nearby.
“Is Ester powerful enough to do this?” Em asked, gesturing at Jovita.
“Yes.”
Em turned back to Jovita with a flicker of sympathy. “Why don’t you come down?”
Jovita pulled her sword from her belt. “Yes. I will come down. If you agree to a duel.”
“Sure.”
Jovita looked confused by this response. “To the death.”
“No problem.”
Jovita thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Good.” She walked to the edge of the roof, and tried to climb down with her sword still in hand. It took her several tries to realize she was going to have to sheathe it again if she wanted to get down.
“And you still don’t have a sword,” Mariana muttered.
“Look at her. I don’t need one.”
A woman edged away from the group of humans watching them. “You’re not really going to kill her, are you?” she whispered to Em.
“No,” she said. She pointed to the end of the street, where she could see a few of the Royal City Watch riding in their direction. “In fact, if you could go meet them and tell them what’s going on so they don’t take me away too, that would be great.”
The woman scurried away, appearing relieved.
Jovita finally made it to the ground, and she pulled her sword out again, poised to fight.
“Do you want me to . . .” Mariana jerked a thumb at Jovita.
“Would you, please?”
Mariana focused her gaze on Jovita. Her eyes clouded over and she fell straight backward, hitting the ground with a thud.
Em walked to Jovita, scooping the girl’s sword up from where it had fallen from her fingers.
“No fair,” Jovita mumbled, her gaze fixed on the sky. “No fair.”
Em knelt down next to her. “Was it Olivia who did this to you? Olivia and Ester?”
“You did this to us,” Jovita said.
“But you were with Olivia recently?”
Jovita turned her head to meet Em’s eyes. “Yes. We made a deal.”
Em’s brow creased, but she was momentarily distracted by one of the watchmen dismounting his horse and walking their way. She quickly held out Jovita’s sword to Mateo, blade pointed toward her, so the watchman would know she wasn’t a threat.
“This is a Gallegos family sword,” Em said. “It should go to Cas.”
Mateo took it. “Of course.” He walked to the watchmen and said something to them.
“We should take her to the castle,” Em said. “Cas will want to deal with her himself.”
“We can help transport her,” one of the watchmen said.
Em nodded, turning back to Jovita. “What kind of deal?” she asked quietly.
“She’s going to kill him,” Jovita said with a hint of pride. “And you.”
“How?”
Jovita giggled. “I know secrets. I know passageways.”
Terror zipped up Em’s spine. There was a secret passageway out of the castle—it was how Jovita and the queen had escaped when Olso attacked. But Em had never been told about the passageway during her time as Mary, and she hadn’t asked Cas about it since. She had no idea where it was.
She looked at Mateo to see a matching horrified expression on his face.
Olivia could be in the castle right now.
“Get her on a horse,” she said, pointing to Jovita. “We need to get back to the castle.”
FORTY-FOUR
AFTER SHE’D FINISHED sparring, Aren steered Iria in the direction of the kitchen, refusing to let her go back to her room until she’d eaten dinner with him. He grabbed some bread and cheese from the staff kitchen, and then headed into the gardens. He sat down at a table near the middle of the garden.
“This is where I’d always go to avoid Lerans,” he said as he broke off a piece of bread and handed it to her. “I thought you’d appreciate it.”
She laughed softly. “Thanks, Aren.”
“They’re not so bad, though. The Lerans. I’ve made friends with a few.”
“I noticed. I’m not opposed to making a few friends.” She smiled at him. “Though I don’t mind being alone with you either.”