by Amy Tintera
“No,” Em said.
“Good.” Olivia turned on her heel. She couldn’t stand to look Em in the eyes anymore. “Then let’s go.”
SEVENTEEN
“GET UP.”
Iria rolled over in bed to look into the angry face of the guard above her. His blond mustache twitched.
“Now,” he barked.
She slowly sat up, scanning the room for the doctor. She’d been in the medical wing for days, and it wasn’t a surprise that her time was up. Still, part of her hoped that the doctor would jump in and say she wasn’t ready to be moved yet.
“Doctor cleared you for release back into the general population,” the guard said, dashing her hopes.
“You mean solitary.”
“I mean general population.” His lips twisted into a terrible smile and fear seized her chest.
She’d be attacked by the other prisoners. They knew that; it was why she’d been in solitary before. They must have found a way to convince the warden to lock her up with everyone else.
Her knees shook as she stood, and pain rippled through what was left of her foot. She leaned heavier on her good leg as she took a tentative step forward. The doctor appeared from behind a curtain. He looked her up and down.
“She should come every day to get those bandages changed,” the doctor said. He grabbed her shoes from the floor and held them out to her. “Just wear one on your good foot.” She obeyed, slipping her foot into the flimsy shoe and holding the other one in her hand.
“Fine.” The guard jerked his head, indicating for her to walk in front of him.
Iria took a few more steps forward, wincing as she did. She was limping, badly, and panic shot through her body. She couldn’t run. She’d barely be able to fight with a sword in this state—she’d stumble after the first attack. Of course, she’d never have access to a sword again, so maybe that didn’t matter.
She lowered her chin into her chest and frantically blinked back tears. Crying when she entered the general population would only make things worse. She had to at least pretend to be tough.
The guard unlocked the door leading to the prisoner cells, and she lifted her head as they walked through. The cells were lined up on either side of her on two levels, stretching out a good distance in front of her. They walked past about twenty cells. She kept her head up, but didn’t dare to glance to her sides.
The guard stopped. “Against the wall!” he yelled to the inmate inside.
Iria took in a deep breath as she looked up at her new cellmate. It was not good news.
The woman was older than Iria, probably in her thirties or forties, with dirty-blond hair and a body built for hard labor. Her expression mutated into disgust as she stared at Iria. They’d never met, but every prisoner must have known she’d show up here eventually.
She walked to the back wall and leaned against it as the guard opened the door. When Iria didn’t move, the guard grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her inside. Pain splintered through her foot as she landed on it, and she pressed her lips together to keep from yelping in pain.
The door banged shut behind her.
Her new cellmate stared at her, arms crossed over her chest. The cell consisted of a bunk bed, the bottom one clearly in use, and a sink and a toilet in the left corner. It felt too small for one person, much less two.
“I’m Iria,” she said, just to prove she wasn’t scared. Her voice sounded too weak to be convincing.
The woman took a step forward. “Julia.”
Hope ticked in her chest. Maybe this woman wasn’t so bad after all. Not everyone was fiercely loyal to Olso—in fact, an imprisoned citizen might not like her home country much at all.
Julia grabbed her by the collar, extinguishing the tiny spark of hope. She yanked Iria’s face closer to hers. The fabric pulled tight across her neck, making it difficult to breathe.
“Bit small for a warrior, aren’t you?”
Iria tried, and failed, to tug Julia’s hand from her shirt collar. “I’m tougher than I look,” she wheezed.
Julia barked a laugh and released her. Iria stumbled back and sucked in a breath.
“I’m in for life,” Iria said, straightening her shoulders and leveling her gaze at Julia. “You should be careful. I have nothing to lose.”
Julia’s fist smashed against her cheek suddenly. Iria hadn’t seen it coming, hadn’t even realized Julia was so fast. The force of the punch hit her so hard her back hit the cell bars. Stars danced in her vision.
“None of us have anything to lose,” Julia sneered.
EIGHTEEN
THE RUINED TRAVELED for two days, and Olivia barely spoke to Em during that time.
Em glanced at her sister as she laid a blanket on the grass. Around her, the other Ruined were preparing to sleep. Aren had just disappeared to check on Galo. Mariana stood at the edge of camp, surveying the jungle around them. She was on watch tonight.
Jacobo spread his blanket out not far from Em. Olivia had clearly told him to keep an eye on her. He was her constant shadow.
Ivanna walked to Em, extending a cup to her. “Tea?”
“Thank you.” Em took a sip.
“How are you?” Ivanna asked. “You look tired.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.” Truthfully, she hadn’t slept well in days. It was hard to sleep while traveling anyway, but she kept having nightmares about Olivia, lost in the woods and calling for help.
Ivanna squeezed her arm. She looked like she was about to say something, but Olivia strode toward them, hands on her hips. Ivanna slipped away.
“We should ditch the wagons,” Olivia said.
“We need the wagons,” Em said. “They have food for us and the horses, extra water, weapons, blankets, and all sorts of other things we might need.”
“They’re slowing us down,” she protested.
“It’s not about speed. We’re going to cut off the troops in a few days anyway. We gain nothing by getting there faster.” Em would have preferred to go slower, actually. Put off the inevitable for as long as possible.
Olivia wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t protest. She glanced around at the Ruined, who were eating and talking quietly.
“You did a good job, Liv,” Em said quietly, honestly.
Olivia regarded her suspiciously. “With what?”
“Getting the Ruined prepared. You’re even better at it than our mother was.”
Olivia snorted. “What do you want?”
“Nothing!”
“Please.”
“Seriously. I was just . . .” Em shrugged, staring at the ground. Feeling guilty. “I just thought you should know.”
“Thank you,” Olivia said shortly. She began walking away, but then abruptly turned back, her lips set in a hard line. “Tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
“You went to see Casimir, didn’t you? That time you said you were going for feed.”
Em considered for a moment. “Yes,” she said finally. “I went to see him. He gave me the feed, actually.”
Olivia’s nostrils flared. “Why’d you come back?”
“I always intended to come back. I just wanted to see him.” Em met her sister’s gaze. “You said I could have him. We agreed. You do what you want, but you don’t harm Cas.”
“We did agree to that.”
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No.”
“I’ll give him up if we can go back to Ruina,” Em said, even though the thought of never seeing Cas again was horrifying. She had to try one last time. “If we turn now, it won’t take us that long. We have plenty of supplies.”
Olivia studied her. “You’re suddenly so eager to go back to Ruina.”
“It seems like the only good option at this point.”
“Does it? What’s wrong with this option?” Olivia gestured around them. “Aren was the one who suggested all of this. You didn’t challenge him.”
Em had nothing to say to that.
“Tell me the truth,” Olivia said again.
Em looked at her sister. Worry seized her chest. Did Olivia know something?
“About what?” Em asked, her breath getting stuck in her throat. The words sounded strange. It was a terrible attempt at a lie.
Olivia just stared at her. She stared for so long that Em got uncomfortable and had to look anywhere but at her sister.
“I’m ditching the wagons,” Olivia finally said. “We should cut off the troops soon anyway. Maybe tomorrow. We can come back for them if we want.”
“Someone might take them,” Em said.
Olivia shrugged and turned away. “Then we’ll kill them, too.”
On the third day of travel, the Ruined scout, Ester, informed Olivia that they were close to the Olso army.
“How many?” Olivia asked quietly. She jumped off her horse and walked a few steps away from the rest of the Ruined so she could talk to Ester privately. Em watched them curiously from atop her horse.
“Hundreds, that I could see,” Ester said. “A thousand, maybe. I couldn’t get a good look, though. I wanted to get back here as soon as I could. They were letting the horses take a break when I spotted them, so we have a little while to get in position.”
“Good.” Olivia resisted the urge to look at Em. “And did anything seem . . . off?”
“Off?” Ester blinked in confusion.
“Did you spot anything odd?”
“I don’t think so.” Ester gave her a strange look. “They looked like every other human army I’d ever seen.”
“Right.” A burst of nerves exploded in her stomach. She thought she’d figure out Em’s plan before they encountered the army.
“Olivia?” Em called from behind her. “Has Ester spotted the army?”
“Yes,” Olivia said. She turned to face Em and the rest of the Ruined. Her mind raced as she tried to decide what to do next.
“When do you want us in position?” Em asked after several seconds of silence.
Olivia’s eyes skipped over the Ruined until she found Aren. He was in the back, slipping off his horse. He looked over his shoulder, in the direction they’d just come from.
“Jacobo, find a tree to keep watch,” Olivia said. He took off toward a tall tree and began climbing. “Everyone else, get in position and secure your horses, but stay on the ground for now. Hide when Jacobo gives the word. I’m going to do a quick scout of the immediate area. I need to know where the warriors can hide.”
Em nodded and dismounted her horse. She didn’t glance back at Olivia.
Olivia stepped away from the Ruined and darted through the trees once she was out of sight. She caught a quick glimpse of Aren as he broke into a run, headed south.
She ran behind him. Her breath caught in her lungs, either from anger or lack of exercise. She’d spent so much time on her magical training she hadn’t thought about her physical limitations.
She forced herself forward, almost losing him twice. But he ran in a straight line, and it was easy to keep him in her sights, even at a slower pace.
He finally stopped. She darted behind a tree and watched as he approached Galo, who was on a horse. He said something to Galo and the human nodded.
Aren ran back in the direction he came and Galo turned his horse to ride south. Olivia let out a frustrated breath as she broke into a run again to follow Galo.
She lost sight of him quickly and instead followed the sound of horse hooves pounding the ground. They stopped very quickly, and she skidded to a halt when the Lera soldiers she’d seen before came into view. There were still just ten of them.
Olivia braced her hands against her thighs and took a moment to catch her breath. She couldn’t hear what they were saying from this distance, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t have time to waste. She needed to get back to the Ruined before the Olso army attacked.
She straightened, closing her eyes for a moment as she steadied herself. She stepped out from behind the tree.
Galo spotted her first. His body stiffened and his eyes rounded with fear. He said something to the soldier next to him. The soldier quickly grabbed the bow off her back and pointed an arrow at Olivia.
She waved her hand, throwing Galo and the soldier in opposite directions. The remaining nine soldiers sprung into action all at once. Several grabbed their swords. One tried to hide behind his horse. Another just started running.
She snapped their necks, one after the other. Each one slumped to the ground as the others screamed. The screams died with the last thump of a body hitting the dirt.
Galo was several paces away, slowly getting to his feet. She strode to him.
“Galo, right?” she asked.
If he was scared, he was doing a good job of hiding it, she noted with some disappointment. He just stared at her without a word.
“You should kneel when a queen approaches you, Galo.” She waved her hand and he fell face-first to the ground. She crooked her finger to make him slide across the dirt toward her. He yelped as his face collided with a large rock.
“Get on your horse,” she said, pointing. “And don’t even think of trying to take off. I’ll snap your neck.”
He didn’t move.
“I’ll also snap your neck if you don’t get on that horse in the next three seconds,” she said. “One . . . two . . .”
Galo quickly walked to the horse and swung his leg over the saddle. She would have smiled if she didn’t want to tear out his heart so badly.
Blood poured from a cut over Galo’s eyebrow and streamed down his face. He kept glancing around, like he thought someone would pop out and save him.
She got on the horse behind him. He leaned forward, like he didn’t want her to touch him. The feeling was mutual.
“Go,” she said.
“Where?” His voice was quiet, serious. He probably thought he was about to die. He was right.
“To the Ruined. You know where they are.”
The horse began moving forward. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt to keep steady behind him.
“Faster,” she said. Galo urged the horse forward.
It didn’t take long to get back to the Ruined on horseback. She spotted Jacobo still in his tree, his gaze fixed to the west. The rest of the Ruined weren’t in position yet. They’d moved the horses somewhere that Olivia couldn’t see, and were milling around, anxious looks on their faces. Several turned and spotted Galo and Olivia.
She ordered Galo to stop and slid off the horse. Ester strode out in front of the Ruined, her brow crinkled.
“Is that a human?” she asked.
“Yes it is,” Olivia said. “Aren! I found something of yours!”
He pushed through the crowd that was forming in front of her. The annoyance on his face immediately melted into horror. Em appeared next to him. She gasped, her fingers curling around Aren’s arm.
Aren took a step forward.
“Stop!” Olivia yelled. He had the good sense to obey. “Take another step toward him and I’ll snap his neck.” She glanced at Galo, making him topple off the horse. He landed on the ground with a grunt.
Aren stared at her. She knew he must be weighing his options—he could use his powers on her, but if she resisted just enough, she’d have plenty opportunity to kill Galo.
She smiled at him.
Around them, Ruined stood rooted to the ground, watching.
“Would you like to explain why there’s a Lera guard following us?” Olivia asked. “How about the Lera soldiers I just killed?”
“I—I don’t know,” Aren said, entirely unconvincingly.
“If you don’t know him, you won’t mind if I kill him, then.” She spun on her heel to face Galo and fixed her gaze on his neck. “Bye, Galo.”
NINETEEN
GALO’S BODY WENT numb. A scream echoed in his ears, and for a moment, he thought he was the one yelling.
But the scream wasn’t his. It was Olivia. She flew through the air and hit a tree with a thunk, her scream dissol
ving into a whimper.
Galo put a hand on his chest. His heart was still in his chest. His head was still connected to his body. He wasn’t sure how that was possible, considering the look Olivia had just given him. He thought that her hateful face was the last thing he was going to see before he died.
Olivia pressed a hand to her head as she stumbled to her feet.
Aren shot forward and placed his body in front of Galo’s. Right. Aren. There was no one else who could have tossed Olivia like that and saved him.
Considering the look that Olivia was giving Aren right now, she knew it too. She was breathing heavily, eyebrows lowered, face twisted with rage. Galo thought that maybe he should be the one standing in front of Aren instead.
Blood dripped into Galo’s eye. He’d nearly forgotten that Olivia had smashed his head into a rock. His body was still numb with terror, but he could feel a faint pounding beginning to form behind one eye. He wiped at it with the back of his shirtsleeve.
Around them, the Ruined were silent. A few were edging closer to protect Olivia, their eyes fixed on Aren and Galo.
“Don’t move,” Aren said quietly. He reached back and wrapped one hand around Galo’s wrist. Galo was scared to breathe too loudly, much less move.
Olivia turned her furious gaze to Em. Galo had seen Em in some horrible situations—fleeing the Lera castle, finding Cas near death, stumbling injured through the jungle—but he’d never seen her look so upset. He could see her hands shaking, and her lips quivered like she was trying not to cry.
“You knew about him, didn’t you?” Olivia spat at Em, pointing in Galo’s direction. “You knew he was following us with Lera soldiers.”
Aren turned his head over his shoulder. “Did she kill all the Lera soldiers?” he asked quietly.
“One may have survived,” Galo said. “I wasn’t able to check.”
Em didn’t reply to Olivia, which appeared to only make her angrier. She looked at the Ruined around her, still pointing at Galo. He wished she’d stop.
“Don’t you see what she’s doing? She betrayed you,” Olivia said.
“No, she didn’t,” an older Ruined woman said, stepping beside Em.
