EM WOKE UP to Cas’s arm wrapped around her, her back against his chest. He was softly pressing his lips to the base of her neck, his breath tickling her skin.
A giggle escaped her mouth. She ducked her head, a grin spreading across her face.
“Good morning,” he said, his lips grazing her neck. His fingers skimmed the bare skin of her waist, where her shirt had ridden up.
She closed her eyes as his touch sent sparks up her body. She was never leaving this bed again.
“I want to wake up with you every morning,” Cas said.
“That would be nice,” she breathed, imagining it for a moment. They would both be wearing less clothing and there wouldn’t be the constant threat of danger hanging over their heads.
His lips disappeared from her neck and she rolled over to look at him. The color had returned to his cheeks.
“You look better,” she said.
“I feel better.” He rolled onto his back, blinking. “Much better, actually.”
She scooted forward and lay her head on his chest. She shouldn’t stay. Light was filtering in through the curtains, and she was supposed to meet with August and a few others this morning. And she had things she needed to tell Cas. Like that she was plotting to kill his only remaining family member. That she was considering a proposal from August.
Instead, she shut her eyes and listened to the beat of his heart. His fingers ran through her hair and they stayed like that for a long time, neither of them speaking. She’d spent too much of her time with Cas talking. Talking about their families or their politics or yelling about the Ruined. Maybe she needed to spend some time not talking to Cas.
The sun peeking through the curtains shone brighter, and she reluctantly extracted herself from his arms.
“I have to go,” she said, reaching for his hand. “I’ll see you later?”
He brushed his lips across her fingers. “I will be here. Given that I’m not allowed to leave, and all.”
She looked at him apologetically as she climbed off the bed. “I’m sorry. You know it’s for your own safety.”
“I know. I wasn’t complaining.”
She laced up her boots and pulled her fingers through her hair. Cas sat up easily, without any of the unsteadiness she’d seen yesterday.
“How much better do you feel?” she asked, her voice soft.
“Um, a lot?”
“Like good enough that I should come back to your room tonight and . . .” She wasn’t sure how she’d intended to finish that sentence.
He drew in a slow breath. He knew what she meant. “Yes.”
Her cheeks warmed as she smiled. “Good. I’ll see you later, then.” She pulled the door open and walked out of the room, her lips still twitching as she went. Maybe she had to say good-bye to Cas soon, but she could certainly make the most of the time they had now.
She walked into town and to her apartment. Olivia was nowhere to be seen. They hadn’t spoken since the fight they’d had yesterday. It was probably best to give her space until Cas and his friends left.
Em splashed some water on her face, changed her clothes, and grabbed a rolled-up map from the table. Outside, the warriors were passing out pieces of dried deer meat. She took one before heading to August’s home. He’d taken up residence in a house at the far end of the main road. As far away from Cas as possible, she’d noted.
Aren stood on the porch with Iria, his hands stuffed in his pockets like he was nervous about something. He spotted Em and stepped away from Iria.
“Is Olivia already here?” she asked.
Aren shook his head. “No. The rest of the council is inside, but I haven’t seen Olivia since last night.”
Olivia was supposed to be in this meeting, but maybe it wasn’t a surprise that she hadn’t bothered to show up. She’d made it clear she had no interest in negotiating with warriors.
The front door was open, so Em walked into the house, followed by Aren and Iria. August sat on the couch in the front sitting room with a warrior named Lorena next to him. The whole Ruined council was present—Mariana, Ivanna, Davi, and Jacobo sat in chairs across from the prince. They all stood when Em entered.
August strode across the room, extending his hand to her. She hesitated before slipping her hand into his, unsure what he wanted. He raised it up and pressed his lips to her knuckles.
“Lovely to see you, Em,” he said. “You disappeared for a couple days there. Busy lately?”
She quickly pulled her hand away, wishing she hadn’t given it to him. The feeling of his lips lingered on her skin in an unpleasant way.
“Please, have a seat,” August said.
Em sat in the chair next to Mariana, and Aren slid into the chair on her other side. Iria sat on the other side of August. The wall above their heads was discolored in the shape of a large square, and Em glanced around the room until she found a painting leaning against the wall. Its back was to her, but it must have been of one of the ancestors. The Olso royal family didn’t worship the ancestors.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet this morning,” Em said. She looked at Ivanna. “Any news from our lookouts?”
“Still no movement as far as we can see,” Ivanna said. “If the Vallos army is organizing, we can’t see them yet.”
“Good.” Em unrolled a map on the table in front of her. It was hastily drawn, of Vallos and southern Lera. She’d indicated the fortress north of them, and she’d drawn a star on the eastern shore.
“I think we should send a group of warriors and Ruined north to check on the status of Lera,” she said. “We need to relay what’s been happening here. We have the fortress surrounded to the north and south, but no real plan of action. No idea what’s happening in the north. We need some strong people to travel between the two locations. If we send a group along the shore”—she pointed to the star—“here, they should be able to get north. Especially if we send a couple powerful Ruined with them. We can both write a letter for them to deliver, explaining what’s happened.”
“When?” August asked.
“As soon as the new batch of warriors arrive.”
“It would be safer to go back through Ruina and into Olso to get to Lera,” Iria said.
“Safer, but it would take weeks,” Ivanna said.
“And we don’t have weeks,” Em said. “We need to organize as soon as possible if we’re going to attack the fortress again and kill Jovita. She’ll be well protected, and we can’t take any risks.”
“Fine,” August said. “How many do you want to go?”
“I was thinking ten warriors and two or three Ruined,” Em said.
“Which Ruined?” August asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll ask for volunteers first. I’ll assign the duty if need be.” Em glanced to her right. The Ruined nodded in agreement.
“I want approval of who goes,” August said.
“Of course. I’ll ask the same for the warriors.”
“Fine. I’ll make choices as soon as everyone is here.” August clapped his hands together. “Now. Let’s talk about the fact that you have the Lera king in a house across the street. The king my brother ordered killed.”
“An order I already refused to carry out once,” Em said. “What makes you think I’m going to let you kill him now?”
August closed one fist so tightly his knuckles turned white. “One could argue that your continued relationship with Lera leaders undermines your relationship with Olso.”
“One could argue, or you’re arguing that right now?”
“Casimir has no place here. We are at war with his country.”
“It’s in our best interest to make sure Jovita doesn’t take the Lera throne,” Em said. “We wouldn’t be in this position if Jovita hadn’t removed him from power.”
“Oh, that’s why you’re harboring him?” Jacobo asked. “Not because you were kissing him on the porch last night?”
Em flushed. Silence fell over the group.
“He’s proven he can’t control his people,” Ivanna said. “Honestly, I believed you when you said Casimir agreed not to attack us. But your agreement with him means nothing now. And we’ve chosen Olso as our allies, not Lera.”
Em stared at the floor. Ivanna wasn’t wrong. But then, neither was Em. Keeping Jovita off the Lera throne was crucial in keeping the Ruined safe.
Still, it was time for Cas to leave and make sure his claim to that throne was safe. They were right about that.
“I’ll ask them to leave,” Em said, her voice strained. “As soon as Cas is fully recovered. I’ll give them a week.”
“One day,” August said. “He leaves tomorrow.”
Em crossed her arms over her chest. “Five days.”
“Three. I won’t go any higher.”
“Fine. Three. If any harm comes to him in those days, we will have a very serious problem.”
“No one is going to touch him,” August spat. “But you need to ask yourself if your relationship with Casimir is worth risking your alliance with the warriors. What would your people think if we all suddenly left?” His words shook, like he was barely keeping himself from yelling.
Well, Olivia would jump for joy. The more sensible Ruined, like Ivanna and Mariana, would be furious. They would know Em risked their safety for the life of one boy. A boy they hated.
She couldn’t do it. Her first priority was to her people. She was their queen now, and she had to protect them, even if it meant disregarding her own wishes.
“They will leave in three days,” Em said.
“Good.” August’s smile seemed forced. “I have nothing else, if you don’t.”
She stood and said a quick good-bye to the warriors. The Ruined followed her out.
“You shouldn’t let Cas go at all,” Jacobo said as they walked down the dirt road. “We should keep him prisoner until we don’t need him anymore.”
“He’s not worth anything as a prisoner,” Ivanna said. “Besides, there’s no use destroying the potential of an alliance. We don’t need it now, but you never know.”
“Ruined aligning with Lera,” Jacobo said with a snicker. “That’ll be the day.”
Ivanna shrugged. “I’m just saying that Emelina is smart to stay on good terms with them.”
“Thank you,” Em said, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. “Would you and Mariana start feeling out the Ruined for me? Find some who would be interested in going up north with the warriors?”
“Sure,” Mariana said. Ivanna nodded, and they turned to follow Jacobo and Davi back into the center of town.
Em looked at Aren. “That was strange.”
“Not really. I think you made the right call too.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You’d be doing Jovita a favor by killing Cas. Besides, he’s not that . . .” Aren scrunched his face up. “He could be worse, I guess.”
“Wow,” Em said with a laugh. “I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard you say about a Leran.”
“Don’t go spreading it around.” He paused. “He told me you and he never consummated the marriage.”
“He did?”
“He thought you’d already told me. Which you should have, by the way.”
“Oh. Well . . .” She shrugged, avoiding his gaze.
“I was worried about that, you know. I thought you were traumatized by having to have sex with him. You could have told me you were too scared.”
“I was not scared! I was . . . uncomfortable.”
“I don’t blame you.”
She was definitely not too scared at the moment, though. She scanned the area, and found Iria walking away from the cabin. Em waved good-bye to Aren and jogged to catch up with her.
“Can I ask you a question?” Em asked as she fell into step beside her.
“I’m volunteering to join the team going north, if that’s what you were thinking.”
“No, but that’s not a bad idea. I was actually wondering, uh, if you have any of the Juner herb. Or if you’ve seen a place nearby where it’s growing.”
Iria came to a stop, a grin spreading across her face. “Going to make use of those last three days, huh?”
Em’s face flushed. “Uh, well . . .” Yes, she was. But the last thing she needed was a baby, and the Juner herb prevented pregnancy.
“There’s a field of it outside of town, northeast. I saw it on our ride here.”
“Do you . . . do you think you could show me? I don’t actually know what it looks like.”
Iria’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Sure. We can walk. It’s not far.”
“Thanks.”
“Your mother didn’t show you?” Iria asked as they walked. “Or does it not grow in Ruina?”
“It does. I don’t think it was a priority for her. I know a bunch of herbs that will kill you, though.”
“Well, that’s helpful too, I guess.”