Allied (Ruined #3)(29)

“Do you have any other information from Cas for us?” Em asked, to stall the conversation about Jovita and Olso a bit longer.

“We tossed around some ideas about Olivia I’m supposed to relay to you. Fair warning, some of them might be upsetting,” Galo said.

She didn’t see how anything could be more upsetting than what was already going on in her head. She reached up to rub her thumb across her necklace and found nothing around her neck. She quickly dropped her hand. “Tell me.”

Galo took a deep breath. “Right. First, she needs to see to use her power, right? What if she couldn’t see?”

“You mean blind her,” Em said.

“Yes.”

“It would only slow her down for a while,” Aren said. “I’ve known Ruined who went blind. Eventually they learn to use their other senses. Some of the Ruined who can control the mind don’t even need to be able to see the person at all, they just sense them nearby.”

“Oh.”

“And it would just enrage Olivia. Not to mention she would never forgive Em for trying to weaken her power.”

“It’s too bad, I was thinking it might be a way for her to live a normal life. If she didn’t have her powers anymore, she’d have to, I don’t know, start using her words.” One side of Galo’s mouth lifted.

Em let out a short laugh. “That’ll be the day.” She leaned back, bracing her hands on the ground behind her. “What else?”

“We could give Olivia Olso.”

“It’s not really ours to give.”

“I just meant we don’t do anything to stop her from invading Olso. You step down as queen, let her rule by herself, in exchange for her going back to Olso.”

“She would kill a lot of people. And it’s only a temporary fix. She’d eventually come back,” Em said.

“There’s always the option of warning Olso. Their technology is beyond Olivia. If they knew she was coming . . .”

They’d kill her. Em gripped the grass beneath her fingers. Was there a plan that didn’t end in Olivia’s death?

“What are your other options?” she asked.

“Put her back in a prison. If you’re right, and she can’t use her powers on you, you can get her inside a cell.”

“She’d have to be there indefinitely. And there’s the problem of the Ruined loyal to her. You’d have to lock them up too or risk them breaking her out.”

“Are there a lot?”

“A good number, yes. And their powers are growing. Anything else?”

He picked a piece of grass and twisted it around his finger. “I had an idea of my own. But can it just be between us?”

Em lifted her eyebrows. “Sure.”

“What if you gave her part of Lera? Like we divided it into northern and southern Lera, and Olivia gets the south to rule as she pleases. We’d let any Lerans who want to leave relocate, of course.”

“You’d displace thousands of people,” Em said.

“It’s better than Olivia killing them.”

“I don’t think it would help. She would eventually attack the north. If not now, then in ten, twenty years. We’d always be waiting for it.”

“We?” Galo repeated with a smile. “Does that mean you’d stay with Cas in the north?”

Em turned her gaze to the ground. Her immediate response was yes. She wanted to stay with Cas. She couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud, though. It seemed like a worse betrayal of the Ruined, to actually say it.

“Is Cas as king the only thing Olivia really objects to?” Galo asked. “You said the Ruined siding with you wanted Cas to give up the throne, but would that calm Olivia?”

“She’ll never let any human rule over her,” Em said. “They’re wrong to ask Cas to give up his throne. The Lerans need him.”

“Good,” Galo said, a little relieved. “I wasn’t saying he should. Cas will be a much better king than his father. The best king we’ve ever known, maybe. But I think it’s right to remove some of the power from the monarchy.” He said the last part quietly.

“You do?”

“It’s not that I don’t have faith in Cas, I do, but . . .”

“Of course,” Em said.

“But I did wonder whether it’s right to let Lera continue as they always have, considering all that’s happened. The Gallegos committed genocide. It wasn’t Cas’s decision, but sometimes we pay for the mistakes of our family. You and Cas do, anyway,” Galo said.

Em laughed hollowly. “You mean your parents have never started a war or killed a bunch of people just because they didn’t like them?”

“Um, no.”

“Wow. What must that be like?”

“Less dramatic.” He chuckled, but his eyes were sad, and worry seized her chest suddenly. Aren seemed to notice too, and his eyebrows furrowed.

“Are they . . . are they all right?” Aren asked. “Do your parents live in Royal City?”

“A bit north. They’re fine. I visited them recently.”

Em released a breath. “Good.”

“Is capturing Olivia the best option, then?” Galo asked. “It’s the only one we seem to have so far.”