Allied (Ruined #3)(35)
“I’ll be fine, Aren.”
Aren laughed hollowly. “You don’t know that.”
Galo put a hand on Aren’s arm and turned him back in the direction of Westhaven. “I made my choice. I’m sticking to it.”
Aren sighed heavily and began walking again. “Fine. But I should tell you something.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to go back to Royal City after the battle.”
“You’re going to go to Olso?” Galo guessed. Aren looked at him in surprise. “Where else would you go?”
“Right,” Aren said softly. “Where else would I go?” He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “But, I just thought you should know. I won’t be around to protect you—or anyone—when you ride back to Royal City.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine. Is Em going to go with you?”
“Oh, no. I’m going alone.”
“Alone?” he repeated incredulously.
“There’s no one to go with me. Not that anyone would anyway.” He laughed, though it wasn’t really full of humor.
“You don’t have . . . any friends?” Galo asked slowly, unsure if it was a rude question.
“Besides Em? Not really. I know all the Ruined in Westhaven, of course. And I’m friendly with those that are loyal to Em. But I wasn’t close to any of them before, and it’s the same now.” He kicked a rock. “Damian would go with me, if he were still here.”
“The Ruined who was executed at the castle?” Galo asked.
“Yeah. He and Em were my best friends. He would go with me, even if he’d never even met Iria. Just because I asked.”
Galo stared at the ground, fully understanding for the first time how much Aren had lost. Galo remembered feeling sorry for himself at Fort Victorra and in Vallos, thinking about how much he’d lost. A large portion of the guard, gone. The castle almost destroyed. Both his king and queen dead. But his parents were alive and well, as were his best friend and his boyfriend. A lot of his really good friends on the guard had come through fine, because he’d rounded them up and taken care of them when Olso attacked.
“I’m sorry, Aren,” he said quietly. “About Damian. And everything.”
“It’s not your fault. I know you and Cas tried to stop his execution.”
They had, but Galo couldn’t think of much else he’d ever done to help the Ruined, beside his current mission. While he’d always found the king’s policies abhorrent, he hadn’t spoken out against them. He didn’t want to risk jail. He hadn’t even talked to Cas about his opinions, not until after Cas met Em and started to reconsider everything.
“It’s better I go by myself anyway,” Aren said, his tone a little lighter. “It’ll be easier to sneak around. And I’ll be surrounded by humans. It’ll give my power a boost.”
“You can’t take what they won’t willingly give,” Galo said, repeating Aren’s own words.
“Well, yes. Let’s hope I find some friendly humans. I’ll have to talk to some of them, at least. I don’t even know what prison she’s in.” He scrunched up his face. “I’ve never even been to Olso.”
“Me either.”
“Hopefully you never will,” Aren said with a smile. “I hear it’s not very nice there.”
“Yeah,” Galo said. “Hopefully.”
SIXTEEN
EM OPENED THE door to find Aren on the other side. She pulled him into a hug and squeezed him a little tighter than necessary.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, even though she wasn’t. She’d alternated between worrying about him and drowning in guilt over Olivia since he’d left.
“Did—” he began.
“Olivia is here,” she whispered before he could finish.
He pulled away, his eyes darting to the kitchen, then the sitting room.
“Do you . . .” Her words were barely a whisper, and she had to blink back tears before she could finish the sentence. “Do you want to tell her?”
Aren nodded solemnly.
Em took a deep breath. “Olivia! Aren’s back!”
Footsteps sounded in the hallway as Olivia walked over. She stopped and leaned against the wall, cocking an eyebrow.
“Had he left?” she asked.
“You know he did,” Em said. Olivia had grilled her about him yesterday, actually. Where is Aren? I know you know where he went. Is he coming back? Did he go to Olso? Em played dumb, acting like she had no idea where he’d gone.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say good-bye,” he said. “I was going to Olso, and I was worried Em wouldn’t let me.”
“Do you take orders from Em?” Olivia asked, eyes narrowed.
“Yes. Sometimes.”
“Why’d you come back? Is Iria dead?” Olivia asked, and Em flashed her a dirty look. Olivia had only asked that question to be mean—she knew there was no way Aren could have already traveled to Olso and back to check on Iria.
“I didn’t make it to Olso,” Aren said. “I heard some news and I had to come back.”