Allied (Ruined #3)(36)

Olivia lifted her eyebrows in a silent question.

“There’s an attack coming,” he said. “An army made up of joint Olso and Vallos forces. And Jovita is with them as well. They’re coming for us.”

“So?” Olivia scoffed.

“From what I heard, it’s a sizable army.”

“Let me go to Cas,” Em said quickly, just as they’d planned. “I’ll ask him to help us. With Lera soldiers we can—”

“He knows, Em,” Aren interrupted. “I heard this from soldiers. They were told to monitor the troop movements, but not attack. Cas doesn’t want to risk his people right now.”

“He only cares about himself in the end, after all,” Olivia said smugly.

Em swallowed and tried to appear upset. It wasn’t difficult. Her stomach was churning as she and Aren lied to Olivia.

“We don’t need his help,” Olivia said again. She drew in a breath and was quiet for a moment. “By being here, we’re protecting Casimir. You see that, right? They’re not attacking him because they’re attacking us.”

“They hate us more at the moment,” Aren said.

“Maybe we should go back to Ruina and just let them fight it out,” Olivia said.

Em blinked in surprise. She felt a surge of hope for the first time in days.

She grasped Olivia’s hand. Her sister reeled back with a startled look on her face. She snatched her hand away.

“Let’s go back,” Em said, her desperation real. “I think going back to Ruina is the best choice right now.”

“We have plenty of horses and supplies,” Aren said quickly. “It would be a much easier journey than last time.”

Olivia looked between the two of them. Her lip curled. Em could tell they’d made a mistake. She and Aren had been far too eager to take her up on the suggestion of going back home.

“We’re not running,” Olivia snapped. “The Ruined don’t hide anymore. We fight.”

Em and Aren were silent.

“Do you know where they are? The troops who are coming for us?” Olivia asked Aren.

“Yes. I know the general route they’re taking. An army that large shouldn’t be hard to find.”

“We’ll go to them, then,” Olivia said. “I’m not going to sit around here and wait for them to make their move.”

“Are you sure?” Em asked. “Olso has pretty powerful weapons, you might remember.”

Worry flashed across Olivia’s face for the first time. She quickly shook it off. “Some of us have been working on plans to get around their weapons. A surprise attack will help.”

Em swallowed hard. She’d done just as Galo suggested—she gave Olivia the option of going home. She’d chosen to fight. She would always choose that option, no matter how much Em wanted her to change.

“When should we leave?” Em asked. Her voice shook.

Olivia brushed past her and Aren and walked to the door. “First thing tomorrow morning. I’ll start preparing the Ruined. You two get the horses and supplies ready to go. I want as little as possible. Nothing to slow us down.”

“Fine,” Em said.

“What about the human prisoners?” Aren asked. “Maybe we should let them go before we leave.”

“No need,” Olivia said. “I killed them all yesterday. They weren’t useful anymore.” Olivia stepped outside, letting the door slam behind her.

Em closed her eyes briefly. “I’m sorry,” she said, though not really to Aren. “I didn’t know.”

“It was unavoidable,” Aren said quietly.

Em waited until she could see Olivia walking down the road through the window before she spoke again.

“That’s it, then.”

“I’m sorry, Em,” Aren said. “I thought she was going to go back to Ruina for a minute there.”

“I did too.” The moment of hope still lingered in her chest, making the reality even more painful. She cleared her throat. “What did Cas say?”

“He can send some soldiers, but only a few. They’ll follow us, but really far behind. Galo will coordinate with them and travel between us as we head there. We should only have to travel a few days to get to them. We’ll probably make it about halfway to the Olso border.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “And I plan to keep going.”

“To get Iria?” she guessed.

He nodded, worry in his eyes. “I’ll already be on my way, and if everything goes according to plan Olivia will be weakened and everyone will be going back to the Lera castle anyway so—”

“Aren, it’s fine,” she interrupted gently. “Go. You’re right, you’ll already be halfway there, and she’s imprisoned for helping us. It’s the right thing to do.”

He let out a breath. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Bring her back safe.”

“I will.”

Olivia snuck out of the house before dawn. She shut the door quietly behind her and stepped onto the dark porch, shifting the bag she’d slung over her shoulder.

A tall figure leaned against a tree by the house. Jacobo.

“Is Em still asleep?” he asked quietly.

“Yes. Did you see anything last night?”