Ruined (Ruined, #1)(21)

Iria chuckled. “I’m sorry. I’m just so amused. Emelina Flores as the princess of Lera. It’s ridiculous.” Her eyes slid to Cas, and Em glanced over as well. He was talking to the two other warriors, but he had one eye on them. “Though he seems thoroughly convinced.”

“Why wouldn’t he be? I told the warriors I could do it.”

“So you did. I bet against you. Lost a good bit of money, actually.”

“What a shame,” Em said drily. She looked at Benito and Koldo. “Do they both know about me?”

“Of course. They can be trusted.”

“I’ll decide that. You didn’t tell anyone else I’m here, did you?”

“No. Not even your own people. It’s strange to keep the Ruined in the dark about this plan, if you want to know my opinion.”

“I don’t. The less people know, the better.” The Ruined wouldn’t have faith in Em or her plan anyway. The looks on their faces would be that much better once they realized she’d succeeded.

“I heard you saved your prince from death on your wedding day. That was a stroke of luck, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was.” Em regarded Iria suspiciously. “Wasn’t it?”

“We had nothing to do with it. But we’re trying to find those hunters now, to see how organized the movement is. They may be helpful.”

“Do you have any news?”

“I saw Damian briefly before I left Olso. He’s helping the Ruined cross the border. We’ve succeeded in getting several through, safe and sound. They were on their way to see King Lucio when I left.”

“Why do they need to see the king?” Em asked.

“He’s very friendly, our king.”

She wasn’t going to get a straight answer about that, so Em filed it away to ask Damian about later. She didn’t trust the Olso king in the slightest. He’d agreed to help her because he wanted to seize control of Lera, but had done nothing to help the Ruined when they were being hunted and executed.

“Damian gave me a note to pass along to you,” Iria said.

“Not now,” she said, even though she desperately wanted to read it. “I don’t want them seeing you give me anything.”

“Fine. Would you stop squeezing my hand like that?” Iria asked. “I’m going to need it later.”

“Sorry,” Em muttered, loosening her grip. Breaking Iria’s hand would make a nice distraction, though. Em could break the hand, dart around Iria, and put her in a chokehold. Em was taller than the warrior, so she had a pretty good chance of being able to maintain the hold.

Em beat down the urge. The warriors were her partners. She didn’t need to kill them to keep herself safe.

“There’s no chance of you doing something stupid like killing the king too early, right?” Iria said, her expression growing serious. “I remember you having a bit of a temper.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Em said. “We shouldn’t talk about this here. Come to my room tomorrow morning. Bring the note. I’ll have Aren come as well.”

“Fine. But if I’m going to be stopping by your room, you’ll need to tell Cas that we got along wonderfully. Tell him we’re instant friends.”

Em rolled her eyes. “What should I say we talked about that made us such fast friends?”

“We were talking about Vallos, and how sad you were to leave.”

“Agreed. And I will say that you mentioned how much you love your home, and you were nervous about how the visit here would go, considering the tense relations between Lera and Olso.”

“I’m not nervous.” Iria had a trail of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and they moved as she wrinkled it.

“Well, now you are. You like me. You’ve decided to confide in me. That’s what I’ll tell him.”

“I don’t actually like you, just so you know.”

“I’m heartbroken,” Em said.

“I do admire this, though,” Iria said, gesturing to Em. “I didn’t think you had it in you, honestly. You seemed a bit whiny when I met you. Sulky.”

The song ended, and Em stepped back and dropped Iria’s hand. The warrior wasn’t wrong, but Em certainly wasn’t going to admit that to her. Three years ago, when they’d met, Em had been bitter about her lack of power and jealous of Olivia’s. “Whiny” was probably putting it nicely.

“Things have changed,” Em said.

Something like sympathy flashed across Iria’s face. “I will keep an ear out for news about Olivia,” she said softly.

“Thank you.” Em turned on her heel. The last thing she wanted was sympathy.





NINE


CAS LOOKED AT Mary curiously as she walked off the dance floor and away from Iria. The warrior was smiling, like Mary had put her at ease. Not an easy feat.

They walked back to his parents and sat next to them for the remainder of the evening. When the king and queen stood to leave, Cas did as well, extending his arm to Mary. She took it as they walked through the room and out the door. The sounds of the party became muffled as the door shut behind them.

His father grinned at Cas and Mary. “Finally time for the wedding night, I presume?”