OLIVIA STEPPED OUT of her room and walked quietly past Em’s bed. Her sister was still asleep, curled up under the blankets.
Sunlight had just started to stream in through the windows and into the dusty living room. It was a small, pitiful cabin. The couch had probably been there for three generations. The kitchen table sat only two people, and a good kick would have killed the thing for good. She let out an annoyed sigh as she pulled the front door open.
Aren was waiting for her just off the porch. He had a sword at his hip, but she hadn’t bothered with a weapon. She never needed one.
He nodded at her as she approached. The area around the cabins was mostly deserted, except for Ivanna, who was on her knees in a patch of brown grass not far away. Her hands were pressed to the ground, her eyes closed and her lips moving in silent prayer.
“Let’s go,” Olivia said as she began walking. She’d cleared a few hunters away yesterday, but she’d yet to check the area south of them.
Ivanna opened her eyes and looked from Aren to Olivia as they passed her. “Where are you going?”
“Hunting,” Olivia said.
Disapproval flitted across Ivanna’s features, but she said nothing. Olivia glanced at her over her shoulder as they walked away. “Ungrateful,” she muttered.
“What?” Aren asked.
“She’s ungrateful. We’re keeping everyone safe and she just keeps complaining.”
“She didn’t say anything.”
“I can see it in her eyes.”
“Ivanna doesn’t think we should go out looking for trouble.”
“What, we should wait for it to come to us? Because that worked out so well for us before?”
Aren held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not saying I agree.”
She picked up her pace in an effort to leave the anger behind, but it followed her as they headed south. The Ruined didn’t respect her because she hadn’t done anything great yet. She was just an inept heir to a great queen, living in a pathetic little cabin. She couldn’t even give her people a good home, or enough food to eat. No wonder Ivanna looked at her with such disdain.
Aren shot his arm out, stopping Olivia in her tracks. He pointed straight ahead.
The trees around them were sparse and mostly bare, and she easily spotted the five men walking in their direction. Their clothes were wet and sticking to their bodies.
“Hunters,” Aren said quietly.
“How can you tell?”
“The blue pins.”
Olivia squinted. Every man had several blue pins on his jacket.
“Hunters deserve to die.” It almost sounded as if Aren was trying to convince himself. Or her. She certainly didn’t need any convincing.
“We’re going to walk to Vallos?” a young red-haired man whined. He shivered.
“Unless you have a better idea,” a man with a thick beard said. “You can go fish the remains of the boat out of the ocean, if you want.”
The red-haired man grumbled something Olivia couldn’t understand. Her magic twitched in her body, begging to be released.
“Do you have a preference?” Olivia whispered.
“No,” Aren replied.
“I want the one with the beard,” she said loudly. He reminded her of the Lera king.
The hunters’ heads all snapped to her in unison.
One had a bow and arrow, and he darted around a tree as he aimed at her. She laughed. His head made a thudding sound as it hit the ground.
Aren had the others, so she strode to the man with a beard. She wanted him on the ground, and he was there in half a second. She sat down on his legs.
“Five pins, huh?” She yanked one off his jacket. “I heard about these from my sister. Killed fifty Ruined and you’re proud of it?”
He frantically shook his head.
“I’ve probably killed that many people too, but you don’t see me bragging about it.” She cocked her head. “Although that was bragging just then, wasn’t it?” She yanked his jacket open and slammed the pin down on his chest, through his shirt, and into his flesh. He howled.
“Oh, come on. That didn’t hurt that much. You should have seen the size of the needles your king put in me.” She pulled another pin off his jacket and shoved it into his chest, across from the other one. She did the other three as well. When she was done, he was whimpering, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Aren, hand me the rest of the pins. He has so many spots to put them.” She patted the hunter’s stomach.
There was no reply. She turned to find Aren leaning against a tree, blinking. He looked like he’d been hit over the head.
“Aren!” she yelled.
His eyes shifted to hers and cleared.
“Give me their pins.” She pointed to the dead hunters.
“Am I …” He scrunched up his face. “Am I supposed to feel like this?”
“Like what?”
“Dazed. Is it from detaching?”
“Yes. It gets better with time.”
He slowly stood, brushing dirt from his pants. He turned away from her.
“Aren! Pins!”
“Just kill him,” he said without turning around. The hunter began blubbering.
Olivia let out a long, exaggerated sigh. It was too bad her mother was gone. She appreciated torture more than anyone. Understood the value in it.
She climbed off the hunter. He whimpered and tried to slither away, feet scrambling across the dirt. She snapped his neck. “I was going to make a smiley face on his chest out of pins,” she complained.
Aren paused and glanced over his shoulder at her. Fear flashed across his face. The second most powerful Ruined, the boy who had killed more hunters than anyone she knew, was scared of her. Perhaps this was how she earned the loyalty of the Ruined and saved them all: fear.
She smiled.
Em opened her eyes and immediately rolled over to check the bed across from her. Empty. Olivia’s bed had been empty every morning for a week, since they moved into the cabins.
Em pushed off the covers and stood, walking to the small window next to her bed. Outside, a few Ruined were building a fire in the pit not far from the cabins. The sun had just come up, and they were the only ones out and about. The area in front of the cabins was mostly dirt and brown grass. It was gray again, and for a moment she thought of Lera. The blue skies and sparkling ocean. The cheese bread and colorful clothing.
She let the image of Cas take shape in her mind, smiling as he held out the cheese bread to her. If he was here, she might crawl under the covers with him and stay there all day. Ruina’s gray weather wouldn’t be so bad if she could spend the day in bed with him.
She pulled on her clothes and walked out of her room, the image of Cas lingering in her mind. Across the hallway, Aren’s door was ajar, his bed empty.
The front door opened, bringing laughter with it. Em stepped out of the hallway to see Olivia and Aren walking inside. Olivia’s cheeks were pink from the early morning chill, and she waved enthusiastically at her sister.
“What were you guys doing?” Em asked, unable to keep the suspicion from her voice. Olivia only looked that happy when she was killing someone.
“We rode south a bit, to explore the area,” Aren said. He shrugged out of his coat without meeting Em’s gaze.
“It’s a good thing we did. One of the Lera ships had a problem and had to come back. A bunch of hunters were on board,” Olivia said.
Em was afraid to ask.
“They’re dead now,” Aren said.
She nodded. That was probably for the best. They weren’t safe with hunters nearby.
Still, the delighted look on Olivia’s face made her uncomfortable.
Aren walked to the kitchen, his strides quick and easy. “You’re not exhausted from using your magic?” Em asked.
“I taught him how to use his Ruined magic without involving his own body,” Olivia said. “We’re teaching some of the other Ruined too. Not everyone can do it, but the most powerful ones can.”
Aren poured water from the pitcher into a cup. “We’ll be much safer if we can use our powers without exhausting our bodies. The best ones—”
A yell from outside cut off his words. Em grabbed her sword from the corner and flew through the front door. Ruined ran out of their cabins, their attention all in the same place: about twenty horses headed their way from the north, riders perched on each of them. A red-and-white flag flew from the front horse. Olso warriors.
“Stay behind me,” Olivia said to Em as she took off running.
“Don’t attack,” Em called as she followed her sister. “They’re our allies!”
The horses halted, dust blowing up around them. Olivia skidded to a stop, putting one arm out like she was protecting Em. The Ruined marks on her neck shifted as she swallowed. She clearly didn’t believe the warriors were their allies.
There were nineteen horses total, each with a rider dressed in black. Arms were lifted in surrender. The warrior with the flag jumped off her horse and started toward them, her arms also raised. Em squinted, taking a step forward.
“It’s Iria,” Aren said from behind Em.
Em slid her sword into her belt and started toward Iria. Olivia grabbed her arm.
“It’s all right.” Em gently shook her arm free. “It’s just Iria.”
Olivia didn’t appear convinced, but she didn’t protest as Em walked away.
Iria lowered her arms as she approached Em, one side of her mouth curving up. “Emelina.”
“Iria.” She stopped in front of the warrior. Iria looked haggard, her black wavy hair pulled back in a messy bun. Dark circles marred the skin under her eyes. She must have barely made it home to Olso from Lera before turning around and riding south to Ruina.
“Forgive the unannounced arrival,” Iria said. “We didn’t know how else to approach you.”
“As long as you keep your weapons lowered, we’ll be fine.”
“We’re not here to fight,” Iria said. “We’ve come to speak with your queen.” She looked past Em at Olivia.
“You’re talking to one of them.”
Iria blinked. “What?”
Em lifted her shoulders, a smile spreading across her face. It was still a smile of disbelief. “Olivia and I rule Ruina together, as equals. I’m one of their queens.”
Iria’s expression mirrored Em’s own incredulity. “Oh. Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Would Olivia like to come over?” Iria asked. “I’ll introduce you both to him, then.”
“To who?”
Iria turned without responding. She walked to one of the warriors on horseback and extended her hand to him. He didn’t take it as he jumped off the horse.
Em looked over her shoulder and gestured for her sister to join her. Olivia’s frown deepened, but she stepped forward and stood next to Em.
The man who’d dismounted his horse strode toward them. He was very tall, towering over Iria, and she practically had to jog to keep up with his long strides. His black pants were dusty and the dark circles under his eyes matched Iria’s, but his face was open and friendly.
“This is Emelina and Olivia Flores, queens of the Ruined,” Iria said. “I’d like to introduce you to August Santana, prince of Olso.”
Em’s regarded him suspiciously. What was the youngest prince of Olso doing in Ruina?
“Queens?” A grin spread across August’s face. “How unusual. I like it.” He bowed his head, tapping his fist to his chest once. It was the traditional way to greet a Ruined royal, and Em stood there stupidly for a moment, flabbergasted by the show of respect.
She found her senses and quickly interlaced her fingers, putting them beneath her chin and bowing deeply. Her mother had instructed her on the proper way to greet the Olso royal family, and she said a quick thanks to past Em for paying attention. Olivia stood there rigidly.
“It’s nice to meet you too?” Em said, unable to keep the question out of her voice.
August seemed pleased by her confusion. His skin was lighter than hers, his hair golden. He was broad and muscular, probably almost twice her size, and normally she’d keep a hand close to her sword when facing such a man. But his expression was so relaxed, so friendly, that she didn’t think it necessary.
That made her want to reach for her sword even more. They were standing close enough that she could grab her blade and have it in his chest in less than five seconds.
She resisted the urge and returned his smile. “This is unexpected.”
He chuckled. “When you refused the king’s invitation to come to Olso, my brother thought it best to come to you.”
“We were eager to go home,” she said.
“I understand. I’ve come to talk about our alliance. Are you open to that discussion?”
“Of course.”
August looked at Olivia, like he expected her to say something as well. She remained silent.
August cleared his throat. “Is it all right if we set up camp over there?”
“That’s fine.” Em turned, gesturing for Mariana to join them. “Mariana is our director of foreign affairs. She’ll help you get settled.”
Mariana nodded and greeted August.
“Can you please give one of the cabins to Prince August?” Em asked her.
“There’s no need,” August said. “I’ll be perfectly comfortable in my tent.”
“I insist,” Em said. “It’s not much, but it will be more comfortable than the ground.”
“Thank you, then,” August said. He smiled broadly at Em. “I look forward to speaking with you more.”
He turned and walked back to the other warriors.
“They’re here because they want something, Em,” Olivia said quietly.
Of course they wanted something. Her deal with King Lucio was supposed to be over after Olso invaded Lera, but she wasn’t naive enough to believe that would actually happen. They wanted access to the mines or Ruined help or something worse. Something she wasn’t prepared to give.
“I know.”