“You can come to me if you have any problems. I’d just ask that you don’t use your powers here.”
“Hadn’t planned to.”
“Thank you.”
Aren turned and walked out of the room. Cas watched him go, wondering if perhaps he’d insulted him. He wished Em were here. He’d gotten used to communicating with the Ruined through her.
Galo closed the door, leaving the two of them alone. “Should I go with him anyway?” he asked Cas.
“No, I don’t want him to think we don’t trust him.”
Galo walked across the room and they both took their seats again. “You do trust him, right?”
“Yes,” Cas said quickly. “Mostly. Do you think I insulted him? Why did he suddenly want to leave?”
Galo stared at the door like Aren was still there. “He probably would have told you if you insulted him. I think he’s sad, actually.”
“Sad,” Cas repeated.
“Both he and Em are. They’re having a hard time with the decision to betray the Ruined. And Aren lost Iria.”
Cas sat back in his chair, his chest suddenly heavy as he thought of Em, alone in Westhaven.
A staff member entered with a tray of food, and Cas waited until she was gone to speak again.
“So,” he said. “You got angry at Mateo before you left.”
Galo looked up at him quickly. “He told you?”
“Yes. I don’t blame him for not wanting you to go. It’s just because he cares about you.”
Galo let out a long sigh as he pressed his palms to his forehead. “I was a jerk when I left, wasn’t I?”
“Yes, you were,” Cas said.
“Hey,” he said, dropping his hands with a startled laugh. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m kind of leaning toward Mateo.”
Galo laughed again, then slumped back in his chair. “I don’t blame you.”
“He’s not here, you know. He went on a recruitment trip.”
“Oh.” Galo couldn’t hide his disappointment. “Probably because he was still mad, huh?”
“I think so, yes.” Cas leaned forward. “I could pass along a message, if you’d like.”
Galo was silent for a few moments. “Just tell him I’m sorry.”
Galo left the castle with Aren the next morning. A carriage took them halfway, but now they were on foot, still a couple of hours from Westhaven. They mostly walked in silence.
Galo had hoped Mateo might return that morning, but no luck. Galo wasn’t sure what he would say to him anyway. He wasn’t sorry that he’d gone, but he was sorry about how he’d left things. He wasn’t sure how to express either thought.
He glanced at Aren, who was staring at the ground as he walked. He’d barely seen Aren yesterday, after he retreated to his room. He’d come out once, to discuss troops joining the Ruined with Cas’s advisers.
Aren stopped suddenly, turning to face the direction they’d just come from. “Why don’t you go back?”
“What?” Galo asked, surprised.
“You should stay with the soldiers. I should be able to get away again to pass along our plans.”
“Aren, that’s ridiculous. We just set up a plan where I need to know all the information about your plan of attack. I need to be there to get that information. And you don’t know for sure that you can get away.”
“I also don’t know for sure if I can protect you. I don’t think we should risk it.”
Galo stared at him for a moment. Aren seemed genuinely worried, his brow furrowed and his gaze directed east, like he could still see the town where the soldiers were waiting for Galo to return.
He was realizing that he didn’t really know Aren at all. He wasn’t cocky and rude. Or maybe he had been, but it was certainly gone now. He seemed sad, and tired, and it was hard for Galo to hold on to any of the animosity he’d felt for him before.
“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.”