“How was last night?” Em asked as they walked down the hallway. A maid saw them coming and quickly ducked out of sight. “Any problems?”
“No problems,” Gisela said. Her face was neutral, less angry than it had been last night.
“We’re fine,” Mariana said. “Uh, some Ruined went . . . exploring this morning.” She looked over her shoulder like she might spot them lurking in a corridor.
“Exploring?” Em repeated.
“They’re just checking out the castle.” Gisela cocked an eyebrow. “Were they supposed to be confined to their rooms?”
“No. They’re free to roam.” Em pretended not to be nervous about Ruined just wandering the castle alone. They knew the polite thing to do was to wait for a guide to invite them on a tour.
Em pushed a door open and stepped out into the sunlight. She spotted the shed straight ahead, not far from the stables. She’d broken into it once, a few nights after she’d first arrived in the castle. It had been full of cutlery and candlesticks and other boring things that had probably been unwanted gifts.
No one had been protecting it then, but now two guards stood in front of it, watching as Em approached with Mariana and Gisela. Em stopped in front of them and they bowed.
“I’m here to take a look inside,” she said. “They told you I was allowed access?”
The female guard nodded and turned to unlock the door. She stepped back to allow Em inside.
A yell sounded from her left. She tensed, reaching for the dagger she’d slipped into her belt, and whirled around to face the stables.
Two young Ruined—Selena and Patricio—stumbled out of the stable, a guard and a stable hand hot on their heels. The guard pointed at them and yelled something. He put a hand on his sword.
Em broke into a run, headed for the stables. Gisela and Mariana followed close behind.
“We weren’t doing anything!” Selena yelled, her hands balled into fists at her side.
The guard opened his mouth to reply, but Patricio narrowed his eyes at him. The guard tumbled backward, head over feet, and landed in a clump on the ground.
“Patricio, no!” Em skidded to a stop in front of him, blocking his view of the guards. “You can’t use your power on anyone in the castle.”
“He had a sword out,” Patricio said through gritted teeth. “Why shouldn’t I use my power on them?”
Em turned to see the sword on the ground, the guard scrambling to grab it. The stable hand looked utterly terrified. He turned and sprinted toward the castle.
The guard jumped to his feet, sword stretched toward Em. She didn’t reach for her dagger.
“Put your weapon away,” she said.
“They were snooping through every corner of the castle,” the guard said, ignoring her request. “I caught these two in the stable. They scavenged the whole castle. We haven’t determined yet if anything is missing.”
“If anything is missing?” Selena yelled. “Why do you assume we’re thieves?” She jumped forward and Em put an arm out, keeping her from the guard.
“You need to put that sword away,” Em said. “Now.”
The guard didn’t move. Dread began winding its way up her stomach. She’d be insane to think the Ruined could stay here. Maybe Olivia was right to think they could never coexist with humans. It hadn’t even been a full day and they were about to kill each other. She was right when she said she had no reason to trust—
“Dominic!” a voice yelled. Em turned to see Mateo striding across the castle lawn. “Queen Emelina just told you to sheathe your sword.”
Dominic’s sword twitched as he turned to look at Mateo. “Jorge said we could use our weapon if a Ruined used their powers on us.”
“You drew your sword first!” Patricio sneered at him. “You want to see how well you can hold a sword if I break all your fingers?”
“Patricio,” Em said sharply. He rolled his eyes, but he looked away from Dominic.
Mateo said something to Dominic that Em couldn’t hear, a hard edge to his voice. “Go. Now.” He pointed to the castle. Dominic glared at him, but he sheathed his sword and walked away.
Mateo turned to face him, his eyes flicking to the angry Ruined around her. If he was nervous, he was good at hiding it. His expression was calm, like he encountered this kind of situation often.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “We’ll have another talk with the guards tonight.”
“Is it true the guards were instructed to pull their weapons if a Ruined uses their power on them?” Em asked.
“Yes.” Mateo held her gaze. “If they strike first, we were told we could defend ourselves.”
“I didn’t strike first,” Selena protested.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Mateo said, and one side of his mouth actually lifted in a smile. Patricio looked from Em to the guard, like this was some sort of trick. “Dominic is jumpy, and frankly, sort of an asshole.”
Selena giggled and nodded her agreement.
“The guards will just pull their weapons on us anytime they feel threatened?” Gisela asked.
“No,” Mateo said. “We’ll talk to them again.” He turned to Em. “Cas asked me to coordinate security for you and the Ruined, if that’s all right. And help you get the Weakling shields and armor started.”
“Security?” she repeated.
“Making sure idiots like Dominic aren’t threatening you.”
“You’re not going to follow her around everywhere like Cas’s guards do, are you?” Selena asked.
“Not unless she’d like me to,” Mateo said with a smile. Selena blushed.
“I’m fine, thank you,” Em said.
Mateo jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I was going to show you a spot where we could work with the Weakling, if you’re free. I still need to recruit a few people to help, but I thought I’d let you choose a working spot first.”
“Sure.” The panic in Em’s stomach started to subside. Cas was still wrong—everything wasn’t fine—but maybe she was wrong too. Maybe she needed to have a little more faith in the people around Cas.
“Why don’t you two take Patricio and Selena back?” Em asked Mariana and Gisela. “Let everyone know they shouldn’t be using their powers unless they absolutely have to. And tell them where the Weakling is, so they can steer clear.”
Gisela looked from the guards to Em, her face scrunched up in confusion. “Are we fine with letting the Lerans guard it?”
Em looked at Mateo. “I’m assuming Dominic won’t be assigned to guard it?”
“No, he was never on that list. We’re rotating a select few through that post. I can introduce you to all of them, if you want.”
“I’d like that, thank you.”
Gisela was still looking at Em, like she was waiting for final confirmation. Cas was right, Em realized. They were following her lead.
“We trust them to do this, then?” Mariana asked.
“Yes,” Em said. “We trust them.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
OLIVIA WOKE TO a growling stomach and an angry face staring down at her. Ester had her hands on her hips, her lip curled.