“It’s sealed,” Galo and Jorge said together, before Cas could even begin to panic.
Em was clearly surprised. “It is?”
“Of course,” Galo said. “I had it sealed off as soon as we took back the castle.”
Jovita let out a loud, extremely annoyed sigh. She muttered something Cas couldn’t hear.
“The Olso warriors were in here for weeks,” Jorge said, looking a bit insulted. “There’s no doubt they discovered it. We’d be fools to leave it open.”
“Oh,” Em said. Her brow crinkled. “What were you saying about an army?”
Cas quickly relayed Aren’s message, and her face grew more serious as she listened.
“That’s why Olivia let Jovita go today,” Em said. “She was tracking the army, and she knew when they were going to attack. Olivia needs that kind of chaos right now.” She took a step back, dropping Cas’s hands. “We know where she’ll be, then—at the lookout tower, trying to get in the passageway.”
“She can get in the passage from the tower,” Galo said. “We haven’t fully filled it in yet, so it’s just blocked off once she gets to the other side. She’ll have to turn around and go back.”
“I’m going to go find her. She’ll start killing people when she can’t get in.”
Cas shook his head. “No. You have to go beyond the castle walls to get to that lookout, and there’s an army coming.”
She held her hand out. “I’ll need your sword, then.”
He made an exasperated noise, but he unsheathed his sword and handed it to her, knowing that arguing would be pointless. She rose up on her toes and kissed him quickly before turning to run out the door.
“Your Majesty?”
Cas turned to find Franco in front of him, out of breath.
“The lookouts have spotted the army.”
FORTY-FIVE
AREN RACED DOWN the guards’ quarters, where he found half the Ruined lounging in their rooms or in the common area.
“Attack, now,” he said, walking down the halls and shouting it several more times. Ruined streamed out of their rooms, shrugging on jackets and lacing up boots. A guard stumbled out of a room with Gisela, blinking in surprise as he buttoned up his shirt.
“Attack? Where? Who?” he asked.
“I assume it’s the Olso army,” Aren said. “And they’re coming here, so I hope you remember your emergency assignments.”
“Yes? Yes.” The guard blinked at Gisela, who was halfway down the hallway and gathering up the Ruined. Aren turned and jogged toward them.
“You guys must be attacked often,” the guard muttered from behind him. Aren might have laughed, if he wasn’t still thinking of Iria’s retreating back as she headed to a lookout tower.
Gisela led them out of the guards’ quarters. At the end of the hallway, in the room where they’d been working on the Weakling armor, several soldiers raced in and out, grabbing shields and chest plates and piles of clothing.
They walked upstairs and outside, to the east lawn. The sun was sinking lower in the sky, casting an orange glow across the grass. Hundreds of soldiers and guards were already there, with more streaming out from every door of the castle.
About a quarter of the soldiers had Weakling armor or shields. There was no way to know if Olivia or any other Ruined would be attacking with the humans, so they’d been ordered to put it on just in case. Aren thought Em was right—if Olivia had been spotted following the army, she was going to attack at the same time.
He spotted Galo weaving through the soldiers. Three men and two women followed him—the soldiers assigned just to protecting Aren. Behind them, Mariana made her way toward General Amaro.
“Em made it back?” he asked Galo.
“Yes. We think Olivia is going to the southeast tower to try to use an old, closed tunnel into the castle. Em’s going to meet her.”
Aren’s body went cold. “Just Em?”
“Em is going to the tower by herself. We’re sending people with Weakling armor to that side, to help if needed. Do you want to go meet her?”
Aren shook his head, even though he desperately wanted to sprint to that tower as fast as possible. It wasn’t just that he thought Em was in danger. He worried what she would be forced to do if it were just the two of them. Would Em kill Olivia in an effort to save the rest of them?
But he knew Em would want him to stay here, to protect the castle and help the Lera troops fight off the impending attack. He’d been given instructions, and the soldiers assigned to him were ready. He wasn’t deserting them now.
“Let’s get in position,” Galo said. Aren noticed him cast a glance over his shoulder at Mateo, who was with a group of guards headed back inside the castle.
Aren followed the soldiers around the side of the castle, to the front and out the gates. The area in front of the castle was nothing but grass, the buildings of Royal City to the right and homes in the distance to the left.
“They’re coming from that direction,” Galo said, pointing south.
The soldiers rushed past him, getting into formation. Galo took a crate from one of them and put it on the ground. Aren stepped onto it, able to see better with the height.
“Anyone operating a cannon first,” Galo reminded him. Aren nodded.
They waited. Aren had sensed the army when they were pretty far out, it seemed. August had already lost the element of surprise by threatening Cas, but Aren had given the Lera soldiers a huge head start with the early warning.
Galo stood directly in front of Aren, the other soldiers forming a circle around Aren. The other Ruined were scattered among the soldiers and guards, dressed the same so they were impossible for most to spot. Aren saw Mariana standing behind two women with swords, and Gisela talking to a guard, but he wasn’t able to pick out any of the other Ruined. They were lost in the sea of blue and black uniforms.
He looked over his shoulder, to the southeast lookout tower. He could see the tip of it, but the castle hid the bottom from view. Em and Olivia might have been there now.
“Aren,” Galo said quietly.
Aren’s head snapped forward. The Olso army had just appeared at the top of a small hill. The first wave was all on horseback and from this distance it looked as if many were wearing their battle armor. They didn’t slow when they saw the Lera army waiting for them. Maybe Aren had been wrong. Maybe August counted on him warning the Lerans early.
The warriors kept coming over the hill, hundreds of them. Horse hooves pounded the ground. Blasts erupted from either side of their formation. Smoke rose from the spot where Aren had just seen Gisela.
He focused on the warriors with the cannons first, tossing their bodies high into the air. He wasn’t close enough to be very accurate, and warriors all around them launched into the air as well.
The warriors reached the Lera soldiers, yells echoing as swords met and bodies crashed together. The ground began shaking and a tree toppled over, crushing several warriors and their cannon. Vallos soldiers flew through the air. Gisela pointed to them as she threw them.
But the warriors kept coming, their red uniforms fighting their way through the Lera soldiers. Aren took in a deep breath and focused his magic on them.