She broke into a jog, even though she wanted to stall. The southeast tower loomed in front of her, the door ajar, and she had to force her feet to move forward. She wished the tower was farther away, she wished her sister wasn’t in it, she wished they were back in Ruina, cuddled up in bed with their mother.
Em slowed to a stop as she reached the door and tried to shake the thought away. It would do her no good to think about the past. If she’d learned anything from Olivia, it was that obsessing about the past, and trying to get back to some mythical great time, would only lead to more pain and suffering.
She pushed the door open. It caught on something, and Em had to push a little harder. It was a dead body, scooting across the floor as she shoved the door open. The guard who’d been on duty in the tower, from the look of his uniform.
The floorboards right in front of Em had been ripped up, revealing a hole in the ground. She knelt down, craning her neck to get a glimpse inside. She couldn’t see Olivia, but the passageway was pretty long. It would take her a while to crawl all the way to the castle and back.
A boom sounded behind her, and Em whirled around, heart pounding. The Olso and Vallos armies had arrived.
Em swallowed as she pressed her back to the door. She couldn’t let Olivia run loose, even if it meant leaving the fighting to the Lera army and the Ruined. Olivia would cause more damage if she got out of the tower.
She waited several minutes, the sounds of the attack growing louder behind her. She could hear horses running, people yelling, and cannons firing.
A rustling noise came from the hole, and Em straightened, gripping Cas’s sword a little tighter. A dirty hand appeared out of the hole first, gripping the edge of the dirt to pull her body up.
Olivia was a mess. She was covered in dirt, wearing the same clothes she’d had on the last time Em had seen her, her face drawn and pale. She spotted Em when she was halfway out of the hole and paused for a moment, surprise skipping across her features before she rearranged her face into an angry mask.
“Sounds like the army made it,” Olivia said, obviously trying to keep her voice casual. Em could hear the edge in it, the disappointment and anger at her failure.
“Aren felt them coming long before the lookouts spotted them,” Em said. “Lera has the advantage.”
Olivia let out a hollow laugh. “You can always count on Aren.”
“Yes, you can,” Em said softly.
Olivia’s eyes dropped to the sword in Em’s hand. “Are you planning on stabbing me with that thing?”
“No.”
“Then, what?”
“We’re going to wait in here until this is over. Then you’re going to leave, and take Ester and Carmen and whoever else came with you.”
“They’re not here,” Olivia said. “I don’t need help.”
Em raised her eyebrows. “Where’d they go?”
“Back to Ruina, like a bunch of cowards.”
“Oh.” She felt a flash of sympathy for Olivia. She had no one left. “I think it’s best if you join them.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” Olivia spat. She made a waving motion with her hand.
“What does that mean?”
“It means move away from the door.”
Em shook her head, trying to keep her face calm. Olivia was sure to lunge at her at any moment. “What were you planning to do when you got into the castle? Kill me?”
“Yes. And Casimir. That’s how I got Jovita to tell me about this stupid passageway. I promised to kill him. Though I’m sure she won’t cry over your death either.”
Em felt a sharp stab of disappointment, even though it was the answer she was expecting. She blew out a breath and nodded.
Olivia stared at her like she was expecting something else. “Is that it?”
“What do you want me to say? You were right. I led you into a battle where I knew you might die. We’re not that different. You just don’t . . .” She shook her head.
“What? What don’t I do?”
She didn’t have the ability to see outside herself for even a moment. Em was sure that Olivia would never understand Cas’s point of view, or Aren’s, or Iria’s, and certainly not Em’s. She didn’t budge, she didn’t compromise, and it didn’t matter how much Em begged her. She couldn’t change who Olivia was, and accepting that made her feel the tiniest bit better.
“Nothing.” Em leaned her head back against the door and spoke her next words quietly. “It just makes me really sad that we couldn’t find a way to make peace with each other. You’re the only family I have left.”
Olivia’s expression changed, and Em had to turn away. For a moment, she’d appeared startled and upset, and Em was afraid that if she looked for too long, she’d forget that Olivia could no longer be reasoned with.
Another boom sounded from behind her, and Olivia’s face snapped back into its angry mask. She took a step forward.
“Move.”
Em met her sister’s gaze. “Make me.”
Olivia lunged, arms outstretched. Her body crashed into Em’s and Em easily pushed her away. Olivia stumbled, almost falling into the hole, and made an annoyed noise from deep in her throat.
Em extended her sword in front of her. “I’d rather not use this.”
Olivia snorted. “You’re not going to use it.” She lunged at Em again, darting to the side to avoid the sword. Em slashed it across Olivia’s arm.
She’d expected her sister to yelp, or jump back, or at least flinch, but she barely seemed to notice. She grabbed the blade, making Em gasp. Blood trickled from her hand where she held it.
“It goes here,” she growled, aiming the sword at her chest.
Em realized too late that Olivia was reaching around her, fumbling for the door handle, and she fell backward as the door swung open. She let go of the sword as she stumbled, afraid it would plunge into Olivia’s chest as her sister fell with her.
Olivia’s elbow slammed into Em’s stomach as they hit the ground, and she wheezed. Olivia had her hands wrapped around Em’s throat suddenly, but her body was only half on top of Em’s, and she easily threw Olivia off.
Em scrambled to her knees but a hand grabbed her ankle, pulling her back down. Her face hit the dirt. She rolled over onto her back just in time to see Olivia leaping into the air, her eyes on Em’s leg.
Her boots slammed into Em’s ankle, and Em screamed as the crack reverberated in her ears. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise.
“There.” Olivia blew a piece of hair out of her face. “That should make you stay put for a minute.”
Em sat up, pain screaming down her leg. She gasped at the sight behind Olivia. The Olso army was pushing the Lera soldiers back, advancing closer to the castle gates. Smoke billowed from cannons, and bodies flew through the air, propelled by Ruined magic.
Out of the corner of her eye, Em saw Olivia grab her sword. She snapped her attention back to her sister. Olivia pointed the blade at Em’s neck. Em dug her fingers into the dirt, swallowing hard as she looked up at Olivia. Her sister wore an expression Em had never seen before—defeat. Anger, resolve, and resentment, but also defeat.
“You told me once that you didn’t really expect to make it out of the Lera castle alive,” Olivia said. “So this is fitting, right? This is how it was always supposed to go.” She looked from Em to the soldiers and back again, a sad smile on her face. “I don’t think I ever really expected to make it out of this alive either. We’re not the ones who live, Em. We’re the ones who fight alone, so others can live better.”