Ruined - Amy Tintera Page 0,13

to fight. She darted around the floor, a smile starting to appear on her face.

When she saw the opening, she used one quick well-placed kick to the legs to bring Jovita down to her knees. Em jumped in front of her, aiming her blade directly at Jovita’s neck. Cheers and applause erupted around the room.

“Mary wins,” the king yelled over the noise.

Em kept her sword at Jovita’s neck a beat longer than was necessary. She couldn’t kill her with this sword, but she pictured it for a moment.

Em swallowed, stepping back and lowering her sword. Jovita got to her feet, a hint of amusement on her face.

“I suppose it serves me right for underestimating you?”

Em laughed, pretending to be good-natured about it. She turned away from the girl.

“Yes, it does,” she muttered under her breath.

FIVE

CAS WAS SWEATING under his suit. The windows to the Grand Hall were open and a cool ocean breeze blew through them, but he was stuck in the small, stuffy waiting room right next door with his parents. He thought he might melt before the wedding began.

“You look nervous,” his father said as he adjusted his son’s collar.

“I do not.”

“Well, you have no expression on your face at all, which means you’re nervous.”

Cas cocked an eyebrow. His father had a way of making everyone smile, and he tried not to give in too easily.

“I don’t think she likes you much,” the king said with a chuckle.

The queen let out an annoyed breath and patted her elaborate hairdo. Her dark hair was piled so high on her head, it must have been painful. “She likes him fine. Just yesterday she was asking if I thought he liked her.”

“And what did you say?” the king asked.

“I told her the truth. That I didn’t think he’d decided.”

His father took his mother’s arm. “That must have made her feel much better.”

It was not unlike his mother to be brutally honest, though she also knew the value of a well-timed lie. Cas was surprised she hadn’t reassured Em with a lie about how he’d been instantly taken with her and was too shy to say so.

But perhaps it didn’t matter if she knew the truth. They were getting married, regardless of whether or not he liked her.

Or whether or not she liked him. She’d looked at him like he was a bug under her shoe yesterday when he’d given her the tip about the Union Battle.

The priest opened the door, his bright-orange robes swinging around his ankles. “We’re ready to begin.”

Cas turned away from his parents and marched past the priest and into the Grand Hall. The room featured an impressive view of Lera all the way to the ocean through the floor-to-ceiling windows to his left, and flowers and sheer white ribbons lined each of the packed benches down the center.

He entered so suddenly that the rows of people all jumped to their feet at once, the wooden benches creaking and feet scrambling against the floor. He clasped his hand around his other arm and faced the aisle. He hoped she walked quickly.

His parents entered behind him and took their seats on the front bench, next to Jovita. All three of them had expressions on their faces like they were happy about something. Cas tried not to look at them.

The guests shuffled back into their seats, and Cas surveyed the room. Each guest held a cup of wine, which wasn’t customary, but his father must have thought the ceremony could use some livening up. He wasn’t wrong.

The guests were smiling and whispering, and it smelled like the end of a party, not the beginning. Like alcohol and disappointment and a reminder that tomorrow held a hangover and the usual drudgery.

How appropriate, Cas thought.

The door at the back of the room opened, and everyone stood and turned to face Mary. Her gown was a deep, vibrant blue that caught the light as she walked, and her dark hair was piled on top of her head with an intricate series of pearls woven around the strands. The sleeves of the dress just barely covered her shoulders, and her olive skin looked soft and almost luminous.

Traditionally the mother and father walked on either side of the bride, but she was alone. He knew his parents must have offered to walk with her, and she must have declined. He could understand why.

He attempted a cheerful expression, but she seemed so miserable he found it hard to meet her eyes. He focused on a spot