What happened in Avenged (Ruined #2)?

Read a full summary of Avenged by Amy Tintera. This page is full of spoilers, so beware! If you are wondering what happened in Avenged, the second book in this series, then you are in the right place!

Author
Amy Tintera

Ratings
4.3 stars on Amazon
4.02 stars on Goodreads
Add Avenged at Goodreads

The Ruined Series
#1 Ruined
#2 Avenged
#3 Allied

***** Everything below is a SPOILER *****

What happened in Avenged?

Em, her sister Olivia, and the Ruined return home. Em believes Cas will keep his promise and not attack them. Olivia and Aren are not so sure.

Cas’s cousin Jovita is upset he let Em and Olivia (who killed his mother) get away. Many people are taking refuge from Olso as they are conquering everyone around them. Cas meets Violet, the daughter of a southern province governor and one who previously helped him escape the castle. She has inherited the southern province, the only one Olso hasn’t conquered.

Olivia proposes a diarchy so she and Em can pull on their individual strengths and rule together.

Jovita undermines Cas at the adviser’s meeting. He wants to head south to check on the people there and try to re-take the castle. She wants to attack the Ruined. She’s convinced many advisers he’s not in a proper state of mind.

Olivia announces the diarchy to the people and calls together a team of advisers. They want an elected leader. They suggest Aren. He declines. Olivia says he’ll marry one of them and rule that way. The advisers reluctantly agree to their roles.

They begin cleaning and dividing up the cabins the people of Ruina will live in. They see two men trying to escape. Olivia takes Aren over to teach him how to use his power without draining his energy.

STACY’S REVIEW

I give it 3.5 stars overall.
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Cas, Galo, and Violet discuss Jovita’s plans to undermine him. She starts a riot with everyone screaming ‘Kill the Ruined.’ Cas refuses to. Men loyal to Jovita lock Cas in his room. She’ll send half the troops out to kill all Ruined. The other half will protect the fortress.

Olivia and Aren hunt the Hunters. Olivia enjoys her kills. A troop from Olso approaches. Iria and August, the youngest Olso prince, are among them.

Cas has been in his room for five days. He tried to negotiate his way out the first two but then gave up. He’s miserable and ill. Galo shows up with his meal and news that Jovita has left to go to Ruina. Cas’s fight has left him.

Iria visits Aren. They brought food for the Ruined. Aren is grateful. He’s attracted to her. He tells her to stay away from the Ruined, especially Olivia. Olivia can see the connection between the two. He tells her how Iria offered him escape when her people captured him.

August tells the queens his brother sent him to try to solidify the relations between their two countries by marrying the queen. Olivia says ‘no.’ He wasn’t asking her. Em wants to bolt. Em knows Ruina could sorely use the protection, food, and other supplies. Loving any man besides Cas is never going to happen. But she didn’t expect her next marriage to be for love. This political alliance is one to consider.

Lera soldiers attack their camp. The Ruined warriors easily win with magic. They capture a Lera soldier. They discover Jovita’s taken over. She’s the one who ordered the soldiers to Ruina. Em knows her pact with Cas no longer stands. Em is going to search for Jovita to kill her. Iria says August can send for reinforcements. Em’s not waiting for them to arrive before she begins her search.

Galo discovers the soup Cas has been eating is poisoned. They pump his stomach. Galo, Mateo, and Violet help him escape the castle.

Em, Olivia, August, and soldiers from both their countries invade a small town called Sacred Rock, just a few hours away from their enemies. Em and August check the forest around Sacred Rock and see a Lera caravan. It’s Cas and his crew. Em stays with Cas as he recovers at a house in Sacred Rock. They catch up on what’s happened during their time apart.

Em asks Aren’s opinion on her plan. He thinks it might be a good idea but not for the reason Em’s doing it: Cas. Their relationship isn’t possible. She needs to get over him.

Olivia doesn’t know why they’re helping an enemy king recover. Em says they want him on the throne because of their alliance. To take out her anger on someone, she calls for Aren to go hunting. Olivia thinks he needs to marry one of them since he’s so powerful. She doesn’t want her sister marrying a human, neither Cas nor August. Aren is nervous about the situation but finally just gives in for now since Olivia says it will be a couple years. They come upon a campsite of twelve people who fled Sacred Rock. Olivia attacks just for fun and leaves one of them alive to tell the story.

Olivia visits Cas. She wants to figure out why he and Em love each other. She leaves with a little more respect for him. Cas goes out to get some fresh air. Aren approaches. They discuss Em. Aaron’s surprised to hear they haven’t consummated their marriage. It makes him respect Cas. Em arrives. She and Cas go upstairs to sleep side-by-side.

Em goes to a meeting with August and the Ruined counsel. Only Olivia is absent. They decide to send people to Lera to scout. August asks how long Em plans on helping Cas. He asks if it’s because of her personal relationship with him. August and Em agree that Cas can stay for three more days. Em knows Cas needs to get back home so he can secure his throne.

Aren goes back to see what damage Olivia did the other day. Iria asks to go with him. They are horrified to see everyone’s dead. Aren tells Iria it was Olivia. They decide to tell Em what happened. They see an army marching toward Sacred Rock.

Em goes to Cas in his room that night. Things are progressing between them until they hear a scream. The Vallos army’s approaching. Aren and Olivia go on the offensive and kill many. Aren realizes this was a ploy to let the people of Sacred Rock escape. He loses it when he sees blood all around him. Iria helps him out of his clothes and clean up. He gets in bed to rest, holding her offered hand.

Em and Olivia argue because Olivia attacked that encampment and because Cas is still in town.

Em tells Cas he has to leave. He wants to renounce his country and stay with her. Em thinks it’s a ridiculous idea. She shares that August has proposed marriage and how this could keep them safe. Cas finally decides to man up and take charge after talking to Galo.

Aren awakes and realizes Iria helped him last night. Iria suggests they head north for a while to get him away from Olivia. Aren thinks it’s a good idea but will visit with Em first.

Cas tells Em he’s going home to try to execute Jovita. Em gives him a letter she wrote detailing her plans. Cas can act like he stole it from Em, try to get on the royal advisers’ good side, gather Violet’s people from the south, and hopefully retake his throne. Em tells him to be vicious and to remind them who their king is.

Cas arrives back at the fortress. He slams treason charges on Jovita and her followers but says he will forgive them because they were right about the Ruined. He presents the letter Em gave him and tells of the Ruina alliance with Olso through a possible marriage between Em and August. He says he’ll forgive Jovita because just as she was wrong, Cas was wrong about the loyalties of Em and the Ruined. But he says all the nonsense about him being insane, the reason she locked him in his room, must be dismissed. He says they’ll be cautious in their decisions because they have made them too quickly in the past.

The council decides Olivia should be removed from power based on her hasty choices. They want Em alone to rule. All the advisers besides Jacobo are on Em’s side. They tell Em she does not need to marry August. Olso already owes them. They’re afraid August would kill her after she produced a few heirs for him.

Aren tells Em he would like to head north with the Warriors to get away from Olivia for a while because she wants to marry him. Em assures him he will never be forced into anything.

Jovita asks why Cas suddenly turned against the Ruined. He tells a convincing story about how he initially let Em go because of his feelings. But when he traveled to meet the Ruined, he realized she didn’t love him back. He says he barely got out of there with his life. Jovita falls for this because it lines up with her beliefs.

Aren, Iria, and the group head north.

August asks Em what she wants out of life with marriage, children, and her future. She answers and then asks him the same. He lets her know he’s doing her a favor by showing up to marry her since there are few eligible Ruined bachelors. Olivia bursts in an interrupts the meal. Em is grateful but then Olivia acts like marrying August might be good.

Cas and Violet will meet with Em and then head south to check on her province. Cas asks Galo to keep an ear out for anyone who might have poisoned him if it wasn’t Jovita.

As they’re refilling their canteens, an arrow flies out of the woods toward Iria. Aren uses his powers to pull her to him and proceeds to fight off their attackers while holding onto Iria. He suspects touching her makes his powers stronger.

Cas and Em have their first secret meeting. Neither one have much information to exchange. They fill each other in on what’s happened since they’ve been apart. Em is a little jealous of Violet. Cas says it’ll be ten days before they can meet again. He might send Galo. He asks whether she’s accepted August’s proposal. Violet leaves when this subject comes up. Em says ‘no’ and asks Cas to be the one to come back for the next exchange.

When Em gets back to the stables, August is there. He asks where she’s been and doesn’t believe her explanation. He asks why she’s reluctant to except his proposal. She says nothing can be decided until Jovita’s dead. He says she will accept his proposal and he’s sending word home to this effect. Em realizes she’ll never be able to marry him.

Cas and Violet make it to her homeland. Cas learns many are quiet supporters of him. Violet tells Cas she knows he brought her along to make Em jealous. He owns up to it but reminds her she was one of the candidates for his bride the first time around. She says she won’t be anyone’s second choice.

Aren tells Iria about Olivia’s marriage proposal. She’d heard about it and seems pleased he won’t accept it.

Em sneaks out for her second meeting with Cas. Violet’s there again, too. Cas is nicer and more attentive. Em’s confused. When they separate, August and some of his men snatch Em.

Cas hears a tiny yelp. He and Violet go to investigate. Since there are twenty Warriors, Violet convinces Cas to go for help instead. The only reason he does so is they’re tying Em up, which makes him think they aren’t going to kill her. He sends Violet back to Lera to tell Galo.

Cas rides for Sacred Rock to tell Olivia. They wake the whole town and tell them to be ready to leave when Olivia returns. Cas takes her to where he last saw Em. He asks Olivia to let him know when she finds Em.

August lifts Em’s blindfold to show her they’re in Olso. Instead of wasting time being scared of the Ruined, his people devised a way to try to defeat to them: a railway system. Em’s not sure how this could defeat the Ruined. For the first time since she was captured, she’s worried for the Ruined and Olivia. She figures the Olso people must have some other tricks up their sleeve.

Lera gets word that the Ruined are on the move. Cas assumes this means Olivia couldn’t find Em and went home to retrieve her army to help with the search. The Lera army commander pulls Cas aside to ask questions. She’s heard about Cas’s deals with those in the southern province and wants to know about his relationship with the Ruined. He tells her about their mutual armistice. They decide this would be an excellent time to try to retake their castle.

A group of Warriors come upon Iria and Aren’s group. They act like they’re searching their things for a letter from Olivia explaining what happened. They’re actually going for their swords to attack Aren. He fights back and kills a couple of them. The two Ruined who are with him are killed. Iria runs with Aren, betraying her own people.

August and Em arrive at the palace and meet two of his brothers, King Lucio and George. The king is at first mad and then exasperated when he hears the story on why August brought Em as a prisoner. Lucio takes her aside to question her. He says they’ll treat her well. But she’s not free to leave. He says he will have the Ruined one way or another. She says Olivia will kill them all.

Aren sneaks into the fortress to tell Cas about Em’s kidnapping. He tells Aren that Olivia’s on it. He asks Aren to meet up with the southern province forces to help retake the castle. Aren agrees to.

Jovita finds out Aren was there and questions Cas. He acts like he didn’t see Aren. He orders everyone to stay close to the fortress except for Violet and a few guards he’s sending south. Jovita is suspicious.

George gives Em a tour of the palace. She sees a portrait of her mother from when they were allied with Olso. Em and August berate each other at the family dinner.

Olivia approaches the Olso castle. Em goes out to meet her. Olivia kills Lucio, George, and others. An explosion sounds and rocks the area. Em’s arm is on fire. August puts it out. Em wishes Olivia hadn’t come to rescue her.

Aren and Iria arrive in the southern province. Aren goes out on a scouting mission. Iria stays back with Violet.

Jovita is shocked to see the soldiers from the southern province marching for the fortress. Cas has an opportunity to kill Jovita but doesn’t do it. He realizes he told Em he would kill his cousin to save her.

Em is riding with an Olso soldier. He tells her the Ruined retreated, August is now the surviving brother and king, and he sent them to Lera. They’re to let Em go once they cross the border. She’s never welcome in Olso again. They drop her off an hour’s walk from the fortress. She comes upon Cas, Aren, and their group. She’s getting weak because of the burn on her arm. She rides on Cas’s horse with him.

Olivia and Jacobo come upon the group that left Em behind. They kill the men. As they travel, Olivia hears a large group of Lera soldiers approaching. She sees Cas riding a horse with Em asleep against him. Then Olivia sees Aren with them and is furious. She thinks they’re riding north to retake the palace. She decides to take it instead. It’ll be a much nicer place for the Ruined to live.

Em tells Aren that Iria will have to stay in Lera. She’s very upset. She said she didn’t betray her people to be in Lera. She wanted to be with the Ruined.

When they get to Gallego City, Cas questions Iria about why the Warriors aren’t there. It makes her feel like more of a traitor. She gives some information but not everything she knows about her people. A scout spots Jovita. They avoid her.

How did Avenged end?

They arrive at the capital two days later. Em senses Olivia’s nearby. They wonder why she came. Cas tells Em he wants to marry her for real this time, he loves her, and he knows she’ll make the right choice. Then Em goes to Olivia. Olivia says she’s going to take Lera by force. Em’s confused. Cas will live only if he complies with her. Jovita is also already in the city trying to stake her claim. The Warriors in town head to the waterfront. Cas thinks they’re scared of Olivia.

Aren follows the Warriors to the shoreline and realizes the Warriors aren’t retreating. They fire shoulder cannons at the Ruined. Olivia and Aren try to fight each other. Neither wins. The warriors leave, snatching Iria as they go. Aren tells her he will search every prison in Olso until he finds her.

A couple of Em’s advisers help her break free from the bonds Olivia put her in. She asks Olivia to go home without fighting anyone else. Olivia says this is their new home; she likes Lera better than Ruina. Em thinks about killing Olivia. She’s the only one who could do it because she’s the only one who Olivia’s powers don’t work on. Em convinces Olivia to leave Cas alone and that much of what Aren felt for Iria was because she can enhance his Ruined power. Em is afraid of what Olivia will do on her own. Em realizes that both Ruina and Lera are without allies as the Olso ships pull out of the harbor.

There you go! That’s what happened in Avenged, the second book in this series. Allied, the third and final book, is set to be released May 1, 2018!

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