“He’s fine,” I said. I knew it was a lie, but it was what he needed to hear. “He will meet us back at the hideout.” I shoved wet strands of hair away from his forehead.
I knew Dimic couldn’t swim. The image of Dimic’s shape against the beams when the dam burst haunted me. I couldn’t let Cion see that; he needed to believe his brother was alive. That hope might be the only thing holding him together.
Because the desert couldn’t take that from him. Not Dimic. He’d never even gotten to take a bath. And I couldn’t imagine a more horrible way for a Desert Boy to die than to drown in the very water he’d been deprived of his whole life.
I shoved the thought away. I’d get Cion to safety and then scour the wells looking for Dimic. I would find him. Alive.
“I need to get you to an apothecary.”
“No,” Cion wheezed. His eyes fluttered open, unfocused. He tried to sit up and fell back. “Most of them . . . Rodric’s spies.”
“There has to be someone here who would help you,” I pleaded.
He shook his head. “Can’t risk it. Get back to the hideout. Sew it shut with a cactus spine.”
I didn’t like it, but I nodded. I prayed he’d last that long.
“Thank you,” Cion murmured. His hand shook as it stretched toward my cheek, resting there for a heartbeat before falling away.
That heartbeat was enough. Because the warmth his touch sent through me was nothing like the unrelenting heat of the desert sun. It was gentle and welcoming. And I knew even if his heart belonged to Latia, I couldn’t live in a world where that warmth didn’t exist, even if I never got to feel it again.
I pulled Cion to his feet and propped his arm around my shoulder only to realize we were surrounded by a wide circle of guards and a crowd of people looking for water.
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People stood gaping at us over the guards’ shoulders.
The guards ringed us in on all sides, standing about twenty feet from the well to keep people back. But as they slowly turned to face us, they hemmed us in.
And I didn’t have a single weapon on me.
“Cion,” someone whispered.
The name raced through the crowd.
The guards moved their circle in closer around us.
I scanned the faces of the soldiers, looking for one I knew. One I’d fought before. One I knew I could easily rob of his weapon.
I didn’t recognize any of them.
I was about to run back for the water bucket as my only available weapon when the first ration coin flew from the crowd. It smashed into the helmet of the guard directly in front of us.
Then they started coming from all directions.
The people were throwing away their most important possession. For Cion.
Buckets started flying out of the crowd as well.
I heard Cion’s name chanted over and over again.
Soldiers threw up their arms to protect their exposed faces. As soon as one of the soldiers went down, I hauled Cion toward the opening.
The crowd parted for us and closed in behind us, not allowing the soldiers to see our path.
Cion weighed down my body. Each step took more and more effort.
We made it through the crowd and into the streets. I scanned up and down each looking for a landmark I knew. But I’d never spent much time on the streets, and I didn’t even know which well we’d bubbled up in.
I tried to find the sun to navigate by, but I still got lost in the maze, full of the knowledge that every wrong turn could cost us. Could cost Cion.
“Which way’s the main gate?” I called desperately to an old woman sweeping sand from in front of her shop.
She looked me up and down before gazing at Cion.
“Two streets down,” she said quietly. “Take a left.”
I nodded and repositioned Cion’s arm over my shoulder.
After following her directions, the broken gate leading out into the desert loomed ahead.
I leaned Cion against the wall as we passed.
His eyes wouldn’t focus on my face.
I grabbed both his cheeks in my hands, trying to force him to look at me. “Cion, which way is the hideout?” I scanned his face for some recognition.
Sweat dotted his brow. He mumbled something I couldn’t make out. His head rolled forward. I fought to keep him upright.
I switched my gaze to the sea of hills. I couldn’t risk wandering around in the desert while the sun continued to rise. Already, I couldn’t tell if I was still wet from the well or if the sun had dried me and I was dripping sweat.
“Come on, Cion,” I pleaded.
Every moment I hesitated, the sun rose higher, and he lost more blood.
His eyes closed, and he sagged against me.
A blood beetle burrowed out of the sand and scuttled toward Cion. I kicked it away. But if we didn’t move quickly, more would come.
I pounded my fist into the crumbling wall. The desert wasn’t taking someone from me. Not this time.
I looped his arm back over my shoulder and shuffled forward. I prayed that if the desert really did respect its masters, it would show me the way.
I didn’t even have energy to be proud I’d successfully spotted a sand snake hole and navigated around it, because if I’d thought Cion had been heavy before, it was worse pulling him up sand dunes. Once we made it to the top of one, we half stumbled, half fell back down. Then I’d start the trudge upward once more.
On one such dune, I was about to lean forward and tumble down into the next valley when something made me look back.
A dripping wet Rodric stood at the gate with a pack of soldiers. He pointed right toward us. And then they were racing across the sand.
I forced my legs to move faster. Cion took about one step for every four of mine until eventually his feet simply dragged behind me.
My shoulders groaned. My arms ached. My heart thudded so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t hear the sand. I couldn’t hear how close they were getting.
My lungs burned so badly it felt like I was underwater again.
I kept my focus on getting up each sand dune as it appeared before me. But every time we crested one, the figures grew closer. Rodric drew closer.
Hot sand scorched my calves and shins as I dug my legs into the dunes to get enough leverage to pull Cion up.
We reached the top of a dune just as Rodric and his men crested the one behind us.
Rodric leapt into the valley between us.
“Nowhere to run now, Kateri,” he said.
He started up the dune toward us.
I glanced down into the next valley, praying there was someplace to hide. Something to use as a weapon. Some sign that if I shouted, the Desert Boys would come running.
What I saw before me wasn’t unending sand. It was a sea of black. It had to be some sort of mirage.
I shook my vision clear, certain the effort of dragging Cion had caused my vision to haze, that I was moments from blacking out.
No matter how many times I blinked, the sand ahead of us remained black.
Rodric’s feet pounded into the dune. The whisper of the sand wrapped around me, warning he was getting closer.
The sound was echoed by something else. Soft clicking. At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was. Until the sand in front of me shifted without the wind blowing it.
Because it wasn’t sand.
It was scorpions.
Scorpion Hill.
The thought jolted through my mind. I’d stumbled upon the very place Tamlin had run through on his way to save the kingdom.
If he’d made it through unscathed, maybe I could.
I swallowed down the thought that no one had ever survived a scorpion sting, telling myself I shared Tamlin’s blood. I could make it.
Rodric’s heavy breathing signaled he’d neared the crest of the dune. I knew what he’d do to Cion. We were dead either way. The most I could hope for was to get Rodric to follow me out there.
To take him down with me.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to Cion as I took an unsteady step forward.
Several scorpions scuttled away as a wave of sand hit them.
I hoisted Cion as far as I could against my hip and kept going. I sent small kicks of sand forward to get scorpions to move. I took slow, measured steps.
“Still running away?” Rodric laughed. But his laugh cut off when he crested the hill and saw what waited before him. “Scorpion Hill,” he breathed.
I could hear the fear in his voice. “Think about what you’re doing, Kateri. Get back here while you still can.”
“If you want me,” I panted over my shoulder, “you’ll have to come and get me.” I’d made it to the first valley between the dunes. I turned to stare up at Rodric. Half because I wanted to draw him out. And half because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold Cion up.
Sweat greased my grip on him. His head rolled against my shoulder with every step I took. I just needed him to hold on a little bit longer. Either I was going to find a way out of this, or it was all going to be over very soon.
I’d created a makeshift path in the mass of scorpions. A few had filled in some of the gaps, but it wouldn’t be hard for Rodric to follow me.
He eyed me.
“You’re not Tamlin,” he said.
“Then prove you are,” I called. “I’ve made it this far without being stung. Prove you’re better than me. Prove these creatures recognize you as the king of the desert that you claim to be, that my father thinks you are. Prove once and for all that this desert is picking you and not me.”
I could tell he was mulling it over in his mind. His soldiers joined him on the ridge and considered their leader.
“Didn’t Cion tell you where he left me to die? It was here.” He stomped forward, crunching scorpions as he went. “He left me right here on this ridge, and the scorpions didn’t sting me. This desert chose not to kill me. I am the desert king.”
“You’re not a desert king,” I called. “You couldn’t even survive in the desert like the rest of us can. You fled back to the city. But not us. No, these creatures won’t touch us. They know the desert has accepted us, embraced us.”
“I am the only master here,” Rodric said. He raised his sword and used it to flick scorpions away in big, sweeping swipes, clearing a wide path.
Every scorpion he sent flying landed atop another one, agitating it. The mass came alive. The sound of legs clicking against hard bodies and tails was overwhelming.
I turned back to the dune in front of me. I kicked sand up it, but the scorpions only had one direction to move—down, toward me. I couldn’t clear a path.
Every swipe of Rodric’s sword signaled he was getting closer.
I kicked more and more sand up the dune. Nothing happened.
The scrape of Rodric’s sword was right behind me.
I didn’t know how long it would take for scorpion poison to set in, but maybe it’d be long enough to let me get Cion to safety.
Abandoning my method, I dug my feet into the dune. Scorpion bodies squished under my sandals, a sickening crunch.
Then I felt it.
I inhaled sharply. It felt like a cactus spine rammed into my ankle. And it was on fire. I lost feeling in my foot. I tried to take another step. My leg buckled. I landed on my knees.
Stingers sliced into my calf and lower thigh. The whole left side of my body burned as though someone had bottled the sun and poured it on me. The pain was so great I couldn’t cry out. Not a sound passed my lips.
I lost my grip on Cion. He rolled down the dune and lay at Rodric’s feet.
Miraculously, it appeared not a single scorpion stung him. They actually seemed to be moving away from him.
Rodric picked up Cion by his collar. “And I thought killing you would be a challenge.” He pulled his sword back and readied it to run Cion through, but then a small smile slid across his face. “No, I’ve got a better idea.” He shoved Cion’s limp form to the guards who’d ventured warily into the path he’d cleared.
I struggled to get my body working. My muscles wouldn’t respond. None of my fingers would bend. I couldn’t even blink.
Get up, I told myself in a desperate mantra.
“I always knew the desert would pick me,” Rodric said. He pulled my braid, and I fell into the sand at his feet. He crouched down to look at me. “And the Desert Boys will have to be held responsible for your death, just like they were your mother’s, because your father won’t want it known his weak daughter died on the same hill Tamlin escaped. The same hill I’ve survived twice now.” He patted me on my cheek and disappeared from view. “Take them back to the palace,” he called to his soldiers.
The fire in my left side spread to my right. It seared through my lungs. I wasn’t sure if I could breathe or not. Everything in front of me spun around, a mix of golden sand and black scorpions.
It swirled and swirled until everything went dark.
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Fire ripped through me. It knotted my veins. It tore my muscles from the walls of my body. It turned my bones to ash. And just when I thought it would melt through my flesh, it turned to ice.
Beads of sweat froze on my skin. My bones hardened, and then repeatedly cracked as the ice spread through them. Splinters broke off and threatened to ram through my flesh.
Everything began to itch. I could feel the scorpions crawling on me, burrowing into me. I screamed for someone to get them off me.
And I heard voices.
“Remarkable she’s still alive.”
“More strength than I thought possible.”
They faded. I returned to a world of darkness, too tired to fight off the scorpions any longer.
When I woke, light streamed in through a high window.
I bolted upright. Everything in the room spun. I tried to put my hand to my head to steady it, but shackles prevented me.
“You’re awake,” Rodric said, sliding into the room. “It only took you three days. Although, really, I’m surprised you’re alive at all.”
I tried to lunge for him. The chains held me back.
“Save that for the arena,” he said. “Your birthday will be here soon.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I spat.
“You can try,” he said. “But you and Cion have already failed more times than I can count.”
“What did you do to Cion?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and a self-satisfied smile spread across his lips. “I have big plans for him. And for you.” He gestured to the practically empty room around us. “I hope you like your new chamber. After we’re married, it’ll be yours. Your father has his tigers as his pets. I’m going to have you. But,” he continued, mock sadness marring his voice, “in your weakened state, it won’t be a surprise if you succumb to the ailments the Desert Boys will give you mere hours after bearing me a son.”
I glared at him. My fingernails dug into my palms. If I wasn’t chained, I would’ve gouged his eyes out.
“But that will come later. For now, you should rest,” he said. “You’re going to have a big decision to make tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?” I hated the glint in his eye.
He smiled. “You’ll see.”
I pulled against the chains.
He laughed and left.
“I’ll kill you,” I screamed until the door opened a few minutes later.
A portly older maid walked in carrying a bowl of soup and a glass of water.
“Latia,” I said. “Where’s Latia?” I couldn’t have lost everyone.
But for once, I couldn’t blame the desert. I’d done this. I’d put them all in danger.
The woman ignored me. She placed the bowl and glass on the small table next to my bed. She then sat in the chair next to it, dipped a spoon into the soup, and then cradled it gently toward my mouth.
“Please,” I said, “you have to help me.”
She instead tr
ied to force the soup into my mouth. I jerked my head away.
“Please, I have to get out of here.”
She tried again.
“No,” I shouted. “I have to stop Rodric. He’s going to bleed this town dry. Whatever he’s promised you, he’s lying. It was all lies—the drought, everything.”
Again, she tried to get the spoon into my mouth. Soup spilled down my chin as I clamped my lips shut.
“Rodric is going to cut off water to the wells unless everyone obeys his every command. He’s going to be worse than my father. I can stop him, but I have to get out of here. I have to find the Desert Boys.”
She silently refilled the spoon and tried again.
“Aren’t you listening?” I pleaded. “Don’t you have people out there who are dying without water? I can help them. I can help you. I’ll protect you from him.”
She leaned forward with a cross look on her face, like I was child that needed to behave, and when she did, her hair shifted. Where her ears should’ve been, two long, puffy scars lay. They were fresh.
“No,” I said, gasping.
Her eyes pleaded with me just to eat the soup. And while my mouth hung agape looking at her scars, she slid the spoon into my mouth.
I gagged and swallowed.
The soup settled like sand in my stomach.
I silently let her feed me the rest and pour the water down my throat. It should’ve felt good after so long without it, but I had to fight not to gag on every mouthful.
Tears slipped down my cheeks. I tried to hold them back because I was going to need my strength. Because no matter how long it took, I was going to kill Rodric.
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My new maid, whose name I’d probably never learn, woke me at sunrise the next day. She wiped away the dirt, dust, and sand and smoothed my hair. Then, while I was still chained to the bed, she stripped off my old gladiator gear and maneuvered a clean, gauzy dress onto me.
The last time I’d worn such fabric, I’d performed the sand dance.
I blinked back tears.
I didn’t know if any of those boys were still alive. Especially Dimic. I’d been the one to involve him in the plan. It was my fault he was dead.
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