I glance away. If I look at her a moment longer, I will lose all my composure. I still don’t know how it came to this. Life at Dead River was hard, but fine. I didn’t realize how ideal it was, even with the storms and the drying lake and the backbreaking work. I didn’t know I’d miss it until it was wrenched away.

I stare at the map. Each dash and curve, every line and symbol. If the Oracle can’t read it, how in the scorched skies am I supposed to?

“I don’t know how to fix this,” I mutter. “If I don’t tell him how to read it by tomorrow, he’s going to kill my ma.”

“I will try to find something—anything—to buy you time before then, but I’m not hopeful.”

She’s honest, at least. That’s more than many can say.

I nod my thanks. “Do you think you could take a message to the nursery for me? Tell Bay I will make everything all right. I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way. I promise.”

“I’ll tell her . . .”

“But?” I ask, sensing the Oracle’s hesitation.

“A promise you can’t uphold is a dangerous thing. The General, for all his faults, upholds his. If your mother is the first target in his quest to get answers from you, he will eventually turn his sights to Bay. Seven years may sound long now, but it is merely an exhale in the cosmos.”

She stands quickly, her gaze fixed on something over my shoulder. I turn to find Reed in the doorway. It hasn’t been several hours, let alone one.

“Time’s up,” he says.

I’ve taken just one step toward him when the Oracle’s hand closes over my wrist. “Tread carefully, Delta of Dead River. If there is something you’re keeping from me—if you think of anything that might help me decode this map—I urge you to speak before it is too late.”

Chapter Thirteen

That night, beneath a blanket of gods-forsaken stars, I sip a fresh cup of water and stare at the dam that surrounds Bedrock. I study the Loyalists, learning the pattern of changing guards by watching torches shift. They patrol between the massive wooden contraptions I noticed while in the General's meeting chambers—objects that I assume can help defend the settlement, though I've never seen anything like them before. I consider the dizzying descent down the Backbone and wonder if I could make it with nothing but my bare hands. There are plenty of windows, but very few with stone awnings, and even fewer balconies. I would likely fall to my death, just as Reed warned on my first night.