Min, on the other hand, said nothing.

The inside of the wagon was already fully dark when they stopped for the day. Dahlia had made only one more appearance during the journey, and only stayed long enough to deliver three more bowls. She’d seemed agitated, not even bothering to goad her prisoners or laugh cruelly at the futility of their plight.

This time, they’d shared what was provided between them. Hunks of dried, salted meat. Hard bread. Some kind of boiled tuber that was on the wrong side of too cold. The food had sat heavy in Ludo’s stomach. A single bowl of water had also been left behind, and they’d taken turns lapping it up to sate their thirst.

Of course, then had come the need to urinate, but Mister Rose had refused to stop—“Piss yer britches for all I care!” he’d hollered when Ludo had made his request. Now, Ludo felt ready to explode.

So when Dahlia’s face appeared at the back of the now-stationary wagon and she said, “Come on,” he practically launched himself down to ground level.

“Where?” was his only question.

“Not here,” she said. “Too close to camp. Come with me. And don’t try anything unless you want to become a pincushion for my daggers.”

“I just need to piss. That’s it.”

“Then we won’t have a problem.”

As recently as two days earlier, the thought of Dahlia tugging down his pants would’ve set his cheeks on fire, but now it was just A Thing That Needed To Happen. As soon as he was free, he released the stream, so pent up it was painful. “You almost pissed on my hand!” Dahlia complained.

“Sorry. I told you I was busting.”

“Small-bladdered boy,” she said. As she drew his britches back up, however, she looked down and said, “Not such a boy, after all, are you?”

“I haven’t been a boy for a long time,” he said. “I had to grow up faster than most.”

“And why is that?”

“My ma killed herself when I was but a squalling infant. My twin brother died in a village fire when I was only six. I’ve known pain. I’ve known death. That makes a boy into a man pretty fast.”

“And yet you’ve never lain with a woman, have you?”

“You were the closest,” he admitted. “And that didn’t go so well.”

She laughed. “You’re kind of funny. Pity I can’t keep you around to play with for a while.”

“Or maybe you could. I could help, you know. Capture new inventory. Sell them to the highest bidder.”

She smirked. “You? Become a slaver? You’re as innocent as a newborn puppy.”

“You could teach me. And, perhaps, I could teach you a few things too.”

She laughed again, but it wasn’t scornful this time, hints of true amusement bleeding through. “Like what?”

“How about I show you. Tonight. Min and Gar told me all about their fights. I want to participate too.”