Instead of acquiring knowledge on her powerful new eyes, she was learning how much food and water thirty people needed each sun jump, how many collection stations were required, and how often they should be cleaned out. Not that she was complaining; it was better than being hung upside down in one of the prince’s special rooms or being forced to confess her sins by the priestess’s deacons. She shuddered.

The Monks of Parzival had given them some supplies along with a few more recruits…well, the acolytes had decided to join them instead of the monks. But the provisions were dwindling. A point made clear when Shyla and her team of nine retreated underground ten angles before the sun reached the danger zone at angle eighty. The temperature cooled significantly as they descended to level eight, which was deep enough to be safe from the heat. The yellow light from the druk lanterns was weak in comparison to the sun and they slowed, allowing their eyes to adjust to the dimness.

Jayden and Ximen waited for her in the common room. It was a large open area with a handful of benches, low stone tables, and cushions scattered around. A few of their members had gathered in small clumps, eating rolls of velbloud jerky. Unfortunately, jerky was the only food they were able to acquire at this time. Some groups conversed in low tones, while others played dice or other games. The entire organization had divided into three teams of ten to distribute the workload. One team slept while another rested and the third worked. Then they’d rotate.

The two men pulled Shyla aside as the others in her team filled their empty water skins and joined those not on duty for second meal. Rendor frowned, but didn’t follow them. Probably due to Jayden’s glare.

“We’re running out of water,” Jayden said to her. He was one of her seconds-in-command for three reasons: his magic was the second most powerful, he knew the city of Zirdai better than anyone, and he had a network of vagrants who provided information and resources.

“How long do we have?” she asked.

“Three, maybe five sun jumps at most.”

Alarmed, she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Jayden tilted his head at the glass jugs lined along the wall. “Two of the new jugs are poisoned.”

Back before getting involved with the Invisible Sword, she would have been shocked, but, after witnessing the Water Prince’s cruelty, she wasn’t surprised. If a citizen didn’t pay taxes to the prince, then they didn’t get clean water. Vagrants who couldn’t afford the price or those who chose not to support the prince found other sources of water and took the chance it might be poisoned by the prince’s guards. The vagrants had learned to give a sample of the water to sand rats before drinking it.

“Can we get more?” she asked.