All eyes turned expectantly to Cion.

Cion seemed to be mulling something over. After a pause he said, “Okay.”

A loud cheer arose from the Desert Boys, and they scuttled out one of the entrances like a pack of scorpions.

“Wait,” Cion called. The boys froze. “Rodric will be angry after our raid today. Angrier than usual.” Cion’s eyes flicked in my direction before he continued. “No one goes into town until I say so.”

He waited until each of the boys nodded in turn before tilting his head toward the door. The boys rushed out.

He turned to me. “You should come with us.”

I didn’t admit I’d been looking forward to resting after the raid. My throat still stung where the cuff had dug into it, and I was the only one not used to climbing up and down sand dunes on a daily basis. Even with all my training, it was difficult. Not to mention I felt like I could gulp down all the water in the oasis and still be thirsty. But I kept my mouth shut. I knew there were people worse off than me.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

I rolled my eyes. He never made anything easy.

“I don’t know if I can handle any more surprises today.” My mind was abuzz with thoughts of my father now that my body was slowing down. I couldn’t decide if it was better to keep moving, to keep going so numbness didn’t overtake me, or if I wanted that numbness to drown out what I’d learned about my mother’s death. “I’m worried about what my father will do now that he knows I’m working with you. Maybe we should stay here and plan.”

“He can’t do anything different from what he’s done to us for years. We survived then, and we’ll survive now,” Cion said.

“How can you dismiss it that quickly?”

He offered me a small smile. “We never know what the king or Rodric is going to do. We only survive one day at a time. That’s all we can do. That and celebrate our small victories.”

“What victories?” It didn’t feel like we’d won anything. Maybe some water, but at what cost? We’d lost Yeri, there were still so many without water, and my father had put a price on my head.

“We’re still alive,” Cion said. “We’re still fighting.”

“Yeri’s not,” I said quietly.

Cion hung his head. “We can’t focus on what we’ve lost or the weight of it will bury us faster than the sand. We have to focus on what’s still to gain. We have to focus on finding joy where we can.” He tossed me a long piece of wood. “Here.”

It stretched from my neck to my thighs and was wider than I was.

“What’s this for?” I asked. I ran my fingers down the smooth lines in the grain. It was an old piece of wood, and I had no idea where he’d gotten it.