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 tried 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.

CHAPTER

29

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.