“Is that a Desert Boy?” Sievers voice rang out.

My heart dropped. I thought he was going to help me, not betray my rescuers. When my head swung around, Sievers was pointing in the complete other direction from where I stood, distracting the other guard.

Whoever had freed my shackles popped up in front of me.

Dimic.

My heart leapt.

He winked at me before disappearing into the crowd.

I had to be hallucinating, but here he was. Alive. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out in joy.

The soldier behind me said, “That’s not a boy at all. That’s a girl.”

“My mistake,” Sievers said.

The other guards formed rank around me. Two of them had Lister in custody. They pulled him back through the stadium. The crowd roared.

He gave me a wink as he went by.

I cast my head down so Rodric wouldn’t suspect anything.

The absence of my clanking shackles wasn’t missed over the noise of the crowd, but I tried to keep my walk awkward, like I was still tethered.

Rodric eyed the crowd as my guards escorted me toward my father. But instead of seating me in my normal spot at my father’s side, Rodric took that seat. I was shoved down next to him, farther from my father.

My father didn’t acknowledge me. He instead crushed a fire-legged fly where it landed on his arm and then flicked the lifeless body away, never taking his gaze from the arena. To him, I was no more than a failed experiment, no more than the fly he’d just crushed, a woman as weak as his wife. My only use now was as an easy path for Rodric to the throne.

But I was going to show him that my mother was right, that true strength didn’t come from wielding a sword. It came from having your people be willing to follow you.

I scanned the arena. If Dimic was here, that meant other Desert Boys may be as well. I could only hope that when the time came, they’d help me get a weapon. Because I could only imagine that Cion was going to be pulled into the arena. And that tigers were waiting behind both doors.

I’d only seen one tiger missing from the cage, but they’d had plenty of time to go back for the other.

Suddenly, the arena doors opened. Guards pulled a figure forward, confirming my fear.

Cion’s hands were shackled as they led him to the post. His skin was ashen, and he looked thin. But he was alive.

I leapt to my feet.

Rodric yanked me down.

My hands were shaking. They went to grasp my sword hilt, which wasn’t there.

“See how kind I was,” Rodric said over the cries of the crowd. “I kept him alive for this moment.”

“Why?” I had to admit he looked stronger than I expected. He walked unaided. He managed to hold his head up.

“Because the people need to see that even Cion falls before me. They need to be reminded who the desert has chosen.”