Aria shifted the blanket tighter around her. He had a brother? She didn’t know why it was hard to imagine. Maybe because she hadn’t seen any sign of other Outsiders. And she’d had no idea the land out here had any divisions.

“Territory? Is he a duke or something?”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. “Something like that.”

Oh, this was champ. She’d found herself a Savage prince. Don’t laugh, she told herself. Don’t laugh, Aria. He was being downright chatty, for him, and she needed to talk. Or listen. She couldn’t go another day with nothing but that melody rattling like a ghost in her mind.

“There are territories,” he said, “and there’s open land where the dispersed roam.”

“What are dispersed?”

His eyes narrowed, annoyed at being interrupted. “People who live outside of tribe protection. Wanderers who move in small groups or alone. Looking for food and shelter and . . . just looking to stay alive.” He paused, his wide shoulders shifting. “Bigger tribes claim territories. My brother is a Blood Lord. He commands my tribe, the Tides.”

Blood Lord. What a horrible-sounding title. “Are you close to your brother?”

He looked at the stick in his hands. “We were once. Now he wants to kill me.”

Aria froze. “Are you serious?”

“You’ve asked me that before. Do you Dwellers only joke?”

“Not only,” she answered. “But we do.”

Aria waited for his ridicule. She had a fair idea now how hard his life was, if finding a drink of murky water took an hour’s worth of digging. There didn’t seem to be much to laugh about out here. But the Outsider didn’t say anything. He tossed the stick into the fire and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. She wondered what he saw in the flames. Was it the boy he looked for?

Aria didn’t understand why an Outsider boy would ever be kidnapped. The Pods controlled populations carefully. Everything had to be regulated. Why would they waste precious resources on a Savage child?

The Outsider picked up his bow and quiver, looping them over his shoulder. “No talking once we cross that ridge. Not a word, understand?”

“Why? What’s out there?”

His eyes, always bright, looked like green lights in the pale dawn. “Your stories are, Mole. All of them.”

As soon as they set off Aria knew this day would be different.