He paused with a grimace, holding the heel of his left hand to his eye socket.

I fell back against the tree trunk, my heart in my throat. I’d acted stupidly. I gave him the poison and it made our situation worse! He would take revenge. He thought it was Assata who had given it to him. Everyone in Alu knew she was a warrior. He believed it was her acting against him because he had her son! Frantically, I pulled on Dagan’s arm, but he was ignoring me, staring at the dais with a clenched jaw, his right hand hovering over his emerald dagger.

“We have to go, my love!”

Uruku grabbed Warad by his hair and pushed him down on his knees in front of the sandstone block. “People of Alu! I will not tolerate disloyalty and threats!”

Warad’s big, round face was resigned, his eyes dry, chin firm, under his scraggly beard. If Assata were here, she would slash her way through this crowd, annihilating everyone in her path to rescue her son, and we were sitting on our heels. But there was nothing we could do. Not right now.

“We need to get out of here to plan another way to poison Uruku,” I hissed to Dagan. “Come on!”

Dagan shook his head. “We can’t just leave!”

Uruku was bellowing on about loyalty and traitors in a ragged voice, wincing as he spoke, a hint of madness played at the edges of his words.

“What else are we going to do? He thinks Assata delivered the poison, and he’s going to punish her by murdering Warad!”

“But if he kills him, Assata could become unwilling to cooperate.”

“Uruku is not a rational man. And I pushed him over the edge with the gochala.” My plans weren’t working. I was harming more than I was healing! He will kill Warad because of me.

“So this—this—is what we do to traitors in Alu, citizens.” Uruku’s commanding voice echoed from the dais. “This is how we deal with them!”

He turned to one of the guardsmen behind him and snapped his fingers. “Your sword.”

The man unsheathed it with a soft snick and handed him the hilt.

Dagan pulled out his dagger.

Panic tightened my throat. “Dagan, do not even think about it.”

“I’m an excellent marksman, Kammani.”

“And they’ll see who threw it and kill you, too!” I pleaded, my eyes welling.

“Would they? We don’t know that!”

“Warad, Tavern Owner’s Son,” Uruku continued. “Your abum, Irra, was a traitor. Your ummum, Assata, lives as a traitor. And now you shall accept punishment for their crimes.”

Uruku nodded to the guardsmen on either side of Warad. “Secure him.”

The guards grabbed Warad and shoved his head down to the block. Warad writhed and jerked, trying to squirm from their hold. The crowd surged forward, some screaming encouragement, others yelling in protest.

“My love!” Tears spilling from my eyes, I grabbed Dagan’s arm again. “Please. We have to leave!”