My empty water skin flopped against my legs as a reminder I wouldn’t survive the dangers of the desert long if I didn’t have any water. I had no idea how much time it would take to find the Desert Boys.
I veered off toward the western marketplace, hoping to go unnoticed in the evening crowd as I stopped at the well. I ignored the fact I didn’t have a ration coin. I’d figure something out.
I pulled the hood up on my cloak and slunk onward. I twisted through streets lined with squat houses. Beneath a layer of sand, a few patterned tiles still clung to some of the houses. The small channels that ran in front of each house and down the sides of every street, which used to carry fresh water from the lagoon throughout the city, were clogged with sand. The clay bricks that had walled them in were visible as little more than rocks in the sand.
It was still early enough that many of the houses had their wooden window covers propped open by sticks to let in what little breeze there was.
Mothers shouted at their children to knead the dough for that evening’s bread and husbands yelled for their wives. In one house, a woman not much older than me alternated between staring out the window and at the small gold bracelet dangling off her left wrist.
She must be newly engaged. Peasants typically only wore the engagement bracelet and wedding bracelet. These days, they didn’t have the money to spend every year on a new one to add to their collection. Metal was better used repairing holes in walls or leaks in buckets.
That’s probably why Latia was always staring at my mother’s bangles in my dressing room and why she and her soldier hadn’t gotten engaged yet. If golden bracelets weren’t passed down through the generations, getting one was very expensive.
I kept my head low, realizing too late I hadn’t taken off the metal cuff around my neck. I pulled my cloak tighter to conceal it. I stepped over the bits of brick that had eroded from the houses and followed the crowd forward.
The well was located in the open square at the heart of the market. A maze of streets and vendors lined the way. The heavy scent of ground cactus root made my mouth water as men and women cooked in large dishes on the edges of the market.
A few camels were tied off in clumps at various locations around the street. One vendor had water beetles crawling over one another as they fought to the top of the pile. Their little blue wings clicked against each other as they became more agitated. Of course, the vendor hawked their agitation as a desire to head straight for water. I didn’t believe his lies for a second. If water beetles actually led us to water, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
More likely, the beetles were motivated by the smell of the lizards cooking in the stall next to them—the vendor was inadvertently spreading the scent by waving small bits of cloth over the lizards to keep the fire-legged flies away.
I hadn’t seen lizards with bumpy backs like that described in the books I’d read, which made me question how accurate those accounts truly were. But I didn’t have time to dwell on that now. I kept my eyes peeled for any ration coins that may have gotten dropped along the way.
I squeezed past a crowd of small children playing a game of sandstorm, where one child stood in the middle of the group and tried to bump into the other children, knocking them down without using their arms. The last one standing won.
Past the children, a crowd gathered around an older woman in baggy pants and a multicolored vest. She bellowed her name was Hannavas and that she had trained lizards to do amazing things. By the looks of her clothing, she used to be part of the traveling Aicilan menagerie known for training animals to put on shows.
But usually they performed with much bigger creatures like fluffy ellehcar, horned eiznekcam, or roaming nitsirk. Though bigger creatures required more water. Water we didn’t have. I wondered as I moved past if her group had gotten stuck here during the initial drought so many years ago and if all her exotic creatures had died of thirst, leaving her with nothing but desert creatures to train.
I continued past the stalls selling jars of dyed sand for sand ceremonies. Fiery reds and vibrant greens stared back at me. Each color had some meaning, some gift it would bestow on a new baby or newlywed couple.
I passed by the Sand Sayers. One woman swirled her fingers through the layer of sand on the table before her as she crouched on her stool.
“Care for a reading?” she called to me, raising one finger to beckon me to the empty stool across from her.
I shook my head and continued. Even if I believed in her powers to tell the future by guiding my hands through the sand and interpreting the picture I made, I didn’t know if I’d like what I was told.
I stopped when I spotted a cart holding bolts of cloth and other wares, peddled by a small child on top. It was the boy from the arena. He was dressed in the same tattered pants and fraying sleeveless shirt he’d worn in the arena.
My hands instinctively went to my sword, but I stopped myself from pulling it from its sheath. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus on the task at hand.
How long would it take Rodric to catch up to me? I still needed water, but most of the goods on the boy’s cart had already been sold. If I waited, I could follow him back to his hideout.
In case I didn’t have time, I moved toward the well, casting quick glances in the boy’s direction to be sure he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and ran into the back of a large man holding two water skins. He turned and gave me a disgruntled look. I backed away, or at least I tried to, but a crowd had gathered at my back.
“What do you mean the king has reduced water rations to one bucket a day?” someone shouted at a soldier close to the well. “How does he expect us to survive?”
“He doesn’t,” the man I’d bumped into shouted. Sunlight glinted off the metal molded over his ears. He must’ve been one of the Lorians passing through on a caravan who got caught here when the drought started—much like the lizard trainer I’d passed. Lorians were famous for their ability to carry large weights using their ears. I’d never spent enough time in the marketplace to see them weaving through, but others had told me of seeing a jar of beetles and lizards hanging from one ear and a cooking bowl full of hot coals on the other. This left the Lorians’ hands free to cook the beetles and lizards, change money, and roll up their delicacies in spiced shed snake skins.
He was probably angrier than the average Achran at the drought because he’d been forced to make a new life here after the lack of water made travel back to Loria impossible. I wished I could’ve moved away from him, but there was nowhere to go.
Next to us, a woman collapsed from the heat. Or maybe it was from dehydration.
A frail man next to the woman attempted to catch her as the crowd swallowed them both.
The smell of unwashed bodies was overwhelming. And I’d never realized how long the lines were at the wells.
The Lorian man charged forward, using his bulk to force others out of the way so he could move to the front. “I’ve been waiting for hours to get my two buckets, and none of you are going to stop me.” He tossed his ration coin at the guard’s feet and moved toward the well.
The ration coin winked in the late afternoon sun, all but forgotten as the guard stared the man down while he filled up his first skin.
I made my way through the crowd in the man’s wake, ready to go for the coin when there was an opening.
As soon as the man produced a second skin, the soldier pulled out his sword. “I don’t care how long you’ve been waiting. One bucket from now on. If you don’t like it, take it up with the Desert Boys who drained the eastern well earlier today.”
“The Desert Boys are the only reason we survive,” the man said, and dipped his skin into the bucket he’d pulled up from the well.
I didn’t have time to figure out what he meant because the guard stepped forward and readied his sword. The man had his back to the soldier and wouldn’t even see the blow that would strike him down.
I noticed the guard had left the ration coin unattended on the ground behind him.
I went for it.
Before my fingers grazed the ground, hands grabbed me. I was wrenched upright and roughly shoved forward. I crashed into the Lorian filling up his skin. We tumbled into the dirt. The skin slipped from the man’s hands, and water spilled out onto the sand.
“No!” he cried, clawing at the damp ground. He turned on me in a rage but stalled when he saw the sword pointed at us.
Using his blade, the soldier motioned for us to rise.
Thankfully, it was a soldier I didn’t know, so he didn’t recognize me. Rodric kept the newest soldiers stationed at the wells. They had to earn the right to work at the palace.
The Lorian man and I untangled ourselves and stood with our backs against the well. The man kept sending me hate-filled glances as though he really thought he would’ve gotten away with two skins of water.
The guard’s gaze moved between the man and me. “Stealing a ration coin’s the same as stealing water. You should both be taken to the arena. But . . .” His eyes settled on me, and his lips turned upward. “I think instead I’ll hand you over to Captain Rodric. He’s always had an eye for a pretty face, and I’ll get a promotion. And you”—he looked at the man—“you, I’ll save the king the trouble of dealing with a fool like you.”
His sword arced toward the man. My blade was out in a flash, honed to expect such attacks without a moment’s notice. Metal met metal in the air. He had muscle behind him, but I had years of training.
I spun around and used my momentum to rip his sword from his hand. When he went to reach for it, I kicked his chest, sending him reeling.
Several more guards appeared in front of me.
I’d half hoped the man I’d saved would jump into the fray, but he stood there, stunned.
I didn’t have time for this. I stripped one of the guards of his sword and spun to meet another. My blade bit into his thigh, and he went down. Two more guards tried to stand in my way. I leapt up and ricocheted off the well, jumping over their swipes. I kicked one in the head, sending him and his helmet back into the cheering crowd.
The other soldier kept his distance. He nervously darted forward to deliver a blow. I parried it and kicked his shoulder. He took one look at me and the swelling crowd before running off.
My victory was short-lived. From my perch on the well, I spotted Rodric and a contingent of guards pour into one corner of the square. His eyes met mine over the crowd.
I wouldn’t even have time to dig the ration coin from wherever it became buried during the fight and try my luck at another well.
“Everyone can have as much water as they want,” I shouted before leaping down and pushing through the crowd in the direction opposite from the one Rodric had arrived. He would never get through this mob, but I also couldn’t easily get out.
I elbowed my way through the crowd as quickly as I could, though it was several minutes before I found myself in an empty alleyway leading away from the square. In the chaos, I’d also lost sight of the boy, and I still hadn’t gotten any water. I’d have to hope I could find water somewhere in the desert.
Three guards appeared behind me.
I darted down an alley and merged onto a larger street. I ran along it, searching for any direction that looked like it led to the desert.
I skidded to a stop as I ran past one alcove. In it, two guards had the Desert Boy I was after backed up against the wall. The boy had a knife out, ready to attack.
“Think we’ll get as good a reward for bringing this one back in as we would for the princess?” one guard asked the other.
They both had their swords raised.
The other three guards were catching up behind me. I only had a split second to decide.
Letting out a cry, I forced myself down the alcove. I sliced my sword along one guard’s arm before he even knew what happened. The other guard barely got his sword around before I cut him across his leg, sending him sinking to the ground.
I was just about to tell the kid to run for it when shadows fell across the mouth of the alcove. I placed my hand behind me, hoping the kid was smart enough to stay plastered where he was.
I scanned for a way out.
Two windows were built into the side of the house forming the alcove. The upper one was open, but the window below had its wooden shutter closed tight like a flap. I’d never pry it open before the guards reached us.
The guards who’d been chasing me advanced, pushing me back toward the boy.
“Rodric wants to talk to you,” one said. They all had their swords drawn and pointed at me.
I pointed my own sword in response. That slowed their approach.
“Just come with us willingly,” the first one said. “No one needs to get hurt.”
“Let us pass, or I’ll have no choice.” I tightened my grip on my hilt. My palms were sweating.
“Go get Rodric. Let him know we’ve got her cornered,” one of them said. The third guard nodded and dashed off. The other two spread out to clog the only exit.
My heartbeat sped up, blood pumping faster as I prepared to fight.
My odds were better with two, and since I wasn’t sticking around until Rodric appeared, I attacked. I brought my sword up and swung at the first guard. He fumbled with his sword but raised it in time to block the blow.
I spun and sliced at the second guard in the same motion. My blade clawed against his breastplate but didn’t break through. The second guard smashed his sword hilt into my back. I staggered forward. I knew another blow was coming, so I rebounded off the wall and caught the other soldier with a kick to the stomach as I turned. I smashed my heel into his groin for good measure, and he dropped to the ground.
The other guard had turned toward the boy. He swiped his blade at the kid, who leapt backward.
I sent the back of my weapon crashing into the guard’s helmet. He fell instantly.
The boy turned toward me, and I tried to duck my head, hoping he wouldn’t recognize me. He’d never help me if he did.
His eyes widened, and I thought he’d realized who I was, but he was looking past me. “Rodric,” he whispered.
I turned just as Rodric planted himself in the mouth of the alcove.
“Can you climb?” the boy whispered. He nodded to the window shutter. “Pull yourself up. The roofs are safer than the streets when guards are after you.”
“What about you?” I asked. There’s no way Rodric would let him off this time. Both doors would hold tigers.
“Don’t worry about me. Go,” he said.
I took off for the window, then hoisted myself and began to climb.
“Get back here,” Rodric raged. He stepped forward, but the kid moved into his path.
“I didn’t think I’d see your ugly face again, Rodric,” the boy said. He puffed out his chest and threw his arms wide in a show of bravado. He was just far enough away that Rodric couldn’t strike him with his sword.
“If it isn’t little Dimic,” Rodric sneered. “Haven’t crawled back to your hidey-hole yet? How’s your brother, the one I didn’t kill?”
“Still plotting his revenge,” Dimic said.
“Good thing your family’s used to disappointment,” he replied. He advanced forward and rammed his sword in Dimic’s direction.
Dimic shuffled backward.
I reached the window ledge on the second floor and drew myself up. Curtains fluttered around me, blocking my view of the scene below. I leapt higher and caught the roof of the building, pulling myself up onto it.
Below, Rodric pushed Dimic back into the dead end of the alcove with a smile on his face more curved than a scorpion’s tail.
“Dimic,” I shouted. I held my arm down to him, urging him to find a way up.
The next thing I knew, Dimic had thrown himself against the wall of the alcove, but instead of smashing against it, he’d kicked up and off it to the adjacent wall. He sprang once more, grabbing ahold of the roof.
He scrambled up and across the roof quickly, forcing me to run to keep up.
“Wait,” I cried. “Come back.”
“You’re on your own now,” Dimic yelled over his shoulder.
I threw up my hands in frustration. “I saved your life.”
“And I saved yours. We’re square.” He didn’t stop running. Instead, he vaulted onto the next roof over.
I struggled to keep pace with him as we ran across crumbling ledges and over small wooden planks.
Rodric tried to follow us on the streets below. One spear spiraled past my head, after which I heard Rodric roar he needed me alive. That should have been comforting but wasn’t.
Dimic leapt from one roof to another, easily outpacing Rodric. I put all my energy into copying his moves, landing where he landed. I was concentrating so hard I almost missed when he stopped on a roof at the edge of town.
He turned to see if I was still following. When he saw I was, he dropped off the roof and ran out into the desert sands.
Panting, I skidded to a stop at the edge.
The eroded wall of the city was the only thing that lay between the desert and me. Fallen parapet bricks littered both sides of the barrier and lay across the top. Where soldiers once patrolled, small plants tried to grow in the uneven shadows and now-open cracks.
I turned back toward the city to look over the landscape. The dried-out, cracked roofs gave way to darker ones that hadn’t been hit quite as hard by the sandstorms. A little farther out, some buildings had posts with canopies hoisted between them for shade. Rising above them all was the palace. Its walls blended into the sea of sand around it.
It was too late to go back. The only way was forward. I dropped off the roof and followed Dimic into the desert.