Tyrus took a step closer, his finger firmly pointing at Annon’s chest, as if it were some spear ready to impale him. “The next time I will leave you behind. We don’t have time for weakness.”

Annon bowed his head, shuddering but silent. He nodded submissively.

Tyrus turned his fury on Hettie next. “And what was your excuse, Hettie? I warned you all we face certain death in this place. You left the circle to save him. I thought you were wiser than that.”

Hettie would not take the chiding quietly. Her chin lifted, her eyes blazing in the dark. “He couldn’t hear you, Tyrus. You feared he was lost in the fireblood, but he wasn’t. He just couldn’t hear!”

“That’s his excuse. What is yours? Come, a pithy Romani proverb would be perfect.”

Hettie took a step forward. “He’s my brother. What better excuse is there? I don’t regret it.”

“Weak,” Tyrus said coldly. “Pathetic. Look at us. Bleeding. Poisoned by the dust of those beasts. But if we do not act as one, if we do not fight under orders, this land will rip us apart, one by one. Only the strongest will survive.”

Phae knew he was going to rip into her as well and she shrank thinking of the lashing she’d get. Her knees started to tremble uncontrollably. Her mouth was as dry as the deserts of Boeotia. She would be a slave for a drink of water. Her insides were full of twisting worms, and she nearly flinched when he barked at her next.

“You, Phae, are the linchpin. You are the key we cannot lose. I know you feared I would leave them behind, but you knew . . . yes, you knew that I could not leave you behind. That makes your betrayal even worse than the others. You cannot do that again. You must stay near Shion and myself. We must all be willing to give our lives to protect you, because without you, we cannot succeed. Even if we all die, you must be willing to go on. There is no other choice. There is no other way. There is no other hope. You must obey me, child. We risk all because of you.”

His anger was exhausting itself. The blue glow around his tense fingers dimmed. He shook his head, as if waking from a reverie.

The tone of his voice was less hurtful, less raw. “Khiara—tend to their wounds. We will not rest for long. Sleep if you can. Shion—guard the perimeter.”

After rolling up his sleeve, Annon saw the leeches sticking to the flesh of his arm. Their slimy black bodies were wriggling as they feasted on his blood. Hettie grunted in disgust and summoned the fireblood to her fingers and began plucking them off his arm, their bodies smoking and writhing as she pried them away. Annon clenched his teeth, struggling through the pain.

“On your neck as well,” Paedrin said, bending close. “Ugly little pustules.” He pinched away several and cast them aside. “You went face-first into that water, Annon. Hopefully there aren’t any inside you.”

“That’s disgusting, Paedrin,” Hettie chided.

He dropped into a low crouch, showing his vast flexibility. “I’m glad Tyrus didn’t chide me as well. I may not have controlled my temper so well.”

Hettie swore under her breath. “How could he say those things?” she muttered darkly. “It was unfair.”

“But it was true,” Paedrin quipped.

“You’re saying we should have left Annon to die?” She was incensed.

Annon looked back at the Bhikhu. His heart was still raw with pain from losing Nizeera. A blast of white-hot heat went through him, but Paedrin held up his hands placatingly.

“I’m not saying that at all. Look how quickly we turn on each other. This doesn’t bode well. I made a statement of fact. I didn’t say that I agreed with it. See how complex the Uddhava is? There are too many actions, each causing other actions and reactions. I’m not sure Tyrus would have abandoned you, Annon. He may have been testing us to see if we’d obey him, and we failed.”

“Testing us?” Hettie asked.

“Why not? We’re in a difficult situation. Tension is high right now. We’re wounded, frightened, and threatened. How we would normally act under normal situations is suddenly off. Tyrus needs to see how we’ll react to this new reality. At least, that’s my conclusion. He’s using the Uddhava. By scolding us, he’s trying to shape our future behavior.”

What Paedrin said made sense to Annon, but there was another, darker motive. A thought that slipped insidiously through his own mind. “There’s another possibility, Paedrin,” Annon whispered in a low voice. The very thought of it made him sick.

Paedrin rocked forward on his heels. “Yes?”