THE SAME GUARD, TIZOLI, LETS us in the dungeon again, leaving us outside S?ren’s cell and promising to come back as soon as he’s called for. Luckily, this time S?ren is already awake, sitting against the back wall of the cell, looking like he’s expecting us. Though I know he won’t say a word of complaint, his time down here is wearing on him. Even in the dim torchlight, his skin looks sallow and I can make out dark circles under his eyes. He’s beginning to smell quite awful as well.

But when he sees us, he manages a smile.

“I was hoping you’d come back,” he says.

“Of course we came back,” I scoff. “How are they treating you? You’re being given enough food and water?”

Just as I expect him to, S?ren waves away my concerns. “They’re treating me fine,” he says. “Food, water, all of that.”

“And you’re actually eating the food this time?” I ask him. “You aren’t pulling that stupid stunt again?”

He laughs at that, but it’s not as loud and full as I am used to. “I’m eating plenty, and I think they’d prefer me to drink a little less water, honestly.”

I frown. “What do you mean?” Wasting food, I understand. Food costs money, food costs resources. But water has no cost.

“They’re in the middle of a drought,” S?ren says, surprised at the question. “You didn’t know? There’s been no rain in years.”

“But the city was built on a spring,” I say, remembering what Dragonsbane told me when we came here. “That’s why the air is cooler here, that’s why I’ve been made to bathe morning and evening.”

“Springs run dry,” Erik says with a shrug. “But I don’t think they like people to know. Sta’Crivero is supposed to be a paradise.”

“How do you know, then?” I ask him.

Erik snorts. “Guest of the King I may be, but I’m still Gorakian. They know I’m not worth anything to them. Do you think they waste more water than necessary on me? They measure out each glass we drink and charge us by the ounce. And baths? None of my people have washed since we arrived, and believe me, some of us are beginning to ripen.”

The revelation is a four-fingered glove, missing something important.

“But the Sta’Criverans use so much water. The garden alone must use hundreds of gallons a day, not to mention what it takes for everyone to drink and bathe.”

“The courtiers use so much water,” S?ren says. “But for people who live on the ground, it’s strictly rationed. I overheard some guards complaining about it.”

Sta’Crivero seems so lush and wealthy because that is how they want it to appear, but what good will their bejeweled gowns and ornate towers be when they have no more water to drink?

“I hate this place,” I say after a moment. “I hate the palace and the shallow people who act so superior, even while those around them go thirsty. I hate King Etristo and the way he calls me ‘my dear’ like I’m an ignorant child who can’t make her own decisions. And I hate that camp and what they have done to those people. I…” I trail off before I can finish the thought.

S?ren eyes me uncertainly. “Theo,” he says quietly. “Leaving now would be an insult to King Etristo and the entire country. They’re the only ally you have.”

“Technically, that’s not true,” Erik says. “She has me and Goraki.”

“And Vecturia,” I add. “The Chief told me I can call on them next time I need them.”

S?ren shakes his head. “Grains of sand next to a mountain.”

“I know that,” I snap. “I know it’s not enough, that it will never be enough. I know that I have to marry someone with a bigger army. I just…I like imagining a circumstance where I could walk away and tell King Etristo to eat dirt.”

For a long moment, both boys stare at me, mouths agape. Finally, Erik begins to laugh and a moment later S?ren joins in.

“Eat dirt?” Erik asks. “Is that the worst insult you can come up with?”

“I don’t think I’ve told someone to eat dirt since I was six years old,” S?ren adds.

“I’m pretty sure you said that to me then and I told you it was babyish,” Erik replies, making them both laugh even harder.

My cheeks heat up. “It was the first thing that came to mind,” I say. “What would you say?”

S?ren stops laughing long enough to think it over. “I’d tell King Etristo to eat a plate of dung,” he says thoughtfully.

Erik shakes his head and clicks his tongue. “Still amateur,” he says.

“You go on then,” S?ren challenges.

Erik thinks long and hard about it, stroking his chin thoughtfully before a grin spreads over his face. “I’d say, ‘King Etristo, may I extend the humblest invitation for you to eat a fine delicacy of scorpions drenched in piss and a pig’s anus stuffed with beetle dung.’?” He adds a deep bow for effect.

I double over gagging, but S?ren roars with laughter until he’s red in the face. After a moment, I have to laugh as well. I wish Erik could say that to King Etristo, if only so I could take pleasure in seeing the King’s face when he did. When we’re all spent from laughter and tears are leaking out of our eyes, I lean forward against the bars separating S?ren and me.

“You know that I wouldn’t leave anyway, right? Even if I could without consequence?” I say quietly. “I wouldn’t leave without you if King Etristo promised me an army of millions.”

S?ren smiles sadly, looking down at his hands. “You could,” he says.

Even when we move on to our Astrean lesson, his words stay with me and I wonder if he’s right. If it came down to it, could I leave S?ren behind to rot here? Even if it meant saving Astrea? I’m not sure what the answer is and I’m not sure what I want the answer to be.

* * *

—

When we leave the dungeon hours later, Erik is uncharacteristically quiet. At first, I think it’s only because he’s tired, and I can’t blame him—I feel half-asleep myself—but when I glance sideways at him, I see that he’s deep in thought, his brow furrowed.

“What’s on your mind?” I ask him as we step out of the riser and onto my floor. Erik offered to walk me to my door, and I’m not proud enough to refuse, with an assassin still lurking around somewhere.

Erik looks like I’ve just shaken him awake from a deep sleep. “Nothing,” he says, but the lie is obvious and he realizes it. He sighs. “I’m just thinking about the camp. I don’t think I’ve stopped thinking about it.”

“I know,” I say. “I haven’t either. I hate feeling helpless.”

Erik nods. “It’s strange, though, because they aren’t helpless, are they? Many of the adults have been doing physical labor for the Sta’Criverans. They’re strong. And they wouldn’t have survived if they weren’t smart. I don’t think they want pity or even charity, really. They just want a chance to fight for a fair life and a place to call home, the same as the rest of us.”

They want to fight. The words echo in my mind over and over again until I stop short, gasping.

“Erik,” I say.

He stops as well, turning back to give me a worried look. “Everything all right? Tell me there wasn’t some kind of poison dart or something. I think your Shadows would actually murder me if something happened to you on my watch—”

I shush him, holding up a hand. A single piece of a plan is joined by another, and another, until it begins to make sense. Until it becomes something solid.

“How many refugees do you think there are in that camp?” I ask him.

Erik shrugs his shoulders. “Three thousand,” he guesses.

“And if you take out the children and the elderly? And anyone who can’t or won’t want to fight? How many are there who could be warriors?”

Something in his mind clicks and he smiles, seeing where I’m going. “One thousand, maybe more,” he says. “Not enough, Theo. Not even with a Gorakian army and a Vecturian army.”

“No, not enough for a war,” I agree. “Not enough to take Astrea back. But would it be enough to take control of a mine?”

He frowns, considering it. “Maybe, for a time. If it’s a surprise attack against only the guards of the mine,” he says. “But even then, we could hold it for just a few weeks until the Kaiser hears the news and sends more troops. Then whatever victory we had would be swiftly canceled out. He has too many men, too many trained warriors. Even with the element of surprise on our side, it wouldn’t be enough. It would get us time, that’s all.”

“Time,” I agree. “And the Fire Mine. Another twenty-five hundred Astreans are there, roughly. And we wouldn’t stay long. By the time the Kaiser sent more troops, we’d be gone.”

“To another mine,” Erik supplies. “To free more people, and recruit more warriors at the same time. By the time we take all four mines, you could have a real army.”