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“You two, stand guard at the door,” the commander said, barking out orders. “And you two, stay here and don’t let her out of your sight. If she tries to escape, make sure she’s dead before she reaches the hallway.”

I recoiled when I saw that one of the guards was Meat. He was still following me around like the dog he was.

“I have some business to attend to and will be back before dawn. I’m sending for the malacks to clean her up. After they arrive, no one is allowed inside but me. Understood?” Commander Bloodbain shot the guards a sharp look.

Their backs straightened. “Yes, Commander,” they answered in unison.

He vanished into the hallway.

When the doors closed, Meat braced his hands on the arms of my chair and leaned his swollen face toward mine. “You may be safe now, but I will kill you. Just like I did your friend. No one takes from me what Iwant.” He drew out the last word like it tasted tangy on his tongue.

I jerked against my collar, the grief in my chest morphing into a hot rage. “Get away from me.”

He raised his hand to strike me just as the door opened and two servant girls entered the room.

“Commander Bloodbain instructed us to clean up the girl,” the taller girl said with eyes planted submissively on the floor.

“Fine,” Meat said.

I breathed a sigh of relief when his hand fell back to his side.

The two girls moved past the guards. They both wore plain, long dresses with aprons tied around their waists and malarite collars around their necks like mine. Both seemed to be about my age. One was carrying a stack of linen towels. Another had a tray of what looked like cups of steaming-hot liquid that smelled delicious. My stomach growled in response. The last meal I had was a distant memory.

“Is this for us?” the towerguard taunted, draining the soup that was probably meant for me.

Keeping one eye on me, Meat joined him. They both wiped their mouths in satisfaction when the food was gone.

The girl with the towels scurried to the far end of the room and pulled back a heavy curtain, revealing a bathing area with alarge copper tub. For the next few minutes, she focused on filling the tub with hot water, keeping her distance from the guards.

“Get her up,” the towerguard said to Meat when the water was ready.

Meat eyes trailing down my tunic as he unhooked the chain from my collar. “At least I get to watch.”

Before I could react, the girl who’d brought the tray took my hand and led me to the bathing area, away from Meat. The other girl came over to remove my filthy tunic so I could get in the bath. I tensed, backing away from both of them. “I’m not getting in there,” I said, eyeing the bathtub in terror. I would rather be whipped than have the guards leer at me while naked.

“Just wait,” the first girl whispered, sneaking a glance at the two guards. The tattoos of thorn vines wrapping around her exposed forearms made me guess she was an Arden.

“Wait for what?” I whispered back.

She shook her head for me to be quiet.

Just then, Meat’s eyes blinked closed, and he sank to the floor. The other guard slumped back against the wall a second later.

I gasped.

A smile bloomed on the Arden girl’s face. “Sleeping potion. In the soup.”

“Sable!” the other girl exclaimed, glancing anxiously at the door where the other guards were stationed right outside. “They’ll kill you if they even think you’re using magic.” She looked a couple of years older than me. Her skin was a light golden hue, meaning she was a Jakeen. Without her malarite collar, her skin would have been flawless and impenetrable, but instead, the scars on her arm were evidence of months of forced service. I imagined the tower workers were just as overworked, underfed, and heavily punished as we were in the mine.

The Arden girl, Sable, tugged at her collar. The permanent bruises underneath told me she’d also been a prisoner of the Rathalans for some time. “I’m obviously not using magic, Krish. That’s just a simple herbal concoction my mother taught me.” She offered me a small smile. “Every girl deserves to bathe in peace.”

The Jakeen girl looked distressed. “How are we going to explain this?” She clearly didn’t want to be blamed for the other girl’s disobedience.

“Their breath will reek of ale when they wake,” Sable said. “No one will believe they weren’t drinking.”

Krish scoffed.

“How did you know they’d eat it?” I asked, still shocked.