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“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks.

I close my eyes as another sob shudders through my body. “I’m betrothed to a man with too much power and hands too willing to grab what doesn’t belong to him.”

Lara crinkles her nose before running a brush through my hair and cutting off a few more locks.

“And each time I go to sleep, I dream of my father chasing me through the desert, pulling me by my hair like that man did back on the train.”

I don’t add anything else, and Lara doesn’t pry. The click of scissors is the only sound breaking the silence. With each chunk of hair that falls on the ground, I feel a bit lighter, and the last of my tears have dried as Lara drops the scissors on the sink. “Wait there,” she says.

She returns with a small silver mirror with an ornate design. My hands tremble as I dare to have a look.

If not for the green eyes, I wouldn’t have recognized myself. Where once long locks swirled around my shoulders, now, bangs fall over my eyes, too short to even tuck behind my ears.

“There wasn’t much to work with. With what you had chopped off and all,” she says.

“Thank you,” I say and envelop her in a hug. The smell of wet earth clings to her skin, and I breathe it all in. “You smell of the greenhouse.”

Lara chuckles. “Valdus warned us you’d try to get back to it as soon as you could.”

“I’m fine now. No headache.”

“Only nightmares,” she says and rubs the back of her neck in thought. She glances at me from under a furrowed brow. “You’re sure you’re fine? I don’t want to get into any trouble.”

I nod, ignoring an oppressive headache.

Lara starts toward the door, and I follow her but stumble after only a few steps.

“You lied.”

“I’ll feel better there. I’m a binder of ethera. How do you want me to heal if you cut me off from its source?” I plead, hoping to sound much surer than I feel. “Just for five minutes.” My stomach growls, and I add, “And maybe for a meal too.”

“We all know you’ll get there no matter what. You even might hurt yourself in the process.” I open my mouth to protest, but Lara hasn’t finished. “That’s it. That will be my excuse when Valdus finds out.”

I seal my lips before she can change her mind and follow her through the silent halls and into the greenhouse bathed by a rainbow of colors. The earth sighs under my feet as I take the first step inside, and the energy surges through my veins. The air doesn’t have even a hint of sand, and bit by bit, tension fades from my shoulders. Even the headache dims a bit.

Rows of shallow trenches cross the garden under the lemon tree someone has moved here. It’s still nothing more than a twig, but it either got some of the ethera I’ve channeled while healing Valdus or it used the residue, as it stands tall over my head.

“Well, if it isn’t our resident sleepyhead,” Kyle says, emerging from the mist still swirling through the garden.

“Where is everyone?” I ask.

“We’re pretty much at an impasse. Everyone left to wait for you to regain your strength.” As Lara appears through the swinging door with a bowl of soup, Kyle motions at her. “It’s Lara, you, and I.”

Lara passes me the bowl and my stomach growls at the rich smell emanating from it.

“Now that we have your guiding hand, we can start,” Kyle adds. “We’ve drawn up a plan, but it’s your project.”

As they show me the map of the greenhouse, I devour my soup, licking the spoon for the last drop.

“Do you want more?” Lara asks.

“Please,” I sigh.

“Inara will be happy to hear that at least one of you is hungry.”

“Valdus hasn’t being eating?”

“Nor sleeping,” Kyle answers as Lara departs for the kitchen again. “He says he feels energized.”