Page 12 of Tree of Ash (The Runic Saga #2)

Desperate Times

Halla

Halla stared at Juni open-mouthed. “You really think there’s a way out of here?”

“It’s a big risk.” Juni huffed, readjusting her grip on the large trough they carried between the two of them. Its contents sloshed as they walked. “Pay attention or we’ll drop this.”

Halla tightened her hold on the metal rim and tilted her head to the side as she breathed.

Sewer duty was just as bad as Halla had feared.

It seemed barbaric to have waste buckets instead of plumbing, but Kai explained the thraell ’s reasoning.

It was a mental war. The waste bucket was just another attack on Halla’s humanity.

She was a slave, beneath others, as evident by the cold metal in her hands and the appalling scent.

The compound was surrounded by a tall wall, dotted with sentry towers and lined with barbed wire.

But at each of the compound’s four corners, a trench had been dug into the base of the wall where water flowed out of the compound from underground pipes and into the city’s sewer system.

It was into this trench that the girls dumped the contents of the trough, which swirled through the bars blocking the hole and into the tunnel that led out through the wall.

Juni stared intently at the bars. “Before I was caught by the thraell , I ran with a group of kids who showed me how to use the sewer system for a quick escape. It’s easy because the bars have been so corroded by the water that you can twist them in and out of their drillings.”

Halla’s bewilderment must have been evident because Juni’s voice became even more fervent. “Halla. The bars can be removed. It’s how I escaped last time.”

“Last time?” Halla nearly shouted. She glanced around quickly, then lowered her voice. “You’ve been here before?”

Juni nodded, her face tight. “And I escaped before.”

Halla’s brows tightened in confusion. “Then why are you still here? Why haven’t you escaped again?”

“I was caught.” Juni touched the bandage around her neck, then winced. “The punishment was . . . severe.” Her voice lowered. “I’ve been wanting to try again ever since I was brought back, but I was scared.”

“What did they do to you?” Halla whispered.

Juni wouldn’t meet her gaze, but her fingers pulled at the bandage, revealing the skin underneath.

Halla’s body shuddered as she swallowed the vomit that rose at the sight of the burned and dying skin.

There was some type of pattern there, but Halla couldn’t make sense of it before Juni replaced the cloth.

What kind of injury could cause such a wound?

Halla stared in horror. “If they did that to you before, why would you try it again?”

“We don’t deserve to live like this, slaving away, humiliated, waiting for the next beating.

” Juni rubbed the bruises around the wrist Fenris had grabbed.

“And it’s not just about me. You can’t go to the Empress.

You don’t have to tell me why, but I know that look in your eyes.

It would be a death sentence, wouldn’t it? ”

Halla didn’t know how to answer.

“Besides”—Juni straightened her spine—“this time, I know how not to get caught.”

Though Halla’s heart swelled in gratitude, her stomach clenched at the danger she proposed.

What was worse, to go to the Empress or risk whatever punishment Juni had received?

What would happen to Juni if she was caught again?

Something worse, no doubt. If only Lara would come, but as the days passed, anxiety and fear had infected Halla’s prayers for her sister.

Oblivious to Halla’s internal struggle, Juni walked back toward the barracks with the emptied bucket in her hand. “We’ll have to wait until there’s no moon; we can’t be seen.”

“Do we tell the others?” Halla asked.

Juni stopped, laying a hand on Halla’s shoulder. “We can’t. The bigger our group, the more likely we are to get caught.”

Juni’s words made sense, but Halla’s heart remained conflicted. “We at least tell Kai.”

Juni snorted. “Smitten, aren’t you?”

“No,” Halla protested, ignoring the way the tip of her nose heated.

“Fine, but Halla—”

“What?”

“You can’t trust Kai.”

“Why not?” Halla didn’t understand Juni’s abrupt seriousness or the way her eyes flickered away.

“He’s not—” She stopped.

Halla nearly stomped her foot in frustration. “He’s not what, Juni?”

“Look at him,” she muttered. “He’s not from the South. Even his name gives him away.”

Halla’s eyebrows raised. “So?”

“Never mind.” Juni shook her head as though shaking off an annoying gnat. “We should get back to work.”

They moved from barrack to barrack, emptying the waste troughs as they went, allowing Halla to understand the compound better.

The barracks had been split by age; some of the children were as old as Larissa, while others, to Halla’s horror, were too young to speak.

Many of the older children’s rotations included the care of toddlers, who flinched at the sound of the thraell ’s footsteps.

Night stole over the compound as the children returned to their barracks.

On his way out, a thraell threw in the bag containing that night’s rations, then locked the door behind him.

Halla snatched what provisions she could and retreated to her bunk, her mind and stomach churning at the thought of Juni’s escape plan.

Kai returned first while Juni still scavenged for what could be found.

He shocked her by dumping a bruised apple into her lap.

“What’s this for?” she asked.

“Eating.”

Halla resisted the urge to smack him, but she was already sinking her teeth into the taut skin, enjoying the sugary juice that flowed over her tongue. “I know what an apple is for. I mean why are you giving it to me?”

“No reason.” But his eyes wouldn’t meet hers.

Halla closed her eyes, enjoying the apple too much to push. “This is almost as sweet as our strawberries.”

“Strawberries?”

“My Pappa grows—grew—the best in the commonwealth.”

As if sensing her hesitancy, Kai’s voice softened. “I’m sorry.”

Halla shrugged but kept her eyes closed, remembering the warm sun on her back as she knelt at her Pappa’s side during the picking season.

How they would carry the strawberries inside, and Halla would help Mamma make jam, taking small spoonfuls when Mamma would pretend to look away. Tears welled under her eyelids.

“You lived on a farm? How did the thraell catch you inside the city?”

Halla’s eyes snapped open, but there was only curiosity in Kai’s face. She bit the inside of her cheek, remembering Juni’s warnings. As if summoned by thought, Juni appeared by her side. She cradled her rations in her hands, but her face looked as though it had been set in stone.

Halla reached out to touch her. “Juni, what’s wrong?”

“I was talking to the other children marked for the Empress. They overheard the thraell . Halla, you’re being transferred in three days.”

Halla knew her own face mirrored Juni’s look of horror, but it was Kai’s unnatural calm that distracted Halla from her panic. Understanding made her voice pitch. “You knew, didn’t you?”

He picked at his food. “The thraell aren’t exactly quiet.”

“That’s why you gave me your apple!” Halla threw it at him. “Don’t pity me, Kai! We have a plan; I’m not going anywhere.”

Juni shushed her. “Not now. We’ll tell him later.”

Halla quieted, the sweet flavor of the apple turning bitter in her mouth as Juni’s wound peeked from behind the bandage.

Halla swallowed her fear. There was no other option.

She couldn’t wait for Lara, not with a time clock counting down before she would leave Perle entirely.

The goddesses would not wait for saving, and neither would she.

Her only option was to follow Juni’s plan and rescue herself.