“What is this place?” I ask instead of answering the question.
She looks me up and down. “Where you will end up if anyone finds you here.”
I swallow. “The dungeons?”
She nods, eyes fluttering closed. She coughs again.
“Are you… sick?”
“Starvation does that to a person.”
My stomach twists. Is this the girl who stole the milk?
“I remember you,” she says weakly, looking again at my eyes. “At the bonfire. You refused to dance.”
My eyes widen. She was—she was with me at the bonfire? Is this what happened to the rest who were not immediately killed or deemed useful enough?
“And you became one of them?” She shakes her head. “The irony.”
“What happened to you? Why…” Was she simply not chosen? Is this what happens to those who don’t find a place in the community?
“I was selected as a servant,” she tells me. “My mother was too, but she was taken to a different part of the city. I delivered foods to Drahkita, like you.”
“Then, how did you end up here?”
“I was hungry,” she says, voice shaking. “I just wanted a taste of?—”
“The milk?” I whisper.
Her lips tremble as she nods.
I reach for her hand through the bars and cling to her tightly. “I’m so sorry.”
Looking at her state now, she must have been starved before coming here. It was only a day or two ago she was sent to the dungeons based on what the Drahkita said.
I let the silence linger for a while because I don’t know what else to say. “How many of you are in there?” I peer farther into the open pit of mud, but I don’t see anyone else.
“A dozen or so. A girl in here told me there were thirty or more not long ago. She said we only have a few days before…”
“Before what?”
“The ritual. She said the water will run red.”
I flinch. I want to ask if that means they will kill all of the people in the dungeon at once, but it feels too harsh to voice the thought.
I grit my teeth. “I’m sorry,” I force out. “I don’t know how to?—”
“Nothing to be done, Drahkita. You cannot save me any more than you can save yourself if you are caught.” Her eyes flutter closed.
“Tell me who you are,” I say quickly. I’m not ready to run. I can’t just leave her here.
“I am Alliana,” she says, not bothering to open her eyes. Her lips are chapped. She could have been beautiful too, couldn’t she? If she got care the way I did.
“Where do you come from?”
“I came with my family, seeking aid after the loss of Ruthend. My sister was chosen as a Drahkita like you. My mother and Iwere chosen as servants. They’ll never know what happened to me.”
“What was your sister and your mother’s name? Maybe I can find them and tell them.”
