Followed by Fros(67)

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “Thank you, Sadriel.”

The door opened, and Aamina hurried in with a soft brown dress and pale rose head scarf. And sandals. Sandals! No gloves, no socks. I almost burst into tears again at the sight of them.

She began laying out the clothes on the bed. Leaning forward, I grabbed her wrist—her skin was so warm—and said, “Aamina, can I ask you a favor?”

She eyed me suspiciously but nodded.

My cheeks hurt, I smiled so hard. “Could I . . . have a bath? A warm bath?”

She snorted, nodded. “I’ll draw one up for you.”



Four years. It had been four years since I had last enjoyed a real bath.

I slipped into the copper tub until the hot water—almost too hot—flooded up to my chin, and my knees poked out from the surface.

“Careful now,” Aamina warned me, rolling up my dirty bandages. “You’ll pull a stitch!”

I reached back and touched the wound, a curved line under my left shoulder blade, rough with stitches and a few lingering scabs. It throbbed at first as I curled up in the bathtub, but the hot water soothed it. It soothed all of me.

Steam rose up from the water’s surface. I sighed. “Aamina, you are a stunning woman.”

“Ha!” she laughed. “That’s what my husband says when he’s done something wrong.” She tossed me a bar of sandalwood-scented soap. I held it in my hands, and my chest constricted. It smelled like Lo.

“Wash up, scream if you break anything,” Aamina said. She stepped out of the bathroom, leaving the door cracked open.

I rested the base of my head against the rim of the tub, soaking in the heat, watching my skin redden with it. It all seemed so unreal, yet even in my dreams I couldn’t fathom something as simple as a hot bath. I soaked for a long time, until the water cooled, before running the soap over my wrinkled toes, legs, torso, and gingerly over my back, relishing its scent. I smiled, and then a thought occurred to me. The soap slipped from my hands.

My family. I could see my family now.

I could return to Euwan.

I stared into the water, gaping and smiling. Father. Mother. Marrine. I had feared I would never see them again, never hear their voices or taste my mother’s home cooking. And Ashlen!

I thought of Imad and the tour, but it couldn’t happen, not anymore. The storm no longer followed me. But the Finger Mountains still held an abundance of water, and Imad had said next year should bring rain. Surely Zareed would thrive without me.

The thought of leaving the place that had saved me, the place I had called home for so long, spurred a cold pain at my center. But Euwan didn’t have to be forever. I could come back. I could feel the desert sun on my face day after day after day.

I jumped up from the tub, sloshing water over the floor, and grabbed my towel. I wrapped it around my body and rushed into the bedroom, dripping water. Aamina was changing the sheets and shouted something at me, but I didn’t hear what she said. I rushed to the window and threw the panes open.

Sunlight poured over me, golden and blinding and warm, as if God’s own breath washed over me.

“Have you lost your mind?” Aamina asked, hurrying to my side and feeling my forehead for a fever.

I shook my head, new tears trailing down my cheeks. The sun.

Your wish came true, Lo, I thought, a single tear cascading down my cheek. I can feel the sun.



“Of course you should go home!” Imad exclaimed, grabbing both of my hands in his. The action jarred the healing wound on my back, but my smile hid the wince. He had a firm, warm grip free of calluses and lotion-smooth. “Smeesa, you’ve given us enough water to last through this drought and more besides. I will see you have everything you need, including an escort. There are bandits ready and willing to prey on pretty Northlander girls!”

I laughed and squeezed his hands. Warm. “It means more than you can know. But I don’t want to bother anyone—”

“I insist you bother all of us.” Imad laughed and released my hands. “I think Kitora can design some decent Northlander clothes, but you may need to direct her.”

“Oh, no! These are enough!”

He waved his hand like he was swatting a fly. “It is a long journey, and I know how Northlanders are.” He winked. “You can take your camel and retrieve a horse at the way station for the rest of the journey. You are good friends with Eyan, yes? He knows the way, and now that he won’t be manning the tour, he can escort you. With a few others, of course.”

I nodded, my cheeks sore from grinning. It seemed Eyan wouldn’t get the promotion he feared after all.

“But take your time, Smeesa,” he said, touching my arm. “It would devastate me if anything happened to you—I owe you my life. I want you fully healed before you make the trek there. And back. You must come back.”

I smiled. “And I owe you mine,” I said. I didn’t reply to his request to return . . . I didn’t know if I could, yet. Touching my face, I reassured myself that I hadn’t reverted back to my cursed self in the last twenty-four hours.

“You will dine with my father and me tonight, won’t you?” Imad asked, stepping aside to let Aamina fold my clothes. I would have stopped her and done it myself had Imad not demanded my attention.

“Yes,” I said, overeager. My first meal after waking had been the best one of my life. I had almost forgotten how to eat like a normal person. And I had never realized how spicy Zareedian curry really was! My tongue burned just at the thought of it.