their legs. Finally Willow put the sponge into their own hands and stepped in front of each one of them to shield them from Catcher’s lustful eyes while they cleansed themselves.
She cried herself to sleep that night and didn’t dream at all.
The next day, Drakar came for her and she did it all again, praying with more than she had prayed with yesterday. Each new face imprinted itself into her soul, her memory, grievous, terrified, haunted faces that she would never forget, faces that made her forget the ones she longed to remember.
“One day, it will be you sitting in one of these chairs,” Drakar promised her a few days later.
“Do you think I care?” she retorted numbly and received a hard backhand across her cheek. She fell to the floor but got up quickly and straightened her back as the new slaves were ushered in.
There were only four new faces today, and Willow smiled knowing Caleb was still out there.
The Warriors were hailed as heroes in every city they entered. For the first time in years, the people of Predaria could travel from city to city with only a minimal threat of being snatched by a Catcher.
Caleb heard none of the praises of his people. He barely slept at all, roaming the Plains day and night. Jonas never left his side. Everyone had lost hope of ever finding Willow, but Caleb hadn’t. He promised himself he would never give up, not until he saw her face again.
They had returned to Shondravar only once, and when they did, Caleb didn’t speak to anyone who had come to greet him. He walked past them and continued walking until he reached his wheat fields. And even then, he did not stop to gaze lovingly at them as he always had. He walked into their now golden arms and when he reached the middle of the field, he fell to his knees and wailed in anguish.
He sat amidst the tall stalks and ribbon-like leaves until the morning, his legs crossed in front of him, and his eyes, bloodshot and swollen.
“The wheat is almost ready for threshing,” Shauna said softly, coming to sit beside him.
“It’ll wait.” His voice was hoarse and his throat, dry.
“It’ll spoil, Caleb.”
His gaze shifted to the golden spikelets. “No, it won’t. It’ll wait,” he told her, and she knew he was probably right. These fields belonged to him.
“I should have had someone tend to her garden,” he said.
Shauna heard the tremor in his voice and took his hand. “We’re losing you, brother. You must return to us.”
“I will. When she’s back in my arms, I will.”
Shauna closed her eyes and rested her head upon his shoulder. “Then I will never stop looking with you,” she promised, and his arm closed around her.
Willow faced Galin for the third time. He was quite irate, even slapping her in the face after he stared into her sunken eyes. “Why do the Warriors ask for a woman called Willow before they kill my men?”
She didn’t answer him, but asked a question of her own, not caring if she was hit or not. “Has Seth returned with news of my father?”
Galin threw his head back and laughed and Drakar joined him. “If Baltrasard was your father, I think he would have been here by now. As for Seth, forget him. It’s been a month since he left. He’s gone, but I will find him, mark my words.” He grew serious again, eyeing her. “Just as soon as this business is over with the Warriors, I will find him, and he will die. You, on the other hand, are nothing but trouble. If the Warriors war with us because of you, I want you nowhere near me. You will be sold at the next gathering three days from now.”
Willow didn’t care anymore. Maybe whoever purchased her would treat her better, and even if they didn’t, anything was better than living another day with Drakar. She lifted her eyes to stare directly into Galin’s face, daring him to strike her again. The fool didn’t even connect that Baltrasard’s daughter was taken by Warriors and the Warriors were looking for a woman named Willow. She almost laughed in the leader of the Catchers face.
“I hope my king cuts your throat,” she said in an astoundingly calm voice, then crumbled to the floor when Drakar smashed the hilt of his dagger into her head.
She was dragged back to her room and thrown on the cold floor. It was over.