I shake my head. "No, I have a life here." She sneers, and I quickly add, "A good life."
"I should have you killed for this."
My limbs start to ache, and I feel dizzy. "Eneko wouldn't allow it."
"He would if I told him that you were planning to kill him." She corners me against the wall, slamming the door shut. "Where were you just now? Consorting with the rebels? Performing witchcraft?”
I hold my short, shallow breaths.
Think, Melisa. Think.
"I was out looking for tree sap to cover the cut you gave me."
When I thrust my arm out for her to inspect, her eyes drop to my marred flesh. The cloudy substance clumsily covers my wound with several bits of bark attached.
She seethes.
"Did Eneko tell you that he's leaving in the morning?" I continue, trying to distract her.
Hibsej grits her teeth, trying not to take the bait. But I see her frustrated curiosity spike.
"For how long?" she says at last.
"He'll be gone for two weeks."
"And did he tell you to come to his bed when he returns?" she asks bitterly.
I look up at her, seeing the wealth of her pain and disappointment. "He did."
Her lips press into a flat line, and her yellow eyes sparkle with pain and rage. She lets out a tortured laugh. She holds up the knife, and her face scrunches up as she bears her teeth.
"The least I can do is ensure you are well-kept until he returns." She grabs my arm, fingers wrapping around the barely bandaged wound.
I shout in pain as she tears the flesh open further.
Ra'Sa heard me when I was panicked earlier. Had I opened my mind to him? If he sees this, he'll kill Hibsej. And then we won't learn what Eneko finds on his trip. I'll ruin everything.
Closing my thoughts to him, I shroud my mind. I bury every image in darkness, and keep him from seeing all of this.
"Hibsej!" I say as she pulls me out of the room. "Where are we going? Wait!"
My panicked voice doesn't reach her ears as she drags me away from the house. The snow pushes up above my boots as I dig my heels in and try to free my hand. Snow melts against my leggings and soaks my socks.
"Shut up. If you wake your master, I'll have to tell him what I found," she threatens.
I clamp my lips together, biting my cheek to distract from the pain in my arm.
When we cross over a path that leads behind the pens, I see our destination.
The pit.
Terror spikes in my heart and forks across my ribs, causing my lungs to stop working.
Two giant guards stand beside a wooden lid in a copse of trees—the lightless pit filled with filth and human waste.
"Please!" I say frantically. "You can't leave me down here!"
A rusted handle sticks up from the wood, and a smell emanates from the opening. It makes me gag.