11
Kiria
Kiria woke well before the dawn as she usually did, though this time she had wasted almost an entire day. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. As she looked blearily around, pre-dawn quiet lay heavy over everything. The freshness of the morning turned the faint body odor into something not quite as offensive as it had been in the heat of the day. Two guards stood at attention by the door. Candrae and Vayci lay snuggled together against the raised pits. She hadn’t woken them. Jori slept too, sprawled messily in the oven opening, one arm hanging out and a look of concentration on his face.
Beside her, Chetana sat cross-legged. A slight hunch of her shoulders as she opened her eyes revealed how tired she was. Amir always maintained stick-straight pos
