Chapter 19
Jerutha sat against the wall in the tiny room they kept her in. Since the priests marched her in here, she had alternated between two states: a stupor of sadness in the day, and the sweetness of her dreams while she slept.
She barely remembered reaching the city. By then she was exhausted and nearly starving from the effort of walking so far while breastfeeding a baby. Her memories of the arrival were hazy, a blur of buildings and faces.
It wasn't as though they fed her a lot now, but she slowly regained a bit of strength now that she wasn't walking in the desert sun. Her face was peeling, but it didn't feel as hot. She wasn't thirsty anymore—they did give her a lot of water.
She spent her days caring for her baby and singing to him. She changed him and washed him, using th
