Chapter 22

The sun was high, casting heat upon Riveria's yard. Lily's hands ached as she hoisted a jar of oil onto her shoulder. Her stomach growled, a sharp reminder of the meal she hadn't had since dawn. The oil sloshed inside the jar with every step she took, the weight pressing into her shoulder like a burden.

From across the courtyard, Gregor's voice cut through the air like a rash. "Look at him, scurrying like a rat. One would think he matters here but he is nothing but a useless idiot."

Lily stiffened as she turned to look at them, they were jeering at her like hyenas. It reminded her of the way people in the Navar colony looked at he after the war, as if she was the direct cause of their grief. They would whisper in low tones and when she was in their midst, there were always quiet. Most of them never offered her words of encouragement or comfort, rather they saw her as a burden that they needed to get rid of.