• It wasn’t supposed to end this way. Up until five months ago, Eliza had had every door opened to her, each leading to a room filled with countless possibilities. Now the only door opened to her was the one that led to that final room, the room where death was lurking in the darkest corner. Though she was blindfolded, Eliza already knew that she wasn’t alone. For days she had heard the rats squeaking and chewing away at the remains of the other prisoners.
    What had she done to deserve this punishment?
    Her only crime was that she was a woman.
    Shivering, Eliza hugged herself, trying to stay warm however the cold chains that held her wrists rubbed against her bruised skin, making her shiver even more.
    A year ago, if someone had told her that this was to be her fate, she would have dismissed it as nonsense. How could someone like her, a young woman with such a bright and promising future believe that she would die before reaching the age of twenty. Even after everything that had happened, Eliza could still pinpoint the exact moment her life changed forever. It was the moment she first laid eyes on him, a moment that she would soon live to regret…

    “Come on Eliza, I’ll race you to the well.”
    Eliza smiled and pulled back her hair as her younger sister Sophie took off running in the direction of the well.
    “Even with that head start you’ll never win,” she called as she started to run, kicking off her shoes in the process. The velvety sand felt so good when compared to the stuffy shoes her stepmother had insisted she’d wear to lunch that day.
    “If you want to find a prospective husband than you present yourself as a well-mannered young lady instead of a dirty ruffian.”
    At the moment, Eliza didn’t care if it was un-ladylike to run bare foot across the sand. She had had enough with her stepmother’s stupid rules. Sit there, eat that, speak only when spoken too. Ever since her family had arrived in the Dorian Desert all she had been doing was following those insipid rules.
    “My god Eliza! Where is your sense of dignity?”
    Ignoring her stepmother’s question, Eliza raced forward until the well came into view. On her way there, she passed other people, most of them locals to the city that bordered the desert. Occasionally she would pass tourists like herself, also overly dressed and drenched in sweat, trying their hardest to ignore the blinding heat.
    In the end, Sophie beat her to the well, but Eliza didn’t care. Both sisters laughed as they splashed each other with the cool water from the well, not caring if they ruined their heavy dresses.
    “So what did you think of the Count that mother was trying to set you up with?”
    Sticking out her tongue, Eliza pulled her light brown hair out of its bun and let it blow as a rare desert wind blew by.
    “I think I’d rather marry a wild horse than that man. Besides his manners were atrocious, he kept trying to grab my hand during lunch.”
    Sophie laughed, causing her short blond curls to bounce with each breath. “Well, while you were enjoying the company of the Count, you’ll never believe what I saw.”
    “And what could you have possibly seen that could spark my interest,” Eliza inquired as she sat on the edge of the well and playfully started to braid her hair.
    Sophie looked around nervously before dropping her voice down to a whisper, “While I was looking out the big window in the foyer I saw one.”
    “One what?”
    Standing on tiptoe Sophie motioned her sister to lean closer, “I saw a real Dúnedin,” she whispered into Eliza’s ear.
    A Dúnedin, a man of the desert. Eliza had heard countless stories about Dúnedins and their so-called merciless culture. According to her tutors, Dúnedins have no written laws or sense of government. Their so-called ‘king’ declares new rule almost daily that only make their civilization even more unbalanced and chaotic. If that wasn’t bad enough, women in the Dúnedin world have absolutely no rights and are treated more like slaves than individuals.
    But to see one, despite their awful reputation, made Eliza envious of her little sister.
    “So tell me, what did he look like?” She asked, half hoping that her sister had fabricated the entire scenario.
    “Well I couldn’t really get a good look at him since he was so far away,” Sophie confessed, “but, he looked really young, maybe a year or two older than you.”
    Sensing her sister’s bluff, Eliza pressed her for more details, “If he was so far away than how did you know that he was one of the Dúnedins?”
    Sophie’s face turned red, something that happened whenever she attempted to lie.
    “Ok, maybe he wasn’t a Dúnedin,” she whispered as she twisted her fingers around one of her curls.
    Eliza laughed, though she was slightly disappointed that her sister hadn’t seen a Dúnedin. She knew very well that the chances of actually seeing one were very slim since Dúnedins hardly ever made contact with outsiders, but that didn’t stop her from hoping. There was something about them from the way her tutors described them that made her desperately want to see one.
    Standing up, Eliza glanced back the way she had come, “I think we should head back before mother sends the guards to come find us.”
    Sophie grumbled but held out her hand for her sister to take. Carefully Eliza slid off the well and took her sister’s hand before starting to head back to where her family was enjoying mid-day tea. On the way back, they told jokes to each other and sang familiar songs. At one point, Sophie ran ahead to chase a colorful butterfly.
    Turning around, Eliza took in the natural beauty of her surroundings. The gold sand matched with the aqua sky formed a painting that any painter would be jealous of. The people too, exotic and unique captured her attention. There was so much color and sound, far more than she had ever seen. If she could, she would have stood there all day, taking in the beauty of this wonderful place.
    “Hurry up Eliza, or mother will punish you,” Sophie yelled as she vanished into the crowd.
    By the time Eliza reached her family, Sophie was sitting happily at the table telling everyone about her day.
    “Well it’s about time you’ve returned,” a rather irritated voice replied.
    “I’m sorry mother,” Eliza said as she sat down besides Sophie.
    Perhaps her stepmother would have been pretty if she didn’t frown all the time. For as long as she could remember, all her stepmother ever did besides enforce rules was frown. Most of the time, the two of them got along, but ever since Eliza turned seventeen, her stepmother had seemed to take it upon herself to find her stepdaughter a suitable husband.
    “While you and your sister were making fools of yourselves, you missed a very important conversation that your father had with the mayor. Apparently the riots between the locals and the government have become even more violent. He suggests that we leave the city immediately.”
    “Emily,” Eliza’s father broke in, “do you hear yourself. Nothing bad is going to happen, I guarantee it.”
    Back and forth, Eliza watched her parents argue while Sophie entertained the other people sitting at the table with her so-called Dúnedin encounter.
    “Oh, don’t start up with that Dúnedin nonsense again,” Eliza’s other sister Maria, complained while she fanned herself.
    That caught their mother’s attention, “Did you say Dúnedin? Don’t tell me you actually saw one of those filthy savages.”
    “Calm down mother, Sophie only thinks that she saw one,” Eliza responded before yawning. “If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to go take a nap, the desert heat has made me sort of light headed.”
    “Alright but don’t forget, we’re having dinner with the Count at seven.”
    Pretending to have heard her, Eliza nodded and turned and headed back to her family’s hotel room.
    Their hotel, The Desert Rose, was by far the most luxurious building in the whole city. It was made of white marble and towered high above the other neighboring buildings. The lobby was grand and heavily decorated with ornate rugs, tapestries, and furniture.
    Once in her room, Eliza walked over to the balcony and threw the double doors opened, allowing the sounds and smells of the city to drift into her room. The aroma of wild flowers and freshly baked bread seemed to calm her senses as she changed into her silk sleeping garment. The moment her head hit the soft pillow, Eliza closed her eyes and inhaled, taking in the fresh scent of jasmine and lotus. Moments later, she was fast asleep.

    “Eliza, Eliza, get up!”
    No, it couldn’t be time to dine with the Count already.
    “Eliza please, we must hurry.”
    The voice sounded scared, but why? Deciding to ignore the nagging voice, Eliza concentrated on falling back to sleep but something wasn’t right. The air no longer smelled of wild flowers. In fact, the air smelled of smoke, like something was burning.
    Forcing her eyes opened, Eliza wearily looked out over the balcony and saw to her dismay that the city was coated in flames. The city was burning!
    “Get out of bed and get dressed quickly,” Maria ordered as she threw some clothes at Eliza. “Mother says to grab only what’s necessary.”
    Minutes later, Eliza was dressed and stuffing the last of her valuables into a small suitcase before running out of her room and down to the lobby. The once beautiful lobby now lay in disarray. All of the rugs, tapestries and furniture were torn or missing. Glass and wood covered the tiled floor but among the debris stood Eliza‘s family. Each holding a suitcase and what they could in their arms, all of them looked scared and frightened. The moment her stepmother saw her, she threw her arms around Eliza and cried about how she thought that she had been kidnapped.
    “Worry about her later,” her father yelled as he pulled the family into the flaming streets. “Right now we have to worry about getting out of here. Hopefully we will be able to find someone to lead us safely through the desert.”
    Then they were running, pushing past other people who, like them, were running for their lives. Back and forth, Eliza felt herself being shoved away from her family. At one fearful moment she thought she had lost them in the fray. But the feeling of Sophie’s little hand sliding into her own pulled her back to reality and she was running once again.
    By the time they reached the edge of the city, Eliza could barely breathe from the toxic fumes that were polluting the city. Coughing, she looked around trying to find someone to help her family. All around her people were jumping on horses, camels, wagons, and anything else that they could get on that would help them escape.
    In the distance she saw a familiar family from the hotel thrusting money into a man’s hands. A moment later, he climbed on top of horse and pointed towards the desert and took off, the family following close behind. Soon other families were doing the same. If she didn’t hurry, then Eliza knew her family would be doomed. Frantically Eliza glanced around looking for help. Suddenly her eyes rested upon a man who was standing next to a black horse a few feet away from her. Unlike the others, no one was approaching him and offering him money to help them escape. Pushing past a group of religious men, Eliza made her way towards him, coughing and hardly able to see.
    By the time she reached him, she could barely breathe. At first he didn’t see her. Only when she stumbled and grabbed hold of his arm did he turn around and face her. He was surprisingly younger than she had thought, maybe a year older then herself.
    “Please,” she gasped before pointing towards her family, “please help.”
    For a moment he stared at her in confusion, his dark eyes piercing as they stared into hers. In the distance she could hear her stepmother calling her name but she had no energy left to respond. Sighing, she closed her eyes and let herself fall; only she never hit the ground. Instead she felt herself being lifted into the air before being settled upon an uncomfortable saddle.
    “Do you have any idea at what you’ve gotten yourself into?” A sharp voice whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist before making a clicking sound with his tongue.
    Eliza felt the horse beneath her lurch forward and seconds later she heard her stepmother’s voice, “Oh my god! Eliza!”
    “Don’t worry she’s fine,” Eliza felt his grip around her tighten, “if you want to get out of here alive, then I suggest that you stick close to me.”
    The last thing Eliza was aware of before slipping into unconsciousness was the feeling of a rough hand lightly grabbing hold of hers and the stranger’s voice echoing in her ears, “I’m sorry.”