The Prison Healer

Ten years later, Kiva is still an inmate in Zalindov prison. Now, she stands over a boy who is strapped to a metal table, using a white-hot knife to carve a Z—for Zalindov—onto his wrist as he struggles. Kiva is the prison healer, and she is tasked with carving this symbol onto each new prisoner. Kiva hates herself for what she must do, but she fights the urge to soothe the teen because she does not want to give him false comfort. She knows that “Zalindov showed no mercy, not even to the innocent. Especially not to the innocent” (7). Kiva was only seven when she first arrived at Zalindov and was assigned to launder and repair the guards’ uniforms. When she saved a guard’s life by suggesting a poultice that her father had used, she was assigned a place in the infirmary as a healer.

Initially, she refused to carve the mark onto the prisoners, but she was beaten and forced to comply. These days, Kiva is shunned by many other prisoners because she is viewed as being complicit in the violence that Warden Rooke and the guards enact. Now, when the guard takes the teen boy away, Kiva frantically searches the boy’s discarded clothes and finds a note hidden in his boot. The coded words tell her that her family is safe, that she should stay alive, and that her family will come. Kiva is relieved because it has been three months since she last heard from her family. Over the last 10 years, the stablemaster, Raz, has risked his life to help send these notes from the outside world to Kiva.

A month after the last prisoner’s arrival, a new prisoner is brought in, unconscious and covered in blood. Along with him are two other men, both dead; they are from Vallenia, the capital of Evalon. Winter arrivals are rare because it is difficult to reach Zalindov in winter. Zalindov imprisons the worst criminals from each of Wenderall’s eight kingdoms.

The prisoner’s pulse is weak, and Kiva cleans him up to determine where his injuries are. Kiva herself is still injured from an incident that occurred three nights ago, when several guards assaulted her; that time, however, a female guard named Naari intervened and saved her.

Now, while cleaning the prisoner, Kiva is surprised by his healthy physique. She fears that if he lives, he will be given the worst kind of job: hard labor in the tunnels or the quarry. While Kiva works, a guard nicknamed “the Butcher” watches her. When Naari relieves the Butcher, Kiva requests clean water, explaining that her assistant, Tipp, was sent to work in the kitchen. Naari tells her to wait, then steps out.

Naari brings 11-year-old Tipp into the infirmary. Tipp is kind to everyone, which makes him unusual at Zalindov. He was brought to the prison with his mother, who was accused of stealing. Later, his mother cut herself while working at the slaughterhouse, and because the guards would not let her visit the infirmary until it was too late, she died.

Now, when Tipp steps away to get fresh water, Kiva thanks Naari for bringing him back and for protecting her from the other guards on the previous evening.

The prisoner’s hair and body seem healthy, as if he has eaten well all his life. He bears some wounds from past floggings, but the marks do not match the cat-o’-nine-tails that Kiva is familiar with. While Naari holds the prisoner down, Kiva cuts the requisite Z into his wrist, but the prisoner remains unconscious. Just as Kiva is about to stitch the wound over the prisoner’s eye, he awakens.

The young man sits upright and then scrambles away from her. Kiva is covered with blood and holding a needle, but she reassures him that she was only stitching his wounds. Kiva tells him that he is in Zalindov. He apologizes, and Kiva and Tipp help him to sit up just before he starts vomiting into a bucket. Kiva sews the cut above his eye and tries to give him poppymilk to ease the pain, but he refuses it. Kiva feels unsettled by the handsome prisoner and wants him to leave.

Naari tasks Kiva with giving the prisoner an orientation to the prison. Kiva is unpleasantly surprised because she has not done orientation for a prisoner in years. Kiva asks Tripp to notify the mortician that there are two dead bodies in the infirmary, and Tipp admits that the mortician is angry with him. Naari follows Kiva, which is unusual; guards are usually stationary and do not follow prisoners around the grounds. The prisoner introduces himself as Jaren. He jokes with Kiva, and asks Kiva about herself, but she dodges his questions as she gives him a tour of Zalindov. Kiva tells him, “I figure the first place you visit should also be the last” (37), then shows him the morgue.

The prisoner in charge of the morgue, Mot, is unbothered by the foul smell. Kiva tells him that there are dead bodies in the infirmary that need to be retrieved. As she gives Jaren a tour, she is surprised to see that he remains calm. When Jaren asks why she is in Zalindov, Kiva warns him not to ask anyone that question. She then shows Jaren the crematoriums, and her explanation stresses the severity of the situation for Jaren, whose demeanor becomes more serious. Kiva explains the layout of the prison and warns him, “Don’t bother trying to escape. No prisoner has ever made it past the perimeter fence alive” (43). Although her words are harsh, she is trying to protect him. Jaren asks where the visitors meet prisoners, and Kiva tells him that prisoners are not allowed to have any visitors. Jaren is sorry to realize that Kiva has never had a visitor. Kiva grows emotional but pushes down the feeling to avoid revealing weakness.

She then shows Jaren the entrance to the labyrinthine tunnels, many of which are submerged in the waters of the aquifer that provides the prison’s water supply. Prisoners assigned to be tunnellers and pumpers have the deadliest jobs in Zalindov. Jaren is appalled when he finds out that 300 prisoners are assigned to each building. When he asks Kiva how she survives, she tells him that it helps to have something to live for, but she refuses to answer him when he asks her what she lives for. Kiva takes him to his cell block and explains that in the other direction lies the “Abyss,” the punishment block. Kiva tells him that most prisoners who go there never return, and those who do are changed. She tells Jaren to avoid being sent there at all costs. Jaren is assigned to the same barracks that she is, but on a different floor.

Kiva goes to Warden Rooke’s office. The warden asks her about the new recruit, showing particularly interest in how strong and fit Jaren is. Kiva does not believe that Warden Rooke is an evil man, but he is pragmatic. Although she does not like him, she acknowledges that he does attempt to minimize atrocities against prisoners. Today, Rooke wants Kiva to give him information about the rebels within Zalindov and asks her if the prisoner named Cresta is still the leader. However, Kiva reminds Rooke that the rebels do not like her and do not give her any information. Rooke tells Kiva that he appreciates her, but he urges her to give him more information because the rebels are becoming a problem. Kiva has heard that the rebel queen has come out of hiding since Kiva was imprisoned; she knows that the rebel queen wants vengeance. Warden Rooke tells Kiva to provide him with better information before their next meeting, warning her that she is replaceable.