“I don’t know. I fear for her. She went out to buy cheap booze from an illegal seller. Doesn’t pay his taxes, so he’s able to charge a lot less per bottle. I told her not to go, that it was too dangerous, but this place is her life. She won’t watch it fade away without doing everything in her power to save it, laws of the king be damned. Why did you come back, anyway?”

Soraya couldn’t exactly tell her that “The goddess Narcissi told me to,” so instead she said only, “Shim is my friend. I couldn’t abandon him.” It was close enough to the truth anyway.

“You are more honorable than me then. After Shim was skewered, I hid in the secret chamber until things quietened down. Only then did I emerge to find him trying to stand up. I couldn’t believe my damn eyes considering his wounds. The snakeman is a rutting warrior, as far as I’m concerned. Coming from me, that’s a big compliment.”

They’d almost reached the door to the office, but several piles of rubble still blocked their path. “Why did you shove him away?” Soraya asked, trying to make the pointed question sound as casual as possible.

Sunny didn’t look back, but Soraya could see the way she stiffened. She shrugged her mighty shoulders. “Was only trying to save him. Would’ve done it for anyone. I’m only sorry I couldn’t protect him from being so badly wounded. Then again, I was fortunate to escape with my own life.”

Soraya left it at that. Though she’d arrived late to the battle, from what she’d glimpsed, it had seemed like Shim was in a pretty good position at the time Sunny had supposedly tried ‘to save him.’

They finally reached the open doorway and marched inside. Twice she’d reached for Sunny’s trailing arm, and twice the woman had moved just out of her grasp. If she could just touch her…

But then she saw Shim, which made her pull up short, a sob choking her throat. “Oh gods.”

“Aye, it’s bad,” Sunny said, using an already bloodstained washcloth to dab at the punctures on his chest. Errol sat on him, dodging her wiping. “I’ve tried to chase the foul spider away a dozen times, but it always comes back.” She made a disgusted face.

“That’s Errol. He’s sort of Shim’s pet.”

“A tarantula for a pet?” Sunny shivered. “To each their own, I suppose.”

Soraya wondered what the woman would think of her own pet, who’d thankfully fallen asleep in his little leather cocoon. “He’s lost too much blood already,” she said.