I hurry toward the boy, and I see two other women doing the same. One I recognize as Estir, the woman who’d helped settle Marzban in the compound, but it’s the other woman who reaches the boy first. She’s older than Estir, almost matronly looking. She looks familiar, but I can’t quite place her until I notice her limp. And then my steps gain urgency.

The older woman crouches in front of the boy and wipes tears from his face. “Come now, it will be all right.” She hands him some kind of sweet bun. “Fill your stomach and you’ll feel better.”

“Don’t take Anahi’s food, boy,” says Estir, coming to stand next to them. “You go under her roof, you’ll be sold into slavery by the end of the week.”

The boy jumps away from the older woman, who shakes her head in disappointment.

“I find it sad that some will throw accusations so freely.” She addresses the boy. “That woman is the one who would harm you. You must be careful who you trust.”

The boy has gone pale, and he clutches the sweet bun so tightly that it’s all but crushed in his hands. Not for the first time, I wonder how it was that I ended up in a place such as this.

Finally, I reach them. “Leave him be,” I tell Anahi.

For the first time, Anahi loses her grandmotherly glow. “You’re the commander’s pet healer, aren’t you? You’ll do better to stay in the hospital.”

There’s real threat in her voice, and I wonder how many of her gang are here with her. I’m tempted to look around for Dineas, but I don’t dare show fear. “You don’t want a fight right now, Anahi. It would be too damaging for all involved. And don’t forget that you and yours will be in need of a healer’s help someday.”

Anahi sneers. “You don’t take the gods seriously, if you’re a healer who would withhold her skill.”

I give her an icy smile. “My Goddess commands me to heal, that’s true, but she doesn’t require me to make it comfortable for the patient.”

Anahi glares at me, and I fight the urge to step back. She wouldn’t resort to force in the middle of the day, would she? But then she simply turns and walks away.

I take in a shaky breath. “It’s all right,” I tell the terrified boy. “Estir’s people are honorable. You’ll be safe with them.”

Estir offers a hand to the boy, looking more like a soldier greeting a comrade than a woman welcoming a child, but after a moment’s hesitation the boy takes it.

“Thank you,” I tell Estir.

“I only wish we could save all of them,” she replies.