“We’ve seen some pretty weird stuff, but this one really gives me the creeps,” Koko said with a shiver.
Leech scratched his head as he stared down at his unconscious friend. In the brutal world of San Francisco’s streets, he’d learned there were few people whom you could trust, so when you met one you treasured him or her. “Me, too, but I know this much. She’s a friend, so we have to help her.”
Koko stuck his feet out in front of him and stared at the tips of his boots. “Yeah, she’s not a bad kid—even if she’s nobility and cheats at cards.”
The badger was suspicious of everyone but Leech, so those few words meant that the cynical badger had admitted Scirye into that most rarefied company, his friends. In Koko’s mind, friendship was a bond stronger than any steel cable.
With nothing more to be said, the pair sat, keeping Scirye silent company.
When Roxanna returned, she was accompanied by her mother, Lady Miunai, and a kobold with the swarthy complexion and the potato nose of his kind. Only two feet high, he hardly seemed to have any waist but was all arms and legs.
“This is Dr. Goldemar,” Lady Miunai said, formally introducing him.
Stroking his red beard with one hand, the doctor waddled straight over to the bed. He tossed his medical bag up onto the bed and clambered after it. Kles, who had been sitting anxiously near Scirye’s head, fluttered over to the back of a chair, where he perched.
Dr. Goldemar tugged his beard as he studied the unconscious girl for a moment. “From what I hear, you need a priestess and not me.” Even so, he began to carry out a methodical examination.
While he did so, servants streamed in bearing silver trays heaped with food and drink, which they set down on tables.
“Upach,” Roxanna asked sweetly, “would you please carry out that errand that I told you earlier you might have to?”
“This is the first time I’ve been warm in months!” the ifrit complained, but she quickly got back into all her Arctic gear. “Are you sure, my girl?”
Roxanna nodded. “It may not be necessary, but we should take care of it just in case.”
With a heavy sigh, Upach stomped into the hallway.
With her typical competence, Roxanna oversaw the servants in filling plates with tidbits. She tried her best to interest the companions in eating, but even Koko was too worried to do more than nibble and Leech and Bayang had no appetite at all.
Finally, Prince Tarkhun strode into the room, snow melting on his boots and shedding his coat as he walked. He was sweaty, dirty, and tired, but he looked every inch the commanding prince. Two servants scuttled behind, one catching his coat while the other surreptitiously wiped up the little puddles the prince had left behind.
Prince Tarkhun stared in shock at the unconscious Scirye. “Why would Nana strike Lady Scirye down in our very own shrine?”
“It was a miracle, Father,” Roxanna said. “The statue of Nana moved, and when Lady Scirye touched it she fainted.”
“A miracle is when I’ve got twenty bucks in my pocket,” Koko whispered to Leech, “not getting knocked out.”
“Yeah, this seems like something else,” Leech agreed.
“But what could Lady Scirye possibly have done?” Prince Tarkhun said, still puzzled.
Kles cleared his throat. “She asked Nanaia to help her recover the stolen treasure and avenge her sister’s death.”
“Oh,” Lady Miunai cried, raising her fingertips to her lips.
With a sad shake of his head, Prince Tarkhun sat down in a chair. Somehow when he was on it, it seemed like a throne. “That was rash, indeed. We are always careful when we ask her for anything.”
Leech didn’t understand their uneasiness. “I thought Nanaia—I mean Nana helps people?”
“She does,” Prince Tarkhun said heavily, “but sometimes not in the way you might expect.”
“There is the story of the prince who lost his beloved wife,” Lady Miunai said. “So he promised Nana anything if She would bring his wife back. That night he heard someone knock on the door of his bedchamber. And when he opened it, there was his wife alive again. But she had no sooner put her arms around him than the prince himself fell dead. You see, Nana’s account books must always balance out.”
“So you got to watch out for the fine print in one of Her contracts?” Koko asked with a worried glance at Scirye.
“Exactly.” The prince sighed. “Heaven protect Lady Scirye if Nana is helping her.”
They regarded the unfortunate Scirye in silence. Finally, Leech asked, “What should we do?”
Prince Tarkhun inclined his head toward Lady Miunai. “I count on my wife’s counsel, so perhaps you should repeat your tale again.”
As Bayang began their story, Lady Miunai listened intently, asking a shrewd question every now and then but otherwise letting the dragon go on.
Lady Miunai swung a worried, compassionate gaze toward Scirye. “Poor girl. It seems like the goddess really has chosen her.”
“Ah, she’s waking up,” Dr. Goldemar suddenly interrupted, “and I have no idea why.”
They all turned to see that Scirye’s body was no longer shining. Instead, she was struggling to open her eyes.