The dreams were better tonight. Not perfect, but better. Akna was having a very pleasant dream with Chica, Meleng, and the cute stable girl from Lord Padara’s stables when Felit?a woke her up talking to the rats. Felit?a talking to her rats was not an unusual thing—she did it a lot—so Akna was more than happy to go right back to sleep and hopefully rejoin the dream.


    It worked—sort of. Of course, shortly after, the stable girl turned out to be Ses-Tlacotl in disguise and killed Chica and Meleng. Akna awoke with a gasp. So much for a night without nightmares.


    There was a more pressing matter now though. Felit?a was gone.


    They had both hoped, with the Staff at Agernon’s and well out of its telepathic range, Felit?a would sleep better. That apparently wasn’t the case. When she couldn’t sleep, Felit?a responded in only a few ways. She’d talk to her rats, try to study the Secrets, or go for a walk. On the ship upriver and even before that, there hadn’t been far she could go. Here in Quorge, though…


    Akna groaned and cursed herself for not noticing Felit?a leave. She should have at least inquired more when she’d woken briefly. But besides that, she should have heard Felit?a moving about. She was trained to have alert senses, even asleep. She hadn’t been at her best recently, but even so, she should have noticed something. Felit?a couldn’t have just stood up and walked out. She would have needed to dress first. There was no way she could have done all that without Akna hearing.


    The answer was obvious: Felit?a had used magic. She had used some sort of spell to keep Akna asleep, or to hide the sounds she made, or something similar. Typical Felit?a.


    Akna smiled back. Perhaps the nightmares really were being a little better tonight. At the very least, they were taking more time. She could go back to sleep. Felit?a could take care of herself.


    I miss you, Akna said.


    Then find me.


    But you’re dead, Chica.


    Please, Akna, hurry. I need your help now!


    Akna opened her eyes and sat up. Fuck it, she was going after Felit?a. While Felit?a might be able to take care of herself, she could still be surprised, and if she was doing what Akna suspected she was doing, sneaking up on her would be easy. She might need the help, and Akna could provide that help.


    She dressed and gathered her things as fast as she could. She reached for a spear, but put it right back. Carrying a spear openly would probably draw attention from the Watch, and she didn’t want that. Daggers would have to be enough. She took three.


    The shawl Felit?a had lent her was another matter. It would restrict her movements in a fight, but like Felit?a had said, she could always toss it aside if she needed to. It would only slow her down a little, and it was blasted cold outside.


    It was a dark night. Clouds obscured the moon, and it was even colder than it had been earlier. It had stopped snowing though, and one good thing about snow that didn’t melt was it kept the tracks of whatever passed over it, provided more snow didn’t fall. A lot of people had passed over it, which wasn’t surprising given Quorge’s size. However, Felit?a’s would be amongst the fresher tracks. Following her shouldn’t be too difficult, especially as Akna had a good idea where Felit?a had gone.


    Akna was trained in tracking, but it had been in forest and other wilderness areas, not Arnorin cities. Apart from the snow, there was little to give any indication of passage. Plus, while the streets appeared mostly empty, there were more people out at night than Akna would have expected, making it difficult to determine which tracks were Felit?a’s. She also didn’t remember the city’s layout as well as she’d thought. Finding her way back to the square with the well took much longer than she’d expected.


    She turned in a slow circle, looking down each of the several streets and alleys running off from the square. Despite the cloud cover, it was surprisingly bright out for the middle of the night. It had taken her awhile earlier to realise what caused it: the snow. Although the moon was behind the clouds, some of its light made it through and the snow was reflecting that light back. It was something she never would have expected of snow, but in retrospect it made sense. It was actually rather beautiful.


    It wasn’t helping her find Felit?a, though. None of the streets heading away from the square looked any more likely to be the right direction than any of the others. All she could do was pick one at random. But searching randomly in a place as big as Quorge wasn’t likely to achieve anything.


    She should go back. For all she knew, Felit?a was already back anyway.


    Akna.


    Akna.


    Akna.


    Akna looked around. “Is someone there?”


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    “In the middle of the night?” the other asked. They both stopped in front of her, separating a little so that they were almost flanking her.


    Her tattoos again, no doubt. And her skin colour.


    “You’re alive. I can’t believe you’re alive. I saw you die. Oh gods, you’re alive. Don’t ever leave me again!” She buried her head on Chica’s shoulder and sobbed.


    Akna was a good three inches taller than Chica. She couldn’t bury her head on Chica’s shoulder without bending over. This person was as much taller than Akna as Akna was taller than Chica.


    “Nin-Akna? Are you all right?”


    “You...you looked like…” Akna turned away, stared at the ground. What had she just done?


    “I’m fine. Or will be. And no, I didn’t see who it was. It was back this way, though.” She pointed.


    But why would Felit?a try to make her believe she’d seen Chica? She’d used magic earlier. Yet there was a big difference between sneaking out of an inn and making it look like Akna’s closest friend in the world was still alive. It didn’t make any sense; it served no purpose. No, Felit?a wouldn’t do that.


    Akna had been experiencing these nightmares for so long now. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Chica. Perhaps it was inevitable she would start seeing Chica when her eyes were open, too.


    “What happened?” Felit?a asked. “Not with the Watch. I mean when I arrived.”


    Akna licked her lips and looked everywhere except at Felit?a. “I...I thought I saw Chica—Nin-Chicahua. The one you knew as Nin-Xoco. I...I don’t know why.”


    “When you called me,” Akna said and paused. She wasn’t sure she should bring this up, especially since it could have been her imagination. “When you first arrived, did you call out to me?”


    “It’s okay. Everything’s weird tonight anyway. Can I ask one favour though?”


    Oh well, a problem for another time.


    They reached the inn and changed for bed. When Akna closed her eyes this time, she didn’t see Chica’s face exploding in blood, bone, and viscera. Instead, she saw Chica standing on a snow-swept street, long hair blowing in the wind.


    Akna! Come to me, please! I need you!


    Find me.


    Akna looked over at Felit?a, who was lying in bed, eyes open and starting at the ceiling. She thought of saying something, then decided against it.


    Please, Akna!


    Find me.