Thieves World 3 – Shadows of Sanctuary by Asprin, Robert

there.’

Wess shook her head, confused.

‘Where slaves are offered for sale.’

Fury and humiliation and hope: Wess’s reaction was so strong that she could not

answer. Lythande came up the steps in one

stride and put his arms around her. Wess held him, trembling, and Lythande

stroked her hair.

‘If he’s there – is there no law, Lythande? Can a free person be stolen from

their home, and … and …’

Lythande looked at the sky. The sun’s light showed over the roof of the

easternmost building.

‘Frejojan, I must go. If your friend is to be sold, you can try to buy him. The

merchants here are not so rich as the merchants in the capital, but they are

rich enough. You’d need a great deal of money. I think you should, instead,

apply to the governor. He is a young man, and a fool – but he is not evil.’

Lythande hugged Wess one last time and stepped away. ‘Good-bye, little sister.

Please believe I’d stay if I could.’

‘I know,’ she whispered.

Lythande strode away without looking back, leaving Wess alone among the early

morning shadows.

Wess returned to the room at the top of the stairs. When she entered, Chan

propped himself up on one elbow.

‘I was getting worried,’ he said.

‘I can take care of myself!’ Wess snapped.

‘Wess, love, what’s the matter?’

She tried to tell him, but she could not. Wess stood, silent, staring at the

floor, with her back turned on her best friend.

She glanced over her shoulder when Chan stood up. The ripped curtain let in

shards of light that cascaded over his body. He had changed, like all of them,