"I still have something to discuss with Silly Cat."
Annan understood and scooped up Lily from beside his feet.
"I'll wait for you outside."
Annan returned to the surface. Silly Cat sat there, swishing his tail. "Well? What are you plotting this time?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? You'd be kind enough to let me go?"
He'd fallen for Spider Queen Lolth's trap. From the moment she'd coaxed him back to the Underdark, her silk had begun wrapping around him. Silly Cat had several chances to break free and leave, but every time, he thought of all the work he'd lose by giving up. So he'd let the silk wind tighter.
If Silly Cat had known a little more, he would have called it the "sunk cost fallacy."
And now Lolth had undone the silk herself!
"Annan needs you more."
Silly Cat drew a sharp breath.
Since when had Spider Queen Lolth cared about anyone else? She'd stabbed hundreds of friends and allies in the back, if not thousands. He couldn't count the gods she'd betrayed on one paw...
She probably hadn't even noticed it herself.
Lolth went on to explain that Annan might figure some things out if he went back alone, and Silly Cat's presence would distract him. Silly Cat didn't believe a word of it.
Still, he acted as though he would keep quiet about her plan to use Annan.
"Don't worry. I won't tell him."
Spider Queen Lolth sensed something odd about Silly Cat's mood, but paid it no mind.
Once that stupid cat had realized he couldn't open a path to his Divine Kingdom anytime soon, he'd stopped caring what happened. He was acting as erratically as an Evil God from the Abyss.
"I don't trust you. To make sure you keep the secret..." Spider Queen Lolth raised