Rosavo stopped her digging to look his way at the sound, and her eyes grew wide.

“Whaa …?”“Don’t panic, please,” he said, putting a hand up as he pushed himself up on wobbly knees.

“What in the name of …”

“He’s a saigus,” Raothan said, grabbing up the reins. “My saigus. Styrro.”

“A saigus.” The woman drew out the word, breathy and full of wonder. Her eyes stayed fixed on the beast even as she brought out the second skin, her earlier world-weariness gone. “I didn’t think they were—”

“Noni, is that a monster?” The blanket lump had hatched into a boy with frazzled hair and eyes big and round as twin moons.

“No, kid,” he said, catching the full skin Rosavo tossed him this time, “still just a man.”

He downed a swig of the contents without even stopping to smell it first.

Flames of Abra’an!

It burned like she’d said it would. Lit him right up. He took another drink.

There was much to learn about the empire east of Vrennic’s Teeth, but some things were the same everywhere.

Gods, that burns like home.