Storm of Swords

He declared that fall was his favorite season too, then explained why. Koontz's brows lifted at his bleak description of wintertime. "Wow, you make winter sound horrible," she remarked, "which it can be. I'm with you on the colors. My favorites is when a tree or bush suddenly turns flaming red, seemingly overnight. It looks particularly pretty against a backdrop of blue sky," she mused.

While she rambled about her affinity for autumn, they arrived at the forest's center, where there was a dugout beneath the shadow of several large boulders. "It doesn't look like much," she said as she approached it, "but my brother, Ray, helped me dig down pretty far, so that there's sort of a tunnel that starts between these boulders and then opens up into an underground burrow. It'll be warm and dry, no matter the weather."

She lowered her head to sniff at the small furrow leading toward the subterranean entryway, then lifted it again and peered at Saga, wondering what he made of it. "It's really large inside. You'll have it all to yourself for now." Her lips twitched and then she abruptly switched gears back to the topic of Saga himself. "Well, where did you come from, for starters? I know you mentioned some basics when I accepted you but..." She sat with a flourish. "Now there's time for the full saga, I think."