Sawtooth Spire We were talking for a minute, then some guy tried to cut in

It never got old watching the play of emotions between brother and sister. Wylla had been Tiercel's only meaningful company growing up, or so she told herself—Lusca and Singra were certainly nice to have around, but decidedly not as good as mother dearest—so watching two cubs the same age constantly reacting to what the other had was hilarious. She nearly snorted when Phaedra did a mental double take at the mention of ghosts, as if Thade had something amazing that she needed right now.

She did chortle out loud when the kid folded her wiry body back on itself in her haste to turn and rush over to the snail, and practically guffawed when Phaedra swore. Yeah, okay, maybe she should put a stop to that before Mahler ripped her a new one about his daughter using naughty words, but kids swearing was the funniest thing about them. Plus, treating words as forbidden only lent them a tempting power. Better to treat them as commonplace, in her opinion.

Phaedra was practically prancing around the snail by now, spouting questions faster than Wylla could conjure answers. It was only two questions, but. Still. A snail, Wylla answered the first, and to the second, she could only shrug. I've never touched one because yeah... super gross. They also weren't all that common by the seaside, at least not this variety. Something about the salt, probably. Why don't you ask it?