Redhawk Caldera Strawberry Season

She hadn't expected that reply, which probably showed by the slight raise of her brows. But Meerkat quickly recovered, happy to fill in the blanks as she told him, "He's my mother's mate and, I believe, Erzulie's son?" She wasn't completely confident in this knowledge and couldn't even recall where she'd learned it: from Towhee or perhaps Reyes himself? That uncertainty came through in her inflection.

"Can I ask you something?" she queried in the next breath. "Sorry," Meerkat added for abruptly changing the subject, "but I can't help but be curious about the way you speak." She'd gathered "ken" meant "know," just by the context, but it wasn't just his word choices but his accent too. "I've never heard anyone talk like you. It's kind of pleasant on the ears." Well, ear, though Meerkat hardly ever mentioned her partial deafness.