Redsand Canyon Roman candles.

Towhee knew Aquene had given birth a few days past. She also knew that Germanicus had gathered some of the soldiers—including her brother and grandson—and headed out on a mission. She wished she could be involved with these matters, or that she could even resume her regular visits to the palazzo. But for the past week, she had been incapable of doing anything but resting in her own den.

She stirred in the early afternoon, groggy and parched. Maxim tended to stay close but she didn’t see him. Grunting with the strain, Towhee climbed to her feet. She couldn’t decide which ached worse: her bones or her stretched and swollen flanks. As soon as she climbed onto all fours, she leaned against the nearest wall, breathing hard. Towhee moved toward the doorway, squinting against the bright daylight.

She stepped outside and lapped up the water gathered in a basin someone had dug nearby. The rainwater was days old and rather stagnant, yet it felt perfect on her tongue, trickling down her throat. Towhee drank until she cramped, then shuffled sideways to slump against the stone den’s exterior wall. She actually felt better than she had in several days, though Towhee was absolutely exhausted with a capital “E.”