"Take no offense," Skellig says, shaking his head as if to 'chide' Kreyu. "She has been wild as a lightning bolt since the day she came into my life."

Kreyu 'scratches' her claws into the leather pad and flicks her tail as if in agreement.

"It was in Amikaya that I ran across a ship with fine wares, but it was this boy here," he motions idly towards Xenophon. "That garnered greater attention than the goods upon the vessel."