“Ah,” Yenni mused, invading his thoughts. “The Songs of the Sha say this as well, that the dragons of old had skin of multiple colors. Dragon people were the descendants of true dragons, beasts as tall as mountains that protected the divine realm of the Sha from the shadows at the edges of the world.”

Weysh nodded. “Exactly! We may call ourselves dragons now, but really we’re dragonkind. True dragons are as tall as mountains and have no human form, just as you say.”

“Have you met a true dragon?” Yenni asked, her pretty eyes wide.

“No, praise Byen. That would mean Movay’s demons had returned.”

“Who?”

“Movay. In the beginning, Byen, the Kindly Watcher, was at war with Movay, Mistress of Demons. She sent her hell minions to destroy the world but was defeated by Byen and his true dragons. After that, Byen gave ten percent of humanity the ability to transform into a lesser version of his sacred warriors, to defend the world should Movay’s demons return.”

She cocked her head. “Do you really believe you are a divine warrior in the service of your god?”

“Huh. Maybe, maybe not, but if Movay’s demons return in my lifetime I’ll cross that bridge then, I suppose.”

“I see. Well then, how is this ten percent maintained?”

“Dragons can have only one child. And what I mean by that is literally every dragon rears one child, so a pair of mated dragons could have two children, but a couple like you and me will have only one.”

“We are not . . . hmph.” She closed her eyes, huffed out a breath, and opened them again. “What is to stop you from having more children?”

“The will of Byen.”

“Interesting,” she said. “Your history sounds similar to the Songs of the Sha.”

“Who is the Sha?”

“Who are the Sha. They are the creators of all. They made this world together, and sprang from Mother-Father Ool, the creator of all other Sha, who is both male and female.”

Weysh laughed incredulously. “What? Both male and—that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard! How can someone be both male and female?”

Yenni jerked back like he’d slapped her, then narrowed her eyes at him. “Well, how can you be a sacred warrior? That is the silliest thing I have ever heard.” She jumped up from the bench and began to march away.

“Lovely, no! Wait!” He instinctively reached for her arm, but on second thought pulled back. The last thing he wanted was to be on the receiving end of another of her attacks, and Harth’s comment about him manhandling women bothered him more than he cared to admit.

“Yenni Ajani, I’m sorry!” he said, throwing up his hands helplessly. “That was rude of me.”

Through Byen’s mercy she stopped and turned back to him, her arms crossed. “Yes, it was.”

“Forgive me?”