“I can’t say, Wife.” Anton raised his hands defensively, retreating from the barrage.

“I don’t like this. First there’s an explosion and people die and no one will say what blew up. Then people start disappearing. Dimitri has not returned to his home and his family has had no word of him. I tell you, Husband, I don’t like it!”

“Don’t be angry at me, Wife. I am not the one responsible. You must ask the Blessed if you want answers. Or the dragon. Where is Draca?” he asked suddenly. “She’s been gone long enough to fetch five buckets of water.”

“Sorry!” said Draca, bursting through the door. She was dripping wet. “I spilled the first bucket all over me.”

“Sit by the fire and dry out,” Rosa said, fussing over her. “I’m going to the forge with Anton. I won’t be gone long.”

Draca dragged her stool close to the fire, gave them both a grin, and waved.

“I don’t want to scare her with talk of war,” Rosa said, shutting the door.

Anton realized there was something more here. He thought he knew what it was and he braced himself.

“Husband—” began Rosa,

“Rosa,” he said gently, “we must take her back.”

“Why?” Rosa demanded. “She is a help to me around the house. She brings a light to your eyes that I have not seen in years—”

Just what Anton had been thinking to himself about his wife.

She laid her hand on his arm. “What if there is a war? The girl will need a safe home. Please, Husband. No one has been asking around for her. I made inquiries when I was at the market. There are no reports of a child missing. The Blessed are not making the rounds, searching for her. Maybe you were wrong about her. Maybe she does not have the blood bane.”

“I saw what I saw, Wife. Her magic saved her life,” said Anton. “That’s the only explanation.”

“No, it’s not,” Rosa returned briskly. Her husband was weakening and she was quick to see it. “There are quirks of fate. Happy accidents. Coincidences.”

“Wife, I am behind enough as it is. I must go to work. We will speak of this in the morning-—”

“I will make a bargain with you,” Rosa continued, pretending not to hear. “If the Blessed announce publicly that they are looking for a lost girl, I will take her to them myself. If not, we will give her a home.”

“We will speak in the morning,” Anton repeated, but he knew by the set of his wife’s shoulders, as she walked back into the house, that he had already lost the argument.