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not human, then what is he?”
    “I’ve no idea,” Shadow-viper answered. “But he’s got a good taste; in fact, I think my Dark Sisters would choke on it.”
    “That is very reassuring,” Lord Marcus replied, my blood chilling as he stared at me. “Cholula, is there no clue as to the identity of his real mother?”
    “None,” she answered. “Johanna told me the whole story; how a mysterious stranger in dark robes, guarded by men in oriental armor, showed up in St. Augustine a few days after Johanna had given birth to a stillborn child. The woman gave her newly born son to Johanna, telling her the boy would be safer in St. Augustine than aboard the woman’s ship, gave Johanna a bag of gold for his maintenance and left, never to return. Johanna still had one of the coins left, and she showed it to me. It had Chinese characters stamped into the metal.”
    Lord Marcus’s face never left mine. “Tomas is very obviously not of Chinese origin.”
    “He’s not. But here’s the even stranger part: the robed woman wouldn’t let Johanna get a look at the child until he was at her breast. But once he was finished and went to sleep, Johanna realized his features mirrored her own. Everyone in St. Augustine thinks Johanna made up the story about the mysterious woman so Johanna wouldn’t be cast out of the church for bearing a child outside of marriage, since Johanna and Tomas look so much alike.”
    “Was there an official report of this stranger?”
    “Indeed,” Captain Cholula said. “It supports everything Johanna told me, but adds one detail she never knew: when the dock master looked at the child’s face, his features were Chinese.” I turned around to stare at her in absolute shock, and she gave me a sympathetic smile. “You must feel like a first time sailor riding out a gale, but I have stranger things to tell. Answer me a question: how many men have you killed?”
    I gaped at her in confusion, my wits running about like rats on a sinking ship. Alfonzo answered her. “Tomas has never killed anyone. He’s given as good as he’s got from the ruffians who’ve set upon him, but he’s never killed a man in anger. I’ll swear to that.”
    She gave Alfonzo a sardonic smile. “I believe you. Now tell me, Tomas, how long has Smoke been drawing strength from you?”
    My wits were finally settling themselves back down. “Ever since I understood what she wanted.”
    “As Shadow-viper was for me. Now, you’ve heard that a Dragon get stronger the more she fights, but especially the more men she kills, and that a dragon-ghost gets larger because the Dragon’s able to give her more strength, am I right?” I gave her a wary nod and she went on. “I’ve been fighting ever since I was fourteen, killing my first man a year later. There’s been a lot more of them who’ve died on the edge of my swords since then. You’re what, seventeen?”
    “I’ll be seventeen this December.”
    Her hungry grin returned. “Really? I’ll be reaching my fortieth birthday in three years. I’ve been feeding Shadow-viper over thirty years, you less than ten, yet when I saw Smoke through Shadow-viper’s eyes, she’s as large as a big dog, not much smaller than Shadow-viper. Not as large as Red-dog, of course, but she’s been with the order over several generations of Dragons. I think once I’ve begun teaching you real sword craft, and we go hunting in earnest, you’ll have your Smoke the size of Red-dog by the time you’ve reached twenty-one.”
    Alfonzo gripped my shoulder. “Tomas, we’re leaving now.” I began to rise but instead froze in place. Faster than thought, Captain Cholula whipped out the dagger from her belt and laid it against Alfonzo’s throat, while Karl gripped the wrist of his sword hand like an iron vise.
    Lord Marcus spoke in a seemingly kind voice. “Dear Captain Alfonzo, your concern for Tomas’s welfare is most touching. But he is not your son, much as you may think of him in that