"I hope there's pirates there," Sarneth told his governess, who was busy arranging his squirming and mostly boring little sister for the long carriage ride ahead.

"I don't think pirates so much as bandits," Elessa replied thoughtfully. "There weren't any coves or harbors big enough for real pirates on the map I saw, but bandits don't need those because they're on land."

"And they ambush caravans, right?"

"Indeed they do."

"And we're kind of a caravan, right?"

Elessa looked away from Tulena and at him, giving him one of those measuring looks she sometimes used. "Kind of," she finally agreed.

"I hope the bandits come and try to attack us. Papa could fight off a whole hoard of bandits with his hand behind his back, couldn't he, Elessa?"

She smiled. "Probably, though I think your poor lady mother might just faint."