Nina was quiet, listening, imagining the story in her head. And perhaps the princess had brown hair and a dog, and the dragons were the chimeras in the basement, and the treasures were too, and her friends were a blond boy and another in a metal suit, and while it wasn't perhaps exactly what Repliku was thinking of it kept Nina calm, kept her from thinking about her situation.

"What happened then?" she asked, her voice expectant.