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“Hold still.” Jarek did as he was told, unaware he was fidgeting until her words nipped at him. She lifted her gaze. “Is there a problem with it?”

“I thought you wanted to know about my life in Ironfall. About Valen. Caine or my death—”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He faltered. “No.”

“Then I won’t ask you to.” Lilith retained her focus and continued. “So, how old are you?”

Jarek frowned, irritated, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. “You should ask a better one.”

“Why? Don’t want to talk about being one of the oldest men in Eizreth?"

“There it is,” he grumbled. “Age comes from experiencing life gifted to you, so I am not the oldest since I have not actually lived that time.”

“I thought a life was lived so long as one was breathing?”

“I never fully agreed with that line of thinking.”

She gasped quietly. “Blasphemy.”

Jarek laughed, the remark shaking him from his annoyance. “See? I have come a long way.”

“Can’t miss an opportunity to pat yourself on the back,” she chided. “I was thinking maybe you were injected with preservatives before everything happened, but now that I know you’re afraid of needles…”

“Nothing like that,” he said. “Though the Serpent clinging to me has a similar effect.”

“That’s true then? Diseased don’t age?”

“From what I know, they do not.”

Lilith nodded. “That means you’re stuck at the age of…”

“Twenty-five.”

“Three-hundred and twenty-five.”

“If you want to be specific then I’m three-hundred and sixteen.”

“Even better. You’re not quite as ancient.”

Jarek laughed, and her colors brightened like the mid-day sun. “Your turn.”

Lilith crinkled her nose. “I’m sure Kyer already told you how old I am.”

Exactly two hundred and ninety-five years younger than me. “How could I forget? The only fair thing is to ask for something I don’t know to make up for it.” Lilith’s joy didn’t fade, so he continued. “Like whereabouts you learned how to do this, let alone to yourself at only thirteen.”

“My father taught me.” Her smile remained, but there was sadness seeping into it. “That’s a lie. I made him teach me.”

Damn all that is dark, that’s right. Her father was a physician. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“I’m glad you did. It’s not often I get to talk about him.”

Jarek took his time responding, treading cautiously, though he was very curious. “Since I’m a complete imbecile and I already knew that, it doesn’t count.”

“You’d be right.”

“I’d like to start over.”