After a second's delay, Alistair smiles. It's a good thing—not something he'd ever presume to have any say in, and not something he resents not having a say in either, but if Morrigan had asked his opinion he'd have thought it was a good idea. His willingness to tell everyone else to buck up and get over their qualms with the Gallows or the docks doesn't extend to Kieran.

"No, I think that's brilliant," he says. "He likes dragons. And they ought to breathe fire. The ones that breathe ice or lighting, they're cheating. And the ones that don't breathe anything—what's even the point? Anyway, I think he'll love it." He reads the list with all the attentiveness it deserves. "You're going to spoil him."

That's not a complaint.