replied, smiling with sharp teeth at the scene around him. “It’s what your people might call a celebration.”

“Of what?” Nathaniel asked.

“Just watch,” he said. “Pay attention. You’ll figure it out. But first things go first.”

He looked down at the girls, still seated quietly on the bench.

“These are my nieces,” he said.

He pointed at the nearest girl, a dark-haired girl with hazelnut eyes.

“This is Ubavka. And this is Vesna,” he said, pointing at the next, who could have been an identical twin to the first except for her straw-coloured hair.

He pointed at the last girl, a girl with paler skin, blue eyes, and curly auburn hair.

“And this is Staja.”

They were staring at Nathanie...

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