His instinctive response was to say nothing. Personal questions had a habit of going in one ear and out the other after he'd been hiding for years in plain sight, especially since more immediate questions like What are you doing here!? took routine priority.

But if Daud was reading the situation right, anyone who came from the same world he did would, eventually, have to become an ally.

"Serkonos," he said, "if you've heard of it. If you haven't, it doesn't really matter what I say, does it?"