At age fifteen Xandra became a Natal Dragoon, a super-soldier. Now at twenty-six, after years in stasis, she finds herself a claimed wife. Not letting Nickal claim his prerogative in the heat of an interrogation, Ithan spoke. "I claimed you to wife, Xandra, on the flight back to Abode." Her reaction wasn't what either man expected. She laughed, weak, spindly, but a laugh. "Bad luck just won't end, but this time, I'm sure yours is worse than mine, husband."