"Arkady is- he is part of my family," Mena said after a moment's contemplation. "He lives with my parents- well, my parents live with him. We're all part of his family, I guess. In a way. I-"
She wet her lower lip, "He's the Ringmaster, I grew up in a carnival, that's where I- I know a lot of stuff from. Arkady's different too, like us but- not. I don't know what he is, I just know he's old." She'd dropped her voice, glancing up as if she were expecting the crow to try and cut the conversation short. "He's seen dragons, yeah. Hundreds of years ago, mind. He told me they were pretty much all but extinct. It really upset him. I think he really likes dragons. He used to tell me all kinds of stories." She smiled at him, "I think he'd like you. He'd know what you are straight away from your marks." She tilted her head and tapped behind her ear to indicate that she had seen the markings that Ashton bore in his human form.