“I have plenty of them back home, princess,” he laughed. “I can live without that one. And besides,” he turned to Zelac and spoke something in Zebrikaans to him, something that caused him to let out an embarrassed laugh while rubbing the back of his head. “‘No child of the mountain should be without their stripes of gold,’” came Zakurai’s answer to the unasked question. “A little saying we have in Zebrica. One of many I hope to tell you of over the coming week.”