"Are you about to hibernate?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and sudden. Fenric and Noah both froze, their own meals forgotten as they turned their gazes toward the snake beastman.
Damar's jaw tightened, a flicker of something like shame crossing his face. "I am a cold-blooded creature, Ari. When the sun hides and the earth turns to ice... my blood slows. It is... natural."
"Natural?" I repeated, my grip on his hand tightening as if I could squeeze my own warmth into his veins. I'd heard about hibernation back in my world, but this wasn't an animal in a burrow—this was my husband. "If you sleep now, Damar... when will you wake up?"
He did not answer so I looked at Fenric and Noah, looking for answers, but they both looked grim.
"Usually," Noah said, his voice unusually quiet, "...serpent-types don't wake until the snow dies. Sometimes months. If the winter is harsh... sometimes they don't wake in between at all."
