Sleep, Snake said.
"What about talking like an ordinary human being?" suggested Urson, still somewhat perplexed.
Once ... speak, Snake told them.
"You say you could speak once?" asked Geo. "What happened?"
Here the boy opened his mouth and pointed.
Geo stepped forward, held the boy's chin in his hand and examined the face and peered into the mouth. "By the Goddess!" he exclaimed.
"What is it?" Urson asked.
Geo came away now, his face lined in a sickly frown. "His tongue has been hacked out," he told the giant. "And not too neatly, either."
"Who on the seven seas and six continents did a thing like that to you, boy?" Urson demanded.
Snake shook his head.