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“You couldn’t have. And then Billy would have been orphaned.”
“Aye, so I tell myself. But that poor bairn. They take it out to the courtyard and the Queen Bi—You know who I mean? Yes, that one. She shows up. Bolts of lightning everywhere. Billy is wailing away, but that little baby never made a peep. She takes it up, pulls the blanket off and examines it. It’s still bloody from its mama’s womb. Then—maybe I should stop there.”
“No.” I buried my fingers in Darling’s fur, the image of Titania holding the newborn in her cruel hands burning in my head. “I need to know this.”
“Well, I wouldn’t tell you otherwise. It’s not a tale for idle telling.”
“I understand.”
“She looked that little baby over and then, well, her mouth got all big, like a gopher snake’s will, and she swallowed it down. Whole.”
I really hoped the food wouldn’t come back up. I wiped my brow and found it clammy.
“You should know the rest.” At my nod, she continued. “The queen then looks at Fafnir and Incandescence, all disappointed-like and says that the child was no good. Fafnir starts raging and she gives him this look. And then she melts him.”
“Melts him?”
“Yes. Like he was a piece of ice in the sun.”
“Good riddance.”
“I thought so too. Then the queen, she tells Incandescence that it’s Lord Rogue’s turn to try now. That’s the part I thought you should know.”
I nodded, my throat tight. “And Cecily?”
“They’d cut her open. Left her to die like a gutted pig. Sorriest thing I ever saw.”
We were both quiet for a bit.
“I appreciate you telling me.” I finally managed.
Darling purred, comforting.
“That’s why, when I heard you were Lord Rogue’s consort, I thought I should tell you.”
“I see.”
“And one more thing.”
I laughed a little bitter. “How can there be more?”
“An important thing. Cecily—she told me she was in love. That Fafnir had married her and desperately wanted this child. She couldn’t wait to see him again. She was ever so happy.”
The earrings clung to my ears, taunting me.
“I didn’t stop what happened to Cecily. But maybe I can keep it from happening to you, Lady Gwynn.”
Chapter 10
In Which I Return to the Scene of OneCrime
‡
Rogue is somehow obligated to see this game through as much as I am, and he obeys the rules with utmost care. I often wonder who is on the other end of hisstrings.
~Big Book of Fairyland, “Rogue”
We rode outto Castle Brightness in a merry string of song and shouts of drunken glee. Except for me. I lagged behind the festive group, and Starling eventually gave up trying to tease information from me and moved up the line looking for more interesting company. Nothing could distract me from the image of Titania’s jaw unhinging and that monstrous maw swallowing the newborn while Cecily lay upstairs, gutted by the sword of the man who’d sworn devotion.
