She shrugs. “There is peace in death.”
“Unless you end up in Tartarus or the bottom level of Niflhel or as one of the Hunted Ones in the Tech Duinn.”
“Those places are for bad souls. Why would they go there if they follow the rules like a good brownie does?”
“Because their ‘good laws’ support pedophiles and rapists.”
She places her bottle on the table, the chill from the fridge leaving a water ring on Echo’s desk. Running a finger around its base, she frowns, her face draining of all her rage and exhaustion. “There aren’t words for those things in Brownston. Ididn’t know that what Lief had done to me…” She trails off, her blink lasting a second longer than normal.
Keeping her eyes on the desk, she continues, her voice a bit more shaken. “A good brownie never says no, you know? For a long time, I thought the problem was with me, that I actually did something wrong that time… It wasn’t until we came here… until I talked to Echo and she explained that my feelings, my rage and disgust were justified.”
She looks up at me then. Her silver eyes glisten – not with pain but with anger. She breathes out slowly before saying, “They don’t know it’s wrong. Dab never would have gifted Arienna to her grandfather otherwise.”
“Dab?” The name carves itself into my brain. I will find her, kill her, then revive her to do it all over again.
Wincing, Fabia shakes her head. “She’s one of Arienna’s neighbours. She was a victim herself by him. He took her at five.”
“Richard –” Jace starts, but I ignore him.
Leaning forwards, I place my bottle on the desk so I don’t crush it. My hand lingers on it, toying with it as I smile at Fabia. She shrinks back slightly, her face going pale. “Being a victim is not an excuse for making another victim,” I say softly. “Her being born into a cult will not be enough to save her. I might not have known Arienna when Dabgiftedher to her grandfather, but I will protect her now. So, Fabia,” I say, my eyes never leaving hers. “Tell me again who Dab is because you’re a fucking bad liar.”
Her voice shakes, mocking her front of courage. “If you hurt her, Arienna will never forgive you.”
“Only if she finds out, and I assure you, I know how to hide a body.”
Silence descends heavily between us, broken only by the harsh breaths escaping her lips.
“Tell me who she is, or I will kill every single one of them,” I say.
Her eyes fly to Jace, but whatever she sees there doesn’t reassure her. Her fingers shaking, she picks up her bottle of coffee and takes a sip, trying to still her nerves. “You didn’t want me to tell her about Lief because you thought it would break her, but now you want to kill someone she loves?”
“She’s fine knowing about Lief. And you said it yourself,” I say softly, recalling Jace’s debriefing after my queen fell asleep. “The connections aren’t real in Brownston. She will not mourn whoever dies.”
She flinches. “Dab is a victim.”
I twirl the bottle of water around its base. “You will find here, Fabia, that you must often make the choice of who to save and who to sacrifice. If you tell me who Dab really is, I’ll order my women to round up all the brownie children tonight. Think of all those victims you can save.”
It’s an order I’m going to give regardless, but she doesn’t need to know that.
“I will find out with or without you,” I push one last time. “All I need to do is ask any brownie who Dab is.” Including Arienna, but on the off chance that she does find out what I’ve done to this person, I don’t want her blaming herself.
“Then why do you want it from me?”
I smile. The bottle stills under my fingers. “I want to know you’ll killanyoneto protect her.”
Her eyes search mine, conflicted and in pain.
Then they shutter into acceptance.
“Dab…” she says strongly as she looks me in the eye, “is her mother.”
Fifteen
A queen’s only duty to her heirs is to have them.
And I thought my mother was a bitch.
- King Richard
