Chapter 33: A Frightful Debate

⁠​​​‌​​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​​​‌​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​⁠Pushing through a swarm into the cot, Fleetwood saw Carinthia on a knee beside a girl’s lap, where the stripped child lay. Its mother held a basin for the dabbing at raw red spots.

A sting of pain touched the memory of its fright, and brought further screams, then the sobs. Carinthia hummed a Styrian cradle-song as the wailing lulled.

She glanced up; she said to the earl: ‘The bite was deep; it was