Page 50 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
“Pheasant with blackberry sauce.”
“And where were you born?”
“The capital city of Florin, Adris.”
At this, Cole frowned. Queen Bianca had been born in Venetiza, a country across the sea from Florin. It was a matter of fact and public record. But Cole didn’t push this. Evidently, something about her demeanour convinced him she was telling the truth. He exhaled, his sigh bone-deep.
“Mother… did you kill Eirwen?”
The Queen stared at him solidly for a moment. Eirwen stilled, afraid the spell had shattered, that the ring couldn’t compel such a huge truth from someone.
“No,” she said eventually, “but I did order her death. My loyal Huntsman brought me back her heart as proof.”
The colour drained from Cole’s face. “What…what?”
“He told me that there was so little left of her body after he finished the deed it would have been too unsightly to bring her back to the castle.” Bianca giggled, sipping more of her wine. “I think I might like to have seen that. But her heart was delicious.”
“You… youateher heart?”
Eirwen suppresseda shiver, a coldness creeping under her skin. It was like being plunged under the ice.
“I was told it would make me more powerful.”
“But… why?” Cole continued, his body rigid.
The Queen frowned. “For you, my son. For us. So that you can be king of two kingdoms. So we could start an empire together.”
“I… what if I don’t want that?”
“It is your right.”
“Why? Why is it mine?”
“Because I had nothing, and you deserve everything!”
“Mother… what are you talking about?”
She sighed. “I am not Queen Bianca,” she said. “I never was. I was just a maid in the castle of your father, but I was given a gift, an opportunity…” She twisted a golden ring on her finger, one Eirwen knew well. A favourite of hers, set with a great white gem. “This is an ancient fairy ring. It gives me the ability to look however I want. So the night Princess Bianca came to the castle to marry your father, I killed her and took her place. He never knew the difference, the fool. Never once caught on, in eight years…”
Cole looked like he wanted to vomit. “Did… did you kill him?”
“I… I had to, my darling boy. He was starting to doubt your parentage, with that beautiful black hair of yours…”
She raised a hand to touch it, but Cole jerked away, rising from the seat and crossing the room, his back to his mother as if he couldn’t bear to look at her. His eyes drifted towards the panel where Eirwen was, and she wondered if he was searching for her.
“Was… was he really my father?”
“Of course.” The queen rose from the chaise, stepping towards him. “But you… you take after me. My real face, not this borrowed one. I could hardly explain that to him, could I?”
Cole swallowed. “And… and Olwen? Did you kill him too?”
“I… I didn’t mean to. He was the only man I ever… he was kind to me. Good to me. I thought, in time, he might… But then he was injured, and as I nursed him through the night, he called forher,his first wife. He wanted a corpse over me. I… I snapped. I picked up the pillow and smothered him with it.”
Eirwen sank backwards into the tunnel. She had suspected something like this for years, had sleep torn up with visions of his passing, but hearing it confirmed–
Oh, oh Papa...
Cole’s face was a stark mask of unbridled horror. “How… how could you do that?”
