“What happened to her is, though the dragons wouldn’t agree that she was the only one who suffered,” Prea said. “And what happened to Faladir is even worse than what happened to your blood mother.”
“That wasn’t the Kawj’s fault,” Tarquin said. “It was mine.”
“Or my husband’s, depending on how you see it.” Prea’s voice was calm, but her needles rattled like shutters in the wind. “I’ve thought about the Kawj a great deal since Faladir was cursed by it.” When she blinked, tears glistened on her eyelashes. “I can’t reconcile what it’s supposed to be with what it did.”
“It wouldn’t have done anything to him if I had finished paying for it.”
“So you say.” Now there was anger in Prea’s voice. “But then, why Faladir? Or rather, if the Kawj can change a spell to suit its own purpose, why not tr
