Aurora's face had gone somewhere dark, and I'd learned enough about her by now to know when to ask and when to wait.
I asked.
"Why do you look at her like that?"
She leaned forward on her elbows and stared at the table for a moment.
"She tried to abort me. She found out I was a girl and lost her mind. By then she was almost seven months along, so she couldn't do it through normal means. She tried to do it herself—a metal rod. Mutilated herself so badly they had to do emergency surgery to save her life. That's how she ended up sterile." She said it quietly, without drama, the way people talk about things they've had a long time to make peace with and haven't quite managed to. "She told me when I was old enough to understand. She reminds me whenever she thinks I need reminding."
I could
