I spent the next few days mulling over Piter’s story. He had mentioned red spiders in baby Varille’s cradle. I knew poisonous red spiders came from Cabaral, far to the south. That meant Varille was Cabarallian, at least on her father’s side. Or else she had been somewhere close enough that the spiders could survive a journey. People did smuggle spiders, sometimes, but the little creatures rarely made it all the way to Aker. The mystery of Varille deepened, and for the first time I considered the mystery of my mother. Perhaps all women are like that, with stories you never think to ask until it’s too late.
I also did not know that my parents weren’t truly married. For no matter what they said in front of a priest, in Aker you could only take one spouse. I decided after a while that I didn’
