"Now," she said, and her voice was the gentlest, sweetest thing I'd ever heard. "What did you learn of the Summer Knight's death?"

"You were behind it," I heard myself saying, my voice slow and heavy. "You had him killed."

"How?"

"Lloyd Slate. He hates Maeve. You recruited him to help you. Elaine took him inside Reuel's building, through the Nevernever. He fought Reuel. That's why there was ooze on the stairs. The water on Reuel's arms and legs was where Summer fire met Winter ice. Slate threw him down the stairs and broke his neck."

"And his mantle of power?"

"Redirected," I mumbled. "You gathered it in and placed it into another person."

"Who?"

"The changeling girl," I said. "Lily. You gave her the mantle and then you turned her to stone. That statue in your garden. It was right in front of me."

"Very good," Aurora said, and the gentle praise rippled through me. I fought to regain my senses, to escape the glittering green prison of her eyes. "What else?"

"You hired the ghoul. The Tigress. You sent her after me before Mab even spoke to me."

"I do not know this ghoul. You are incorrect, wizard. I do not hire killers. Continue."

"You set me up before I came to interview you."

"In what way?" Aurora pressed.

"Maeve must have ordered Slate to take Elaine out. He made it look like he tried and missed, but Elaine played it for more. You helped her fake the injury."

"Why did I do that?"

"To keep me upset, worried, so that when I spoke to you I wouldn't have the presence of mind to corner you with a question. That's why you attacked me, too. Telling me what a monster I'd become. To keep me off balance, keep me from asking the right questions."

"Yes," Aurora said. "And after that?"

"You decided to take me out. You sent Talos, Elaine, and Slate to kill me. And you created that construct in the garden center."

Slate stepped closer. "Spooky," he said. "He doesn't look all that smart."

"Yet he used only reason. Plus knowledge doubtless gained from the Queens and Mothers. He put it together for himself, rather than being told." At that, her gaze slanted past me, to Elaine. I tried to pull away and couldn't.

"Great," Slate said. "No one squealed. Can we kill the great Kreskin now?"

Aurora held up a hand to Slate, and asked me, "Do you know my next objective?"

"You knew that if you bound up the Summer Knight's mantle, Mother Winter would provide an Unraveling to free it and restore the balance. You waited for her to give it to me. Now you're going to take it and the statue of Lily. You're going to take her to the Stone Table during the battle. You'll use the Unraveling, free Lily from being stone, and kill her on the table after midnight. The Summer Knight's power will go to Winter permanently. You want to destroy the balance of power in Faerie. I don't know why."