“She inherited it, missing a generation, and no mistake,” said the druid. “Her grandmother, Adalia, could raise a drawbridge with a twitch of her eyebrows. Hey, Geralt, look at that! She still hasn’t had enough!”

Calanthe, supported by Eist Tuirseach’s arm, indicated the wounded Urcheon to the guards. Geralt and Mousesack approached quickly but unnecessarily. The guards recoiled from the semi-reclining figure and, whispering and muttering, backed away.

Urcheon’s monstrous snout softened, blurred and was beginning to lose its contours. The spikes and bristles rippled and became black, shiny, wavy hair and a beard which bordered a pale, angular, masculine face, dominated by a prominent nose.

“What…” stammered Eist Tuirseach. “Who’s that? Urcheon?”

“Duny,” said Pavetta softly.

Calanthe turned away with pursed lips.

“Cursed?” murmured Eist. “But how—”

“Midnight has struck,” said the witcher. “Just this minute. The bell we heard before was early. The bell-ringer’s mistake. Am I right, Calanthe?”

“Right, right,” groaned the man called Duny, answering instead of the queen, who had no intention of replying anyway. “But maybe instead of standing there talking, someone could help me with this armor and call a doctor. That madman Rainfarn stabbed me under the ribs.”

“What do we need a doctor for?” said Mousesack, taking out his wand.

“Enough.” Calanthe straightened and raised her head proudly. “Enough of this. When all this is over, I want to see you in my chamber. All of you, as you stand. Eist, Pavetta, Mousesack, Geralt and you… Duny. Mousesack?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“That wand of yours… I’ve bruised my backbone. And thereabouts.”

“At your command, your Majesty.”

III

“…a curse,” continued Duny, rubbing his temple. “Since birth. I never found a reason for it, or who did it to me. From midnight to dawn, an ordinary man, from dawn… you saw what. Akerspaark, my father, wanted to hide it. People are superstitious in Maecht; spells and curses in the royal family could prove fatal for the dynasty. One of my father’s knights took me away from court and brought me up. The two of us wandered around the world—the knight errant and his squire, and later, when he died, I journeyed alone. I can’t remember who told me that a child-surprise could free me from the curse. Not long after that, I met Roegner. The rest you know.”

“The rest we know, or can guess.” Calanthe nodded. “Especially that you didn’t wait the fifteen years agreed upon with Roegner but turned my daughter’s head before that. Pavetta! Since when?”

The princess lowered her head and raised a finger.

“There. You little sorceress. Right under my nose! Let me just find out who let him into the castle at night! Let me at the ladies-in-waiting you went gathering primroses with. Primroses, dammit! Well, what am I to do with you now?”

“Calanthe—” began Eist.

“Hold on, Tuirseach. I haven’t finished yet. Duny, the matter’s become very complicated. You’ve been with Pavetta for a year now, and what? And nothing. So you negotiated the oath from the wrong father. Destiny has made a fool of you. What irony, as Geralt of Rivia, present here, is wont to say.”