But worst of all were the bodies. They lay in the streets or protruded from the rubble, rot and decay caring no more if they were human or troll than the rocks had. The stench was incredible, and she knew nothing was being done to dispose of the bodies – none could be spared. She could practically taste the pestilence in the air – knew that it was claiming more victims with every passing day – but she’d brought the child with her anyway. She hadn’t dared leave her alone when there were rumors of humans scouring the streets like dogs, searching for anything, anything, they could eat.

She found Alexis standing alone in front of the palace, wearing the same clothes he’d worn the day the mountain fell. His hair was lank and unwashed, face smeared with grime. Little tracks of sweat cut through the filth, and his entire body was tense with strain. “Alexis?”

Dull eyes shifted to her. “You shouldn’t be in the streets. It isn’t safe.”

“I know.” She whispered the words, although she didn’t know entirely why. “But I wanted to tell you myself that you have a daughter.” She held the child out to him, but he turned his head away. Hurt sliced through her, and she hugged the baby tight. “What do you want to name her?”

Alexis grimaced, the first reaction I’d noted from him. “She’s half troll – she’ll name herself and tell you how she wishes to be called when she speaks. You know that.”

Anushka had known that, but also that trolls gave their children baby-names until the child was old enough to communicate its wishes. “What do you think of Lily? Or Rose?”

His lids drifted shut. “I think you should not allow yourself to become attached.”

Anushka flinched.

“Go back to your manor and lock yourself in. I’ve enough to worry about without you wandering the streets.”

She went.

I wanted no more of this. I knew what she was doing, why she was showing me these memories. Anushka wanted me to see what the trolls had done so that I would hate them like she did. So that I’d understand why she’d cursed them and turn against Tristan. Not because she had any intention of sparing my life, but because her desire to inflict as much hurt as she had suffered was insatiable. I struggled, trying to extract my mind from her clutches, but she would not let me go.

“You will see, and you will know,” she whispered, and threw me back under.

She was down to her last candle. Lily squalled in her arms, refusing to be soothed and unaware of the danger of attracting unwanted attention. I could feel Anushka’s heart as though it were my own, leaping and skittering in her chest with every scream and crash from outside. Worse was the sound of skirmishes outside the windows. The crack of bones and the thud of impacts against flesh. The dull thump of bodies falling to the ground. The rustle of fabric against stone as the corpse was dragged away to be… My mind recoiled at the things she had seen through cracks in the curtain.