The Mate He Gave Away novel · Chapter 34 of 40

Chapter 34: The River

I didn't answer her straight away.

The queen mother stood in the doorway and let me not answer.

"You put me below the dogs," I said.

"Yes."

"You sat by the fire at Midsummer while he gave me away. You never once said my name. Three years."

"Yes."

She didn't explain. She didn't say she was sorry. She stood there with her hands folded and took it.

"I gave you a bird in a cage on your wedding day," she said at last. "It's what I was given on mine. I thought that was what a queen was."

She looked past me at the empty cage by the window.

"You opened it."

"I did."

"I've thought about that a great deal this year."

My daughter stirred on the bed and made a small cross noise.

The queen mother's eyes went to her and stayed there.

I picked my daughter up.

I walked to the door and put her into her grandmother's arms.

The old woman's hands knew exactly what to do. They hadn't forgotten.

My daughter looked up at her, frowning, with her Millward stare.

"She's checking the stores," Corvin said.

The queen mother made a sound I'd never heard from her. It might have been a laugh.

"You can hold them," I said. "Whenever you like. You can come to Frostgate and hold them there."

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