7: Catiana

Catiana woke early, as always. A maid – not her usual one, but who could keep track of servants? – brought her to her window-seat. When breakfast was laid before her, she dismissed the girl with the request that her daughter attend her.

Elfea played the lute while her mother ate. When the old woman clutched her throat, she continued playing, covering the noise of her struggles. She played as her mother slipped to the carpet and tried to claw her way across it. And before Catiana breathed her last, she heard Elfea say "You should have let me keep my baby."