Chapter 42: Carrot Flower, Part 3

"What did I say, my child, about you loving anyone?" George asked.

"That I'm not allowed," Gilles said hollowly.

"Why?" George asked, voice silky and lazy, but full of so much menace that Stregoni felt cold.

"Because I killed my mother and took from you the person you loved most, and the woman who loved us both. I do not deserve anyone of my own," Gilles said quietly, looking at the carpet as he spoke.

Stregoni stared in shock.

François swore and cast George a look full of so much hate, Stregoni was almost surprised George didn't die where he stood.

If only it were that easy.

Was that really what all this was about? Gilles's mother? She'd died in childbirth. That wasn't anyone's fault. It was simply a great tragedy. Did George really have Gilles convinced that he'd murdered his own mother? How could anyone be that cruel to their own child?