Burrich held himself stiffly erect. ‘You are kind to offer it, but I have not the time to linger, my lady. I promised my wife I would return to her, with the boy, as swiftly as I could and-’

‘Must I command you to sit down, my stubborn old friend? Your good lady will forgive you the delay to rest yourself for a moment, I am sure.’

He was silent. Then, like a dog commanded to sit and stay, he walked to one of the chairs and sat down in it. Again, he waited.

After a pause, Kettricken recommenced. ‘After all these years this is an awkward way for all of us to come together again. And yet, no matter how awkwardly it came about, I am glad to see your face once more. Yes, and to see that you have a son with his father’s proud spirit.’

Another man might have warmed to that paternal compliment but Burrich only glanced down and tempered it with, ‘And I fear he has many of his father’s faults as well, my lady.’

Kettricken did not waste words or time. ‘The Wit, you mean.’

Burrich twitched to that as if she had cursed at him.

‘Swift told us, Burrich. I do not see it as a shameful thing. He told me he had come to me as I have forbidden men to persecute those with the Wit. He asked to take service with me. In truth, I would be glad to have such a stout-hearted lad to page for me. But I told him it must be with his father’s consent.’

He shook his head as he refused her. ‘I do not give it, my lady. Swift is far too young to live amongst strangers. To be raised so quickly and so far above his natural station could spoil him. He needs to remain at my side for some years yet, until he learns to control his boyish impulses.’

‘Until you’ve extinguished the Wit in him,’ Chade filled it in.

Burrich considered, then frowned. ‘I don’t believe that can be done. I’ve tried for many years to wipe it from myself. Still, it lingers. But if it cannot be purged from a man, he can nevertheless be taught to refuse it. Just as a man must learn to refuse all sorts of other vices.’

‘And you are so certain that it is a vice, and something to despise?’ Kettricken’s voice was gentle. ‘But for your possession of the Wit, I would have died at Regal’s hands, all those years ago. But for your Wit, Fitz would have perished in Regal’s dungeons.’

Burrich took a short breath. It seemed to catch in his throat, and he took another one, as a man who fights for control of himself. He looked up, blinking, and it wrung me to see that his lashes were wet with unshed tears. ‘You can speak his name,’ he said huskily. ‘And yet do not perceive that he is why I take the stand I do? Lady Queen, but for the Wit, Fitz would have learned the Skill well. But for the Wit he could never have been thrown into Regals dungeons. But of the Wit, he might even now be alive. The Wit doomed him to die and not even as a man. As a beast.’ He dragged in a shuddering breath. His voice rasped but he held himself straight and retained command of himself. ‘Every day I live, I live with my failure. My prince, Prince Chivalry, entrusted me with his only child, with the sole command that I raise him well. I failed my prince. I failed Fitz and I failed myself. Because I was weak. Because I had not the strength of will to be harsh with the boy where harshness was needed. And so he fell into the way of that vile magic, and he practiced it, and it brought about his downfall. He paid the price for my misplaced tenderness. He died, horribly, and alone, and as a beast.

‘My lady, I loved Fitz, first as my friend’s son, and then as my friend. I loved him just as I love my own son now. And I will not lose another boy to that low magic. I will not.’ Only on the last words did his deep voice begin to shake. His hands knotted and unknotted and then clenched into fists at his side. He regarded them both through his misted eyes.

‘Burrich. Old friend.’ Chade’s voice was thick. ‘Long ago, you sent me word Fitz had perished. I doubted it then. I still do. How can you be sure of his death? Remember what he said to both of us. That he intended to go south, to Chalced and beyond Chalced. Perhaps he did as he said he would and — ’

‘No. He did not.’ Burrich’s hands went slowly to his throat. He unfolded his collar, and then from beneath it, he drew a small and shining thing. My heart turned over in my chest and tears flooded my eyes. He showed it to both of them, gleaming on his calloused palm. ‘Do you recognize it? It’s the pin King Shrewd gave him, when he claimed the boy as his own.’ He sniffed loudly, and cleared his throat. ‘When I found his body, Fitz was long dead. Many a creature had gnawed on him. But this was still there, in the collar of the shirt he died in. He died as an animal, fighting with beasts almost like himself. He was the son of a prince, the son of the finest man I ever knew and he died like a dog.’ He abruptly closed his hand around the stickpin. He spoke not a word as he refastened it into his collar.

I sat in the dark, behind the wall, my hand tight over my own mouth. I tried not to choke on my tears and betray myself. I must keep my secret. I must remain dead to him. Never had I thought what his assumption of my death might mean to him. I had little considered how much grief and guilt he might bear over how he supposed I had died. Burrich still believed that I had succumbed to the Wit, had reverted to an animalistic lifestyle, a beastman living in the woods until the Forged ones attacked and killed me. It was not so far from the truth. For a time I had retreated into being a wolf in a man’s body. But I had dragged myself up and out of that refuge, and forced myself to become a man again. When the Forged ones had raided my home and attacked me, I had fled. Days passed before I realized that I had left my precious pin behind. Burrich had found the body of a Forged one I had killed. The shirt with the pin thrust into the collar had been on that body. And so he had assumed it was mine. For all these years, it had suited my purposes to leave him in ignorance of my survival. I had thought it the kindest thing for all of us. He and Molly had found a love and a life together. To discover I still lived could only damage that bond between them. It must remain so. It must. In a numbed stillness, I stood and peered at the man who felt responsible for my death. He must continue to carry that guilt. I could not change it.

‘Burrich. I do not think you failed anyone.’ Kettricken spoke softly. ‘And I do not see the Wit as a flaw in your son. Leave him here with me. Please.’

Burrich shook his head slowly and heavily. ‘You would not say that if he were your son. If he walked daily in danger of folk discovering what he was.’

I saw Kettricken’s shoulders rise as she drew breath and knew she was about to tell him that her own son was Witted. Chade realized the danger as well, for he cut in smoothly with, ‘I see your point, Burrich. I do not agree with it, but I see it.’ He paused, then asked, ‘What will you do to the boy?’

Burrich stared at him. Then he gave a brief bark of laughter. ‘What? Do you fear I’ll tan the hide off him? No. I’ll take him home, and keep him well away from animals, and work him daily until he is so tired that he falls asleep before he gets into his bed at night. No worse than that. His mother’s tongue will probably flay him worse than a cane ever could. Nor will his sister easily forgive him for the worry he’s given us.’ Then suddenly he scowled more blackly than ever ‘Did the lad tell you he was in fear of life or limb from me? For that’s a lie, and he knows it, and for that he might get the back of my hand.’

‘He said nothing of the kind,’ Kettricken said quietly. ‘Only that he could not stand it any more, to live at home and be forbidden the Wit.’

Burrich snorted. ‘No one dies from being forbidden the Wit. There’s a loneliness to giving it up, and well do I know that. But no one dies from avoiding the Wit. Using the Wit is how one dies from it.’ Burrich rose abruptly from his chair. I heard his bad knee crack as he rose and saw him wince. ‘My lady, forgive me, but if I sit too long, I’ll stiffen, and this day’s ride home will be all the harder for me.’