It was harder than I thought to confess everything to Ethpeal, but it was time she knew the truth and I couldn't afford to hold anything back, not even my own mistakes and missteps. Ethpeal didn't judge, simply sat on her bed and listened to me carefully as I filled her in on all of the troubles her mother caused-those I suspected and those I knew of for certain-since Thaddea's death. If she blamed me for anything she didn't show it, and it was quite some time after my story came to ...