Delilah’s mother changed targets, pitching her voice for sympathy. “Your Majesty, no one is blaming the child. We only mean that if witch blood keeps rousing the cub…”
“You will stop there,” I said. “Neither my daughter’s bloodline nor her mother is up for you to judge.”
The Queen Mother pressed her lips thin. Delilah’s father looked at his shoes. The room cooled.
Anderson waited at the door long enough to be seen waiting, then allowed Rowan to lead him out. Delilah didn’t speak. She watched me as if patience might earn her a smile I didn’t have.
When the last elder stepped through the arch, my mother tried once more. “If the woman’s presence endangers the girl, I suggest…”
“Your suggestions are not needed. She isn’t endangering her,” I said. “She stabilized her when no one else could
