The Poison Eaters_ And Other Stories Part 19

She looked at me and I couldn't tell what she was seeing. "Will you bury me here as well?"

I stammered, trying to come up with an answer. She was smarter than I had given her credit for. Of course, she would be caught and slain. Men were coming now from the baronies, I was sure, to avenge the murders of her two husbands.

"I will," I said.

She smiled shyly, but her eyes shone. "And will you tend my grave and the graves of my sisters? Will you bring us flowers and tell us stories?"

I said I would.

Cecily finished the graves for Mirabelle and for Alice. Each girl curled up at the bottom of the pits like pale whorls of fog and Cecily buried them with her hands.

I wished that she was a normal girl, that I might have taken her hand or pulled her to me to comfort her, but instead I left the garden, chased by my own cowardice.

The next day, she put on her wedding gown, long white gloves, and dressed her own hair. At the wedding, she was called Cecily, and she promised to be my good and faithful wife. And she was. The best and most faithful of all my wives.

There was a feast with many toasts, one after the next. The king's face was red with drinking and laughter, but he would not look at me, even when he drank to my health. As a dish of almond tarts was pa.s.sed, Cecily rose and lifted her own gla.s.s. She walked to where her father and the King sat together.

"I want to toast," she said and the a.s.sembled company fell silent. It is not the normal way of things for a bride to speak.

"I would thank my father, who made me, and the King, who also had a hand in my making." With those words, she leaned down and took her father's face in her hands and pressed her lips to his. He struggled, but her grip was surprisingly firm. I wondered what her mouth felt like.

"Farewell, Father," she said. He fell back upon his chair, choking. She laughed, not with mirth or even mockery, but something that was closer to a sob. "You crafted me so sharp, I cut even myself."

The King looked puzzled as she turned and took his hand in hers. He must have been very drunk, now that he thought himself safe from me. Certainly he wore no gloves. He pulled his fingers free with such force that he knocked over his wine. The pinkish tide spread across the white tablecloth as he died.

They shot her, of course. The guards. Eventually she even fell.

Yes, I suppose I embellished the story in places and perhaps I was a little dramatic, but that hardly matters. What does matter is that after they shot her I had her carried out to the garden-carefully, ever so carefully-and buried beside her sisters.

From each grave bloomed a plant covered in thorns, with petals like velvet. Its flowers are quite poisonous, too, but you already know that. Yes, the very plant you tried to poison me with. I knew its scent well-acrid and heavy-too well not to notice it in this golden cup you gave me, even mixed with cider.

In a few minutes the servants will come and unbind you. Surprised? Ah, well, a father ought to have a few surprises for his only son. You will make a fine king, Paul. And for myself, I will take this beautiful goblet, bring it to my lips and drink. Talking as much as I have makes me thirsty.

I have left instructions as to where I would like to be buried. No, not near your mother, as much as I was occasionally fond of her. Beside the flowers in the west garden. You know the ones.

Perhaps I should take the gag from your mouth so that you might protest your innocence, exclaim your disbelief, tell your father goodbye. But I do not think I will. I find I rather appreciate the silence.

Acknowledgments.

Holly would like to thank Steve Berman, Kelly Link, and Ca.s.sandra Clare for reading and commenting on the stories. She would also like to thank the editors of the anthologies in which they originally appeared. Lastly, she'd like to thank Kelly and Gavin for their encouragement and enthusiasm in putting together this book.

Also by Holly Black

Modern Faerie Tales

t.i.the

Valian

Ironside

The Curse Workers

White Cat

Red Glove (forthcoming) (forthcoming)

Black Heart (forthcoming) (forthcoming)

The Good Neighbors (with Ted Naifeh)

Kit

Kin

Kind (forthcoming) (forthcoming)

Anthologies

Geektastic: Stories of the Nerd Herd, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (forthcoming) edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (forthcoming)

For Younger Readers

The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi)

The Field Guide

The Seeing Stone

Lucinda's Secret

The Ironwood Tre

The Wrath of Mulgarath

Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi)

The Nixie's Song

A Giant Problem

The Wyrm King

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (with Tony DiTerlizzi) (with Tony DiTerlizzi)

The Care and Feeding of Sprites (with Tony DiTerlizzi) (with Tony DiTerlizzi)