Melody carelessly wiped the sleeve of her dress across her nose, a particularly graceless motion that she would've been horrified by in any other scenario. But what did snot on the sleeve of her already filthy dress matter in light of what had happened to Lucy? Mercifully, she hadn't been present for Lucy's final breaths, but she'd seen enough to know Lucy suffered. It wasn't the gentle death they believed prescribed to all women of their station. It was horrific, and Lucy was dead.

"Alive, for now." Melody answered in her continued quiet tone. "A boy, named for Ace's father. The healers are optimistic." Which was something, she supposed. At least something of Lucy would survive in the boy, even if he knew nothing of his mother. "I went to have tea with her, and she was in obvious discomfort. But she made me wait to call the healers...do you think...is this...did I do this to her?" The last of her questions were asked in a mere whisper, as though she hadn't yet contemplated the answers herself. Tears she didn't register began to stream down her cheeks once more. "Is this my fault?"