[ John sees it in him: the sharp-edged fascination, the fixation of a man who could make himself a problem. He surrounds himself with people like this. What it stirs in him is one part sensible dread, three parts caught interest, like a man watching a storm brewing far offshore. ]

There was some infighting. The queen died in childbirth, I think, and her partner was never really sold on it. They call her Mother Mercy, but I hear she has a rough history. She killed the girl to stop the plot, but [ he spreads his hands to indicate Trench around them ] that didn't quite pan out.

If the new guard has an opinion on her, I haven't heard it. It's treated like a legend, now, which mostly means you have to dig through a lot of old books and old Sleepers to get the story.