Jadis trained the first of her witches, her coven stretched through time, far back when the world was still young; with the power of a silver apple and an obsidian knife, she whispered the Deplorable Word into the ear of the aging Queen Helen and granted her endless life. Across the centuries, this secret--this gift--this responsibility has been handed down until at last it reaches Jill Pole.

“It will hurt,” the Lady warns, speaking not of the blade but of the weight of accumulated years; Jill, young and already aching from the betrayal of her closest friend, does not care.