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“Will swallowed despite the lump that now always blocked his throat, and with a flash of the insight that had given him Hamlet, William understood his Queen in return. Not the ragged, painted old woman before him, but the girl who had led a man like Francis Walsingham to beggar himself in her service, when with his dying breath he had known she could never show his gratitude. A woman who had given Kit Marley to the Faeries, when it would have been easier and safer to end his life and let him tumble into an unmarked grave. It doesn’t matter if Essex betrays her. It doesn’t matter what Scottish Mary did or did not know when she was led to the block. Elizabeth understands that every drop of blood stains her own hands. She knows. She knows she goes to judgment to face each life she’s wasted. And she’s always known. This is not a Prince who loves to kill.” — Elizabeth Bear