"Cookie’s hands are so delicate, almost too fragile for this world, but why do yours seem especially so? Haven’t the witches already laid enough curses upon him? Or is it that some unseen burden still lingers? Perhaps, if it were to place a gentle kiss upon the wound, it might soothe the pain and coax it into healing. But you know well it will never be enough, and yet this time a gentle lie feels far kinder than the cruel truth.”