13. Deadlegs

Kinch and Galva accept a Galtish girl’s invitation into a vine-choked tower where gravity inverts beyond the threshold. After a brief, disorienting leap "up" onto the stair, they climb past eerie details—an eternally burning wasp and polished copper—toward a vast earthen hall guarded by a gray wolf.

They meet Guendra Na Galbraeth, Duchess of the Snowless Wood—called Deadlegs—who sits like a shabby queen before inverted torches. She conjures earthen chairs and floating gloves to serve wine and beer. Guendra recognizes Galva’s service to Infanta Mireya and welcomes them, but Galva withholds her true purpose from Kinch’s ears.

A squash-headed manservant arrives, his cart’s "tools" revealing themselves as a hanged man’s corpse from Maeth. The servant saws off the corpse’s legs while Guendra recounts a soporific pastoral tale. The rhythmic sawing and her voice lull Kinch toward sleep despite his unease.

As Kinch succumbs, Guendra reveals her nature: she detaches herself from a pair of enchanted, endlessly crossing legs, dragging her powerful torso by long arms toward the newly severed limbs. The squash-man collapses, his clothing spilling gourds as the animating spell ends. With Kinch asleep, Guendra turns to serious business with Galva.