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Ileana, astonished.
    â€œNope,” we all said at once.
    â€œMine abandoned me when she saw how cute andfurry I was,” said Wolf, lolling his tongue in a half smile, but I knew it kind of hurt his feelings.
    His mom had taken one look at baby Wolf and sent him adrift in a basket down the river. Talk about poor parenting skills. That’s probably why Wolf had a soft spot for that drowning human kid all those years ago. Anyway, Big Bad Wolf Senior found out about it, fished Wolf out of the river just in the nick of time, and raised him as a villain.
    â€œWhat about you, Dodge?” asked Ileana. “Where’s your mom?”
    â€œUh, mine uh … got her head chopped off,” said Dodge.
    We all looked at him in shock. Even for a villain, that was kind of gruesome.
    â€œWhat?” he asked, playing with his bootlace again. “Construction accident.”
    â€œHow did your mom die?” Ileana asked me.
    â€œDie? I don’t think she died,” I said.
    â€œSo, she’s still alive? Out there somewhere?”
    â€œI guess.” Now
I
was fidgeting with my bootlace.
    â€œDon’t you want to find her? To meet her?” Ileana pressed.
    â€œWhat for?” I asked, feeling weirdly angry.
    â€œShe’s your mother!” Ileana said. “How did you end up with your dad?”
    â€œI don’t know!” I snapped. “I suppose she gave meup. Or maybe Dad stole me out of my frilly blue crib. Who cares? The point is I’m a villain, and this is where I belong.”
    I quit fidgeting with my boots and folded my arms across my chest again.
    â€œSo let me get this straight,” said Ileana. “You don’t know who your mom is or how you ended up here with your dad?”
    â€œShe has a point, Rune,” said Jezebel. “I mean, most of us at least
know
what happened to our non-villain parents.”
    â€œAre you seriously taking her side?”
    I was feeling crabbier by the second, but I still didn’t know exactly why. I just didn’t want to talk about my mom, whoever she was.
    â€œNo! I just think it is kind of weird you don’t know anything about your mom,” said Jez.
    â€œYour dad never told you anything?” Ileana asked.
    â€œHave you
met
my dad? He’s not exactly chatty.”
    â€œWe have to find out who she is,” said the princess.
    â€œWhat?” I asked, looking up suddenly. I was really cranky now. I mean, it was
my
mom. Why was Ileana all up in my face about it?
    â€œI’ll help,” said Wolf Junior.
    â€œMe too. I’d like to know who she is,” said Jezebel.
    â€œHey! I know a quick way to find out!” said Dodge,suddenly sounding much livelier than he had in weeks. “That crystal ball in Master Dreadthorn’s study!”
    â€œWhat!” I said in alarm.
    â€œRune has a key,” said Dodge, pointing at me. “We could sneak in and—”
    â€œHold on! No way!” I said. “If he finds out, he’ll blame me! He’ll skin me alive!”
    â€œBut—” said Ileana.
    â€œNo! End of subject!” I said, standing up suddenly and dusting off my cloak.
    â€œFine,” said the princess as she, too, stood up and straightened out her gown, but I thought she’d given up too easily. I glared at her, trying to see if she meant it or if she was just playing me.
    The party kind of wound down after that. We bundled up our supplies, put out the torches, and made our way back to the Great Clock.
    â€œSee you guys tomorrow,” I mumbled, feeling angry and tired and some other emotion that I hardly ever experienced: sad.
    â€œRune, wait. I wanted to tell you something,” said Jezebel, reaching out her pale hand and touching my sleeve. “It’s important.”
    â€œI’m not really in the mood, Jez,” I said, shrugging her off.
    And it was true. Talking about my mom had kindof depressed me. I’d never really