As if struck by lightning the bells stopped . The horse vanished , and he was standing on smoke and mist . Joanna disappeared in a shroud of white fog , the stables was consumed by nothingness , silence ruled as his mind became numb and blank . Her words had stunned him , removed him from the world itself and Tybolt was alone with the baby . Carefully he unfolded the many layers of cloth that shielded it from the cold , working slowly as to not hurt it ot himself with his broken nails . It looked like any other child . The tuff of black hair , the red skin , the closed eyes , the little hand grasping for whatever it could find . Tybolt held the child , and could not phantom what to do , what to say or feel . His throat choked up when he tried to speak , his fingers became numb when grasping the reins . The world returned once more , the precense of the horses and their smell , the burning of the torches , the coldness of the walls , but Tybolt did not come back , not in full . The full extent of the situation hit him like a battering ram , and he felt broken inside . A war raged within him , anger fighting sadness , joy battling confusion , hate destroying his last remaining sympathies . But there was no love in his heart , not for the boy , nor its mother . Only , he could feel her affection , her capacity for good . She cared for him , both of them , and Tybolt could not understand why . And he was spent , so utterly spent the only thing that prevented him from tumbling off the horse was its size , its strength that could just as well have been bedrock . As much as he loathed it he nodded , held the child tight to him . Lead then . was all he said .