- That she is jealous when she sees the burn left by the lightsaber-of-faith is all but outright stated in the narration. Except Harry thinks she's a hint jealous at Harry for having been at the receiving end.
- From Mab's perspective, however, Harry just disappeared for a good long while without revealing why, only to come back with two powerful allies (in the form of the Knights of the Cross), in better control of the powers of the Winter Mantle (even the more occult ones) than he's ever been, and with maaayyybeeee a few other things. Butters and Harry were directly blasted by the eye of Balor later, and fine. Sanya is the key ally in Harry's defense strategy involving the citizens of Chicago.
- This also appears to be the mark left where Harry is missing a chunk of his self because it was cut away by Fidelacchius - which mark will probably show that he came by it when he reached into the blade voluntarily. There is no neon sign saying that this was more or less the equivalent of emergency surgery and Harry is glad to be rid of it (because it was the part that wanted to kill Rudolph for causing Murphy's death); and Mab knows that it "only cuts the wicked" against their will. There is also nothing that advertises the fact that Harry did qualify as wicked in Fidelacchius' books in that moment; and Harry reached into it to show he wouldn't be hurt (which was a mistaken assumption).
- So, all in all, this may look to Mab like a quid-pro-quo indicating some deal with the Knights of the Cross' boss (which actually it wasn't): piece of self in exchange for a tacit allegiance during the titular battle. And she is jealous of that supposed deal - because Harry is her Winter Knight and never offered her an exchange like this. Also bear in mind that the thing that draws her attention to that cut is Harry thinking about how its presence reassures him of something. Something related to having help. And the Winter Mantle can't influence anything to do with that cut/burn mark. And speaking of which: who knows whether there weren't negotiations about help with getting out of that whole Winter Mantle thing while they were at it hashing out the fine print of this deal?
- Harry also later does a few things that would make sense as an additional upholding of his side of that covert allegiance, but wouldn't otherwise have an overt purpose from Mab's perspective in and of themselves: escort the kids from the daycare center to safety, help reconcile Molly with her family, and look for Justine and her baby to make sure they are alright.
- There's also been a subtle but running theme throughout the last few books that, somewhere underneath one of the most terrifying defenders the Earth has ever known, is someone who used to be mortal, once. Who still loves her daughters. Who has "buried a score of lovers." Who, maybe, is just a tiny bit jealous because Harry still has a soul to be damaged.
- For a really wild guess: there are hints that could not only be read as "Mab once was mortal" - but as "Mab once was Nimue", Merlin's apprentice/lover.
- "...I am the infected wound..."
That definitely doesn't sound good coming from someone (Justine) who's just busied themselves about one of Harry's injuries, does it? By sheer blind luck it was the cut/burn mark left by Fidelacchius mentioned in the WMG above; and it stands to reason that something that the Winter Mantle can't affect is impervious to Nemesis, too. Then there's the additional fact that Harry is a starborn. Still... some future plot point may yet come of it.
Now let's look at the death itself. It seems to me that Rudolph did not intend to kill Murph, it was an accident due to established poor trigger discipline... which is very reminiscent of the other powerful entropy curse we've seen, the malocchio, when it was wielded by competent practitioners instead of a porn drama queen (a round that went wide from its intended target to kill the curse's target instead).
Moreover, that bullet killed Murphy (who Nicky had good reason to hate), and hurt Harry (whom Nicky hates even more) in a way that would not give official offense to Mab (Murphy being unaffiliated with Winter, and sappy emotional pain being low on Mab's official give-a-fuck list). And it nearly drove Harry over to the dark side, enough to willingly and purposefully kill a defenseless human using magic — a straight-up, deliberate violation of the Laws of Magic, which Harry had never done before (he broke the First Law once, but only in self-defense and while ignorant of the Laws).Finally, what did it take to walk Harry back from the ledge? Two (not one, two, the whole active roster) Knights of the Cross, one of which showing up with suspiciously convenient timing... And a heavy-handed direct hit from one of the Swords itself.
- Note that the biggest objections to the guess would be "Why now?" and "Wouldn't Harry have felt the curse?", and the answer to each would have been the same: There was so much magic on the night of battle, the curse would barely stand out from the background "noise", kind of like hiding a gunshot in a thunderstorm. That's probably the first occasion Nicky would have had to use his curse covertly since Skin Game, and I don't see a post-Skin Game Nick, stripped of his support and scared shitless as he is, attacking Harry or his associates openly.
- As someone wrote on the Headscratchers page: at the end of Peace Talks, Ebenezer kills Harry('s doppelganger), (even if it was unintentionally). But in this book, which is part of the same day, not only are they talking to each other, Ebenezer can still occasionally smile at Harry, and they can pat each other on the shoulder in appreciation.
- Would the unintentional killing in question satisfy the curse? The Exact Words of it as explained by Shiro are "... unless someone else takes [the intended target's] place" - which is expressis verbis the purpose of a doppelganger. Who dies in Harry's place.
Finally, having Chandler scrabble his way back from the arse-end of some alternate dimension would be undeniably badass, and Jim Butcher sure does love his badass.
