Page 41 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
“The end.” Ly closed the book. “Sorry, they’re all rather tragic. I’ll find something more cheerful next time.”
My muscles ached from pouring my strength into my gift, and I’d stopped sewing some time ago, simply watching the pinkish orange flames in the hearth. “Is that true? That the Lady of the Lake can give a human a True Name? I didn’t think we had them.”
True Names were power. Every faerie had one, and knowing it could grant you power over them. Lysander wasn’t his True Name, or else I could’ve ordered him to take me home.
I’d never heard of a human having one, but the story had made it sound as though knowing her True Name had granted the woman power overherself.
“I don’t know.” He raised a shoulder and drank his whisky. “Perhaps? There’s another version of the story where the cunning woman says all humans have True Names, it’s just they aren’t born knowing them as we are.”
“If that was true, why wouldn’t everyone just go and ask the Lady of the Lake?”
He scoffed and swirled his drink, offering to top up mine, to which I shook my head. “Well, for one thing there isn’t onlyoneLady of the Lake, there are seven of them, sisters. But they’re all difficult to find, at least for humans. There are none left south of the wall. Then there’s the matter of wanting something so utterly.” He paused, glass pressed against his lower lip as he watched the fire. “I’m not sure that’s as easy as it sounds. Have you ever wanted something with every fibre of your being and soul?”
To go home. But I’d already made that clear and I didn’t want another argument, so I just shrugged.
“Besides”—his mouth quirked—“the whole thing might be nothing more than a story.”
But if it wasn’t just a story… If I could get my True Name, that power could be enough to break the Tithe. He’d know what I was up to if I askedwherethe Ladies of the Lake were. I’d have to make subtle enquiries. He’d already said I could help myself to the library.
I would start there.
A Boon
The next day, I found nothing in the library, save for a vague explanation: “Knowing another’s True Name grants power over them. Knowing your True Name, grants mastery over yourself.”
But I did join the others for lunch and dinner. Ly was quiet and stiff, and Sylvie kept throwing him glances, her eyebrows raised as if asking a question. Eventually, once everyone was finished and the plates disappeared from the table with apop, he leant close. “We have guests visiting for Calan Mai.”
The festival wasn’t for another month or so. It seemed like innocuous news, and yet his hands fisted, knuckles whitening.
Perhaps my presence made that a problem. Did other fae know about the Tithe and were expecting to find him married to the human he’d brought back? Had I made him look weak? “I can… keep out of the way, if that’s what you’re trying to—”
“No, no.” He gave a short, sharp shake of his head. “That’s not…” Exhaling through his nose, he stood. “Come.”
Sylvie and Hil shared a glance as we left and Boyd pursed his lips. His golden eyes, sharp and cold, made me shiver.
Apparently unaware of Boyd’s disapproval, Ly led me back to the workroom. “Some more supplies have arrived.”
I frowned as he held the door open for me. “I have everything I need for your suit.”
“Yes, but I couldn’t resist adding these to the order. They took a little while to source but…” He glanced at me, then away, half a smile on his lips—the smile I might’ve called shy. “I thought you might enjoy them.”
Since I’d left the room just over an hour ago, more rolls of fabric had appeared in the stands, and… I let out a low breath. Where the bookshelves had been empty, they now glinted and glittered with dozens, maybe even a hundred corked jars and phials, each filled with…
I went closer, unable to take my eyes away from the colours.So manycolours. Crystals and jewels of crimson and scarlet, emerald and olive green, aqua and deep, dark teal, jet-black and slate grey. Chips and flakes of gold, copper, and silver. White moonstone flashed green and blue as the light shifted. Its dark counterpart, labradorite, gleamed with gold, green, and blue iridescence.
An apothecary of embellishment.
“Did you see the drawers?” he asked from the doorway.
A wide set of shallow drawers sat beneath the cutting table and when I opened them, I let out a low sigh.
The finest lace I’d ever seen, some black, some white, some shimmering with metallic thread, some in deep jewel tones. The concoctions I could create with this and the jewels.
Head spinning with possibilities, I wandered to the fabric rolls, but I couldn’t touch them.
So much. I covered my mouth and shook my head.Toomuch. It was… I didn’t deserve… “What’s it all for?” Gods knew why, but my voice cracked.
In silence, he appeared at my side, close enough that I could smell him, feel his warmth. “For you, of course. It’s all for you.”
