Page 80 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
I looked from her to the rock and back again.
She couldn’t lie.
So I sat and let Fluffy put her head in my lap, and haltingly at first, I poured out the story.
It looped and stumbled, clumsy, and somehow I started much earlier than I’d intended, back at Mama and Papa’s deaths. The Lady of the Lake only nodded and listened.
The moon was past its zenith by the time I talked myself into silence. The lake had gone smooth as glass and reflected the stars and the trees on the far shore. As I took long breaths, throat sore from speaking so much, I realised a weight I’d carried for years had disappeared as if carried away on the water.
“Thank you,” I said to her at last.
With a touch and a whisper, she lit the stone I’d made. Its silvery light gleamed on her hair and pale skin. “It’s a more than fair exchange.” She nodded and glided away towards the lake’s centre. “Remember, little minnow, I grow tired of the conversation of fish. You’re welcome to keep me company any time the moon is high.”
The last thing I saw before she sank beneath the surface was a smile.
Final Wish
Ilet Luna set her own pace back to the stable yard and removed her tack before leaving her in a stall with fresh food. I might’ve befriended a Lady of the Lake, but it didn’t get me any closer to breaking the Tithe.
“It’s your fault,” I grumbled at Fluffy, scratching her behind the ears.
Her eyes flared, and her tongue lolled.
I snorted and scratched even harder. “You’re not even sorry, are you?”
As I trudged to the house and along the corridor from the back door, Fluffy stuck to my side, ears pricking. “What’s—?”
“Where have you been?” Boyd stood in the front entrance, his russet hair in disarray.
Sylvie looked up from the bench beside him, silvery brown face pale.
The one time I did anything brave as a child, I’d ended up falling out of a tree. My stomach felt exactly like that now, dropping to my feet. Fluffy let out a soft whine.
“What’s wrong?” I glanced around the hall. There was no sign of Lysander. It should’ve been a comfort.
“Don’t you worry yourself.” Boyd sneered, eyes bright. “You’re free to go now. He won’t be coming back from there. No one does.”
“Leave her alone,” Sylvie snapped. “This isn’t her fault.”
He wheeled on her. “Isn’t it?” He jerked his head to me. “How do we know she didn’t sabotage that suit? Shut away in that room… All that sewing… Do we really know what she stitched into it?” He huffed, jaw rippling. “I told you humans couldn’t be trusted.”
I blinked from him to her and back again, lips tingling. “Sabotage…”He won’t be coming back from there.“Where is Ly?”
Boyd’s jaw worked, but he wouldn’t even meet my gaze, never mind reply.
Sylvie slouched over her knees, head bowing. “He went after the seed. His stag returned half an hour ago. Goren has him.”
A dull roar rose in my ears.
“He left this.” All the fight apparently burnt out of him, Boyd held out a sealed letter. “Said to give it to you at midnight if he didn’t return.”
In Ly’s elegant script:Ariadne.
I stared at it, the roaring growing louder. If he died, the Tithe would be void and I’d be free. I could leave. I finally had what I wanted.
But instead of light and free, I was lead.
“At least do him the service of reading it.” Boyd’s voice wavered. That brightness in his eyes—he was close to tears.
