One Dark Window

He was the hunter, and I the prey.

I extended my hand. “You’re forgiven. On one condition.”
The invisible string tugged the corner of his mouth. “What’s that?”
When our hands touched, heat moved into my cheeks. “Call me Elspeth,” I said. “We’re about to commit treason together, after all.”

Death by a thousand cuts, he groaned

“We needn’t be afraid of a little salt in the air.”

I looked up at him from a heap on the floor, cheeks red, guilty as sin.

The same calloused thumb that had slid over my knuckles in Ravyn’s chamber caught the tear on my cheek—dragged it away. It was gone in a moment. His voice drifted past my ear. “Come.”

I glanced up at him. “What about you, Captain? Are you too nice for your own good?”

He watched me, something I could not read flashing in his gray eyes. “No, Miss Spindle,” he said. “I’m not nice at all.”

The air around me thinned. I blinked, trying to stave off the darkness, like a child fighting sleep. Promise me you’ll help Ravyn. Promise me you’ll save Emory.

It’s time, dear one, he purred, lulling me to rest.

Promise!

He sighed. I promise to help the Yews in all their endeavors.

I closed my eyes, a final whisper escaping my lips. The story—our story. The Nightmare’s and mine. “There once was a girl,” I said, “clever and good, who tarried in shadow in the depths of the wood. There also was a King—a shepherd by his crook, who reigned over magic and wrote the old book. The two were together, so the two were the same…”

The last thing I heard before I was buried in darkness was the Nightmare’s silky laugh, wicked and absolute. The girl, the King… and the monster they became.

The Spirit has no forgiveness, no pardon to lend. She calls out our names, neither kin, foe, nor friend. She watches the mist like a shepherd its sheep…

And pays those she snares with the great, final sleep.

To be wary is to be keen—

Keen of those who may use magic for wrong.

To be clever is to be wise—

Wise not to use the Cards too often.

To be good is to be reverent—

Reverent of balance—of the salt in the air—of the Spirit of the Wood.

Be wary. Be clever. Be good.