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“Yes, of course.” An all-too-clever smirk curled at the corners of his mouth. “I am their liege lord after all. I know everything that holds still long enough to be counted in my lands.”

“Why?”

“Why do I know?”

“No. Why did you want me to see it?”

“Because, my lady Pearl, you see with human eyes. But you do not see the threads beneath the loom. Only the hand that guides the shuttle. It was time you learned of who and what the Fae are beyond the rot of the palace.”

I snorted a little and let the cool water from the well wash down my neck and hands. Green Man handed me a length of rosemary wood. I would kill for a real toothbrush, but the rosemary wood the Fae used instead had grown on me. I rinsed my mouth and began chewing.

Jackdaw stepped free of her shack and stretched as if nothing had happened, and we hadn’t spent most of the night talking, joining us at the well as she tended to her morning ablutions as well.

“Can you give us a moment?” Brittle Spear asked my human companions. They looked at me, and I nodded, and they fell away to return to their shacks. His gaze turned on Jackdaw, who watched with mild interest as she washed her hands. “I appreciate your hospitality, little bird.”

Her brows rose, nearly flying off her face at the familiarity in his voice. “I took you for just another straggler. Who are you?”

“Overlooked, when I wish to be.” He smirked and exhaled. The trees around us swayed, and leaves fell around him, gathering in his dark hair and perching atop his head in the shape of a crown.

“My liege,” Jackdaw exhaled as she went to one knee.

“Oh, get up, little bird. No need to put on airs around the new girl.” He chuckled and helped her to her feet, where they embraced in a tight hug.

“How? How did you manage to get past my wards without me knowing? Why didn’t you say something? I fed an Ard Tiarna scrap stew!”

He chuckled—a deep, bellied laugh—and pulled her into another, more gentle hug. “I told you a long time ago that you could weave whatever alerts you wanted, but I would walk my own lands where and when I wanted to and be known only when and where I wanted to be.”

“And yet I swore I got it right this time.”

“If it soothes your bruised ego, know that two of my scouts returned worse for wear from tangling with your traps.”

She beamed with pride just as he had expected.

“Your man needs retraining. He sought to enter my village by moonlight.”

“I train them specifically not to expect such traps as you lay, Jackdaw. Per our agreement of sanctuary.”

“It has been a long while since you graced our territory, my lord.”

“Do you expect I would make myself a nuisance after the last reception I had?”

“You trespassed.”

“I was bringing supplies to ward off the blood harvest blight!” He scoffed in mock frustration.

“You needn’t have. We had shipments arriving.”

He scowled deep and long at her, as if casting doubt on whether they truly would have been fine had he not intervened. “Nevertheless, I see you are doing well now. Does White Throat still spy on you?”

A devious grin pulled her lips up. “Of course. He skulks about my forests and thinks I do not see him.”

“You have grown to be a mighty illusion weaver, Jackdaw.” He pulled the girl into a bear hug that popped two of her vertebrae. “A mighty illusion weaver and an absolute brat.”

“I had the best teacher.”

“And you’re careful to let him see you when he comes?”

“Every single time. He thinks he has me trapped out there. That I am all alone and easy for the pickings when he wants.”