The Shepherd King 
by Rachel Gillig

Prepare yourself... Elspeth spends her time floating in the darkness in the waves that wash over her. All she can think are three words: let me out. But there is nothing until there is a man in golden armor watches her from shore as the tide brings her in. She yells at him to let her out. He pulls her from the water and tells her that he’s been waiting for her. Ravyn woke in the night and remembered what Elspeth said about the chamber in the woods. Taking the Mirror, he went to dig at the base of the stone. His hands bleed as he digs still, but finally he comes across something hard and cold. A sword. Underneath it, he sees a human skeleton. He realizes that everything Elspeth told him was real, that the soul of the Shepherd King is inside her body. He stumbles outside to throw up under a yew tree. Then he sees the girl in the tree. He asks who she is and she responds that she is Tilly. Why is she in the tree? She’s waiting, just as she always has. He remembers now that he’s still using the Mirror Card, he’s never used it for too long because he’s never wanted to speak to a ghost. That was, until now. He asks Tilly who she waits for, but she doesn’t answer, just looks at the sword and then to the chamber. Ravyn asks if she knows who is buried there and she does. She supposes that Ravyn has heard of him. Her father was good, clever, wary. He was not given a king’s burial. She asks if Ravyn has seen her father with the Mirror Card. He had promised his family that he would find them once he passed through the veil, but he has not come yet. It is him that they all wait for: his wife and his sons: Ilyc, Afton, Fenly, and Lenor. Bennett did not die here with the rest of them, he’s often elsewhere. Tilly tells Ravyn that she thought she heard her father’s voice recently. It was when the woman came to the chamber alone that Tilly thought she heard her father humming the songs that he used to write his book. Ravyn asks what happened to her father, but Tilly doesn’t answer. She doesn’t know how he died, Tilly was caught first. She died before her father or brothers. Ravyn already knows who killed her, the Rowans. She explains to Ravyn that they’ve waited a long time, but they’ll keep waiting for her father until his task is finished. Until he rights terrible wrongs and frees Blunder. Until he collects what is due to him. Elm rides with two other Destriers to Hawthorn house. They are looking for Elsbeth’s missing family members. They are looking for her Uncle Tyrn’s Cards. The two other Destriers don’t know that the night that Elspeth broke Hauth, Ravyn had placed her father Erik and Uncle Tyrn under arrest and in chains while Jespyr rode to Hawthorn house to warn Opal, and Opal was smart enough to get her children out of the house and not come back. At the same time, Elm had used his Scythe to compel Elspeth’s stepmother and half-sisters, and her cousin Ione, to disappear. They had vanished in the night. The other Destriers look for Tyrn’s Cards and find a few, Elm goes through Elspeth’s room. He’s there when Ione walks behind him. She shouldn’t be there! The other Destriers come up behind her and grab their swords, but Elm compels them with his Scythe to continue looking for the Cards. He explains to Ione what happened with Hauth and Elspeth, that Hauth has a broken spine and is barely alive. The King is out for blood and Ione will now have to come to Stone with him. She is cold and calm, and he realizes that she has been using the Maiden for too long. But she has her charm around her neck so she can ride through the mist, so Elm helps her onto his horse and rides with her to Stone. She doesn’t look back. Elspeth sits next to the man in gold armor on the shore. They watch the water together and he tells her that his name is Aemmory Percyval Taxus. She doesn’t remember who he is, but he tells her that she will. A while later, he disappears for a bit. When he comes back, he begins to tell her their story. Ravyn goes to the dungeons. The King has called for Elsbeth to be brought to his room, to be questioned in private with the Chalice Card. Once he is in front of Elsbeth’s cell, he can see the Nightmare in the way that she stands, he can hear him in the way that she speaks. It is not quite Elsbeth, even though it is her body and her voice. He uses his Nightmare Card, but he can’t hear Elspeth, all he senses is saltwater. He explains to the Nightmare that the King wants to see her, but Ravyn wants two things before they go. And he wants the truth, no riddles or games. He asks if the Nightmare really is the Shepherd King, to which the Nightmare answers that he was called that. But Elspeth called him the Nightmare because she saw him for what he truly was. Yes, he knows where the Twins Alders Card is and he will take Ravyn to it. He explains that the Twin Alders is the only Card of its kind, and the Spirits of the Woods guards it. Nothing comes for free; she will require a price to be paid for the Card. But Ravyn is prepared to pay whatever he must. When he does, the Card will be his. Not the King’s. The second thing Ravyn wants is for the Nightmare to agree not to hurt the King when he’s brought to him. The King has not yet agreed to allow him to go look for the Twin Alders Card, so he needs to be on his best behavior. The Nightmare agrees and his cuffed before being brought to the King’s chambers. On their way, the Nightmare explains to Ravyn that he was not always in Elspeth’s mind. He had created a space where he could go to hide the things that he wanted to forget, and to give Elspeth a break if needed. And to give himself a break when she was thinking about Ravyn. Ravyn tries to reach Elm with his Nightmare Card but gets no answer. When Ravyn arrives at the King’s room, the chamber is empty. The King is in Hauth’s room with Filick Willow and a bunch of other Physicians, as well as Jespyr. The King is drunk. He has been in Hauth’s room for days trying to reach Hauth, but Hauth is unreachable even with the Nightmare Card. Not only is Hauth’s back broken, but so is his mind. His eyes are unseeing. Ravyn brings the King and the Chalice back to the King’s chambers, and Elspeth is questioned. The Nightmare explains that he was there when the Twin Alders Card disappeared, that’s how he knows where it is. When the King asks if Ravyn knew that Elspeth had the infection, the Nightmare answers that the Ravyn knew nothing of the magic until it was too late. Ravyn realizes that the Cards do not work on the Nightmare. The King also wants to know if Elspeth’s magic was kept secret from her father. Elspeth responds that her magic was always a secret, from everyone. The King agrees to release Emory Yew that very night if Elspeth just tells him where the Twin Alders Card is. She tells him that the journey will need three bargains. The first at a dark lake. The second at the neck of a wood where you cannot turn back. And the third in a place with no time. Elm and Ione head back to Stone before the other Destriers, who are still at Hawthorn house. He is watching Ione and looking at the effects of the Maiden Card. He had always seen Ione, he always thought she was beautiful. Her smiles were so bright and genuine. But now she is colder, more controlled because of the Maiden. He’s too busy looking at Ione to notice the highwaymen blocking the road. He is forced to stop his horse, then put his hands in the air, one of the men has a short bow aimed at him. If Elm reaches for his Scythe, they will shoot him and Ione both. But Ione reaches behind her into Elm’s pocket to take the Scythe for herself. She taps it as one of the highwaymen comes forward and grabs her thigh. She forces the highwayman with the bow to shoot him in the throat. The man who touched her yanks both Ione and Elm off the horse as he falls. Once they’re free of the highwayman’s body, Elm runs for the highwayman with the sword, beating the man until he’s unconscious. Elm turns to find himself face-to-face with the bow as the last highwayman asks for his Scythe. Unfortunately, Elm doesn’t have it to give. Ione uses the Scythe to make him kill himself. Elm pulls the bodies into the woods - the one he beat is not dead, just unconscious. He tries to get the Scythe back from Ione, but she wants him to pay for it. When he comes toward her, she places him under the Card’s control and he’s unable to move. In order to get the Card back, Elm needs to convince his father to give Ione free rein of Stone. He agrees to help (under duress), though he’s not sure how he’s going to do it. She hands the Scythe back to him and he tells her never to use it on him again. But she doesn’t want his Card. She wants balance. She saved his life and now it’s his turn to save hers. Elspeth begins to remember snippets. Taxus leaves her at that point, telling her she will be safe here to remember. She wants him to let her out and he says he will soon. She starts to remember people, names, the day that she went with Ione to her father’s house. The day that she met highwaymen on the Forest Road. It starts to rain as Elm and Ione travel to Stone. They get soaked and by the time they reach the castle, Ione is practically frozen. Instead of taking her directly to the dungeons, Elm takes her to his room to warm up first. On the way they’re spotted by Linden. Linden is Hauth’s closest friend, if Hauth is capable of having friends. Once in his room, Elm changes out of his wet clothes and then helps Ione change out of her wet dress before he’s contacted by Ravyn and his Nightmare Card. Soon enough, Ravyn shows up at Elm’s room and is surprised to find Ione in it. Elm explains that Ione was at Hawthorn house and seen by the other Destriers, he had no choice but to bring her to Stone. He doesn’t know why she was there; she must not have been at Spindle House when he compelled the others to leave, and he couldn’t use his Scythe to get her to leave today with the other Destriers there. Linden shows up and tells Ravyn that Jespyr is returning Elspeth to her cell, the King would like Linden to use the Chalice while Erik and Tyrn are questioned. Linden also volunteered to bring Ione to the King, since he saw her return with Elm to the castle. Ravyn needs the King to trust him, especially with his marked attachment to Elsbeth, so he tells Linden to lead the way. On the way, Ravyn speaks to Elm’s mind. Elm tells Ravyn that Ione saved his life when they met the highwaymen on the road. Ravyn tries to talk sense into Elm. Ione will likely not leave the dungeon. Don’t be turned by a pretty face and try to protect her from the King. How ironic, how many times did warn Ravyn not to trust Elsbeth. Ione is brought before the King and put in chains. Ravyn stands on one side of the King, Elm is given Hauth’s usual place on the King’s other side. It appears he got a promotion. Tyrn and Erik are brought out and stand on either side of Ione. Tyrn looks awful, full of shame and sullenness. Erik stands proud. They are all given wine from the Chalice, which has turned the wine to truth serum. They all admit (although Tyrn tries not to) that they knew Elsbeth had the infection. But they all insist they did not know she had magic. Erik keeps looking at Tyrn with barely veiled anger and disdain. The King turns to Ione. He asks if she knew Elspeth had caught the fever when she agreed to marry the Crown Prince, she says yes. So, she agreed to marry into the Royal family, knowing that they would be tethered to a family that carried the sickness. He’s disgusted. She responds that the disgust if mutual and receives a slap across the face. She then says she never lied to Hauth. He never asked her about her family. He didn’t ask her much of anything. She was not there when Elsbeth attacked Hauth, she did not take Elsbeth to see Hauth. Tyrn admits that it was him. But he insists that Hauth wanted to speak to Elsbeth. This is Elm’s chance to save Ione. He reaches into his pocket and taps his Scythe, and he plays on his father’s insecurities. He inspires Tyrn to try to save his daughter. Tyrn says that his loyalty is to the King. He would never want to hurt the Crown Prince. Prince Hauth had promised to handle Elsbeth without the news of her infections leaking, to avoid any dishonor and save Ione’s reputation. What the King should do is keep Ione in the palace. It would stop people from talking and knowing the truth about what happened. The King doesn’t want people to know what really happened, after all, it was he that forged the marriage contract with a family that carried the infection. It was he who valued the Nightmare Card above everything else, including his son and heir. Elm lets go of the Scythe Card, using it anymore will make his nose bleed. He can already feel the pain shooting through his head. In the shock of what Tyrn has just said, no one has noticed that Erik has snuck around his niece until he attacks his brother-in-law, wrapping his chains around Tyrn’s throat as he accuses him of giving Elsbeth up. Erik rips a dagger out of the Linden’s hand and puts it at Linden’s throat; he demands to know where his daughter is. Jespyr grabs Erik and pulls him backward. He swings wildly with the dagger and cuts Ione across the palms of her hands. Tyrn is being held back by several Destriers, several more Destriers are trying to subdue Erik. In the middle of them is Ione, who is getting crushed. Elm runs out to her and grabs her by the hands, but her hands are slick with blood from her cuts. He grabs her chain and pulls her to safety. She falls into his chest, taking refuge there. He uses the Scythe again, making everybody be still. Everyone freezes, except for Ravyn. Elsbeth begins to remember more. She remembers Ravyn. A giggle sounds near her and Elsbeth opens her eyes to see a little girl with gold eyes. It’s Tilly. Elsbeth introduces herself as Elspeth Spindle, but Tilly just laughs and asks if she can swing in the tree, like Elsbeth promised. When she is not told yes, Tilly’s smile fades, and she says she’ll wait in the meadow in case Elspeth changes her mind. Elspeth hears more voices and looks up, she sees a bunch of boys with yellow eyes, except for the tallest who has gray eyes. The gray-eyed boy bends in front of her and looks in her face. He says that she’s never really with them, is she - he calls her father. Ravyn had been hit by Erik’s chains in the battle and knocked out for a moment. He, Elm, Jespyr, and the King are in a room as Ravyn gets his wound stitched up by Filick. The King is very angry. He’s angry at Elm for not using his Scythe fast enough. He is mad that Erik and Tyrn have been lying to him for over a decade, men in his closest circle. And that he still does not have the Twin Alders Card. He blames this all on Ravyn. Elsbeth was staying at Castle Yew, Ravyn should have figured out what she was. Jespyr says the oversight was made because they were trying to keep up with the King’s patrols. Elsbeth was so quiet. They never expected this from her. The King kicks everybody except for Ravyn out. He asks Ravyn if he wants to be Captain, but Ravyn tells him it doesn’t matter what he wants. It never did. The King decides he will let Ione stay in the castle so that rumors of Erik and Tyrn’s treachery do not spread. He wants Ravyn to go with Elspeth and find the Twin Alders Card. If either of them gets any wise ideas, the King will take Emory back from his parents and put him in a cell. The King plans to finally break the curse and be the Rowan King who finally lifts the mist. Ravyn is not allowed to take Elm with him to find the last Card. And no amount of talking will dissuade him. But he does agree that Ravyn can take Jespyr with him, and another Destrier, he tells Ravyn to take Gorse. When he returns, the King tells Ravyn that he will be stripped of his command. He is a wretched disappointment. Coming from the King, that is praise. In the hallway, Elm asks Filick to visit Ione and look at her hands. But Filick says Ione’s hands are completely fine. She wasn’t cut at all. Elm can see on his shirt where her hands left bloody prints, he can remember the blood making her hands to slippery to pull her up, he can remember the cut as it was made in her hands. He goes to the room Ione’s been placed in, she was not taken to the dungeons. He asks to see her hands, and she won’t open them for him. When he lets her hands go and doesn’t force her to show him her palms, she opens her hands for him. It’s almost as if she was waiting to see if he would hurt her to make her show him. Her hands are completely unmarked. But she tells Elm that he’s right - she was cut. The Maiden Card healed her. Elm is stunned, for hundreds of years, no one realized what the Maiden could actually do. He tells Ione the conditions of her stay. She will be able to walk through the castle with an armed guard, but if ever the King’s opinion changes and he plans to punish her, Elm will make sure that Ione gets out. Ione didn’t want to be guarded; she wanted free rein to go where she wanted. Elm realizes that her Maiden Card is in the castle, that is why she wanted to come back to Stone. That is why she was waiting at Hawthorn house. She asks him what he’ll do if he finds the Card, will he use it to heal Hauth, but the idea had never occurred to him. Elm tells Ione that the Maiden’s power is best kept a secret - at least for now. She reveals that she just wanted to get the Card back and then to disappear. Elm tells her to get ready; he’s going to take her to the dungeon to see Elsbeth. Elsbeth remembers everything. She tries desperately to escape, but she cannot. The children continue to come and go, but they don’t seem to notice each other. Bennett is the one with gray eyes. Even though they don’t see each other, the children see her and often speak to her - asking her to pay attention to them and being disappointed when they don’t get what they need from her. But at this point, they don’t expect it either. She knows that it’s not her they are disappointed with, but their father. Finally, Bennett comes up to her one day and asks her to come to dinner just this one time, because the children miss him. He has two Providence cards, the Mirror and the Nightmare. She tells Bennett that she cannot stay here and be forgotten. She swims with all of her might but sinks into the waves. Ravyn contacts his sister with the Nightmare Card and tells her that they’ll leave to search for the Twin Alders in the morning, but for now they need to get Emory. They’re going to move him to Castle Yew. When Ravyn gets to Emory’s room, the boy is incredibly thin. He’s degrading far quicker than they thought he would. Ravyn gets him dressed to travel and accidentally brushes his skin while he does so, triggering one of Emory’s visions. Emory tells Ravyn that he has three heads: one a highwaymen, one a Destrier, and another of age and birthright. He asks if Ravyn finally knows who he is. After the vision is done, Emory has no memory of what happened, he often doesn’t. Using his power makes him get worse exponentially, Ravyn makes sure not to touch his skin again as he gets Emory ready and carries him downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he passes Emory to Jespyr and tells her to leave now. He’ll follow them shortly. Elm leads Ione down the dungeon stairs. It’s so cold down there that they’re slick with ice. They talk on the way. His idea is to use the Nightmare, who Ione does not know about and believes is still Elspeth, to locate Ione’s Card. He believes Ione misplaced it at some point. Ione calls him the cantankerous, wayward prince but that doesn’t really bother him. She goes further saying that he’s called an unruly, rotten prince who is great with the Scythe but a terrible Destrier, and the word “rotten” bothers Elm more than he would like to admit. He turns the conversation to what the ladies say about him and makes Ione blush a little. He’s impressed that she can still feel anything. She comments that Elm told her she didn’t have time for women, so which ladies are talking about him at all - but he admits he used to have the time. She asked what he’s been doing. He doesn’t care about following his father’s orders and he’s not a good Destrier, yet he always looks like he’s running himself ragged. What is he so busy with? He mentions that she’s been taking up all his time right now which has been… interesting. She says not to flatter her, and he ask if she feels anything when he tries to flatter her. But she doesn’t feel anything anymore. They finally reached the dungeons, and Elm realizes that he has forgotten his keys, but the door is already open luckily. Ione keeps talking and mentions that ending violence, like Elm did when her father and uncle were questioned, is not exactly a Rowan trait. Elm reveals that he tries not to use his Scythe for violence, if only because he wants to disappoint the rest of them. They get to Elsbeth’s cell and before they see her, Elm warns Ione that Elspeth is not the same as she used to be. Ione reaches through the bars and touches Elspeth’s cheek and realizes it’s not Elspeth at all. She wants to speak to her cousin, but the Shepherd King says that’s not the possible right now, she’s resting. Elm tells the Shepherd King that Ione is missing her Maiden Card, he asks Ione if she really wants the Card back. Isn’t it better to guard her heart from hurt and her body from harm. He tells Ione that Elspeth envied Ione her heart. Ione responds she has disappeared into her Maiden, and she wants to be free, much like Elspeth had disappeared into the Nightmare. The Shepherd King says that there are three Maiden Cards in Stone, but he cannot say for sure where they are because the castle is too big. Elm and Ione must find the Card themselves. Ione begs him to help her, but the Nightmare just retreats into the shadows. Elm asks Ione if it’s that important to get her Card back and she points out that it’s not about the fact that she looks beautiful now. She likes that and she likes not feeling pain and being healed by magic, but she also likes who she used to be, and the point is to choose it for herself. She tells Elm he does not have to help, his debt has been paid, but Elm disagrees. He was not kind to Elspeth because he was worried about losing Ravyn, and he did not see what was happening to Elspeth until it was too late. He wants to do better. And he wants to make sure everybody knows that he’s nothing like Hauth. The dungeon door had been unlocked because Ravyn had gone to collect Elsbeth and was interrupted by Elm and Ione. Before heading to the dungeons, he sent three letters. One to Gorse, telling him to prepare to leave; one to Filick with instructions not to let Erik Spindle and Tyrn Hawthorn freeze to death in the dungeons; and one to Elm saying that he will see him again soon. He watched his cousin under the concealment of the Mirror Card. He can tell that Elm is already at least a bit attached to Ione and he’s worried, what happens if the King decides that Ione must die. What happens when the King decides that. The Nightmare retorts that Elm likely has the same concerns for Ravyn with Elspeth. After Elm and Ione leave, Ravyn tells the Shepherd King that Elm will not be going with them to get the Twin Alders, so the Shepherd King will not be able to hurt him. He figures that the Nightmare would want to hurt Elm since Elm is a Rowan. But the Nightmare says he has no problems with Elm. Besides, you can’t hurt somebody who is already broken. And he will need Elm one day. Ravyn tells the Nightmare that Gorse will be going with them, probably as a spy for the King. He can’t be trusted. Jespyr will also come, and they have to go to Castle Yew first to check on Emory. He also wants to ask the Ivy brothers to come with them. On their way out of Stone, Ravyn gives the Destriers their orders - to continue on as if he were still there and to get their orders from either the King or from Elm. As he and Elspeth ride away, he sees Elm watching them. He’s leaving his cousin alone in the castle that he hates, surrounded by people he can’t stand and doesn’t trust. Surrounded by the people who have hurt him. Elspeth is surrounded by memories that do not belong to her, but to Taxus. She sees as people go into the woods and ask the Spirit for a blessing. Taxus could always speak to the trees. They asked him what he desired as his own blessing, he asked for the Spirit to help him make Blunder a kingdom of abundance and of magic. Make him a shepherd to command and lead its people. When he returned home, he found something next to the tree that he’d planted when he turned seven. A stone shaped like a table with a sword on top of it. In the hilt was carved a shepherd’s staff. Elm watches Ravyn and Elspeth leave. His father gives Elm some news. Hauth is never going to get better, at least not well enough to be king. So Elm gets the job now. He needs to stay close to Ione and pretend that everything is okay, until the King decides it’s time to announce that Elm will succeed him instead of Hauth, and that Ione will be executed. He also makes sure that Elm knows that he needs to be at the dinner that night. When Elm goes to dinner, he meets Ione on the way, now trailed by two Destriers. He uses his Scythe to get rid of the Destriers and escort Ione to dinner alone. It’s made clear that he’s expected to sit next to the King and he makes Ione sit on his other side. There’s no way he’s sitting next to dad by himself. Elm tells Ione that he is going to help her find her Maiden Card, it’s not up for discussion. He cannot wait for his father to get distracted by the dinner and guests so that he and Ione can sneak out and start to search Stone for her Card, but his dad does not let his attention waiver from Elm for too long. Then Lord Pine approaches Elm with his wife and three daughters, they say they were lucky enough to get invited to the King’s feasts. Elm doesn’t know anything about these feasts, so his father gives him the news. There will be a week of feasts and on the sixth night, Elm is expected to announce who he’s going to marry. His father takes his guards and leaves the room. Elm is close to following the King and causing a scene, but Ione puts her hand on his arm to calm him down. She asks him if he wants to get drunk. Ravyn and the Shepherd King ride hard for Castle Yew and arrive in half of the time it usually takes. Ravyn tells his family and Thistle that yes, that was the Shepherd King. Jespyr and Emory arrived and are now resting upstairs. Ravyn’s father asks if it’s really happening, that Emory has been released from the King’s custody. He assumes that the King will use Elspeth’s blood instead of Emory’s to unite the deck of Cards, but Ravyn declares that Emory and Elsbeth will both be safe. He will make sure of it. Ravyn walks to the armory to see the Ivy Brothers, Peter and Wik. They volunteer right away to join his party, but Ravyn warns them that it’s not going to be like playing at highwaymen. Neither one of them cares, they’re all in. He sits with Emory for most of the day and only after dusk has fallen and Jespyr takes his place does Ravyn go look for the Nightmare. He finds him in the meadow near the ruins, and the Shepherd King points out that Ravyn found his grave. Ravyn confirms that he did, and he found the sword inside, but the Nightmare reveals that Ravyn missed something. His crown. He asks for his sword back and Ravyn gives it. Ravyn tells the Shepherd King that he met Tilly. He has a lot of vitriol for the King for letting his children wait for him all these years (and for other things). The Nightmare points out that he too has been waiting. He has a lot of things he aims to get done now. Ravyn wants to know what his plan is when they do find the Twin Alders Card, and the Nightmare says that what he told the King was the truth: that the King can use his blood to unite the deck. But Ravyn knows that the Shepherd King is a liar. The Shepherd King points out that they have that in common - they actually have a lot in common, but Ravyn is unwilling to admit that. The Shepherd King tells him to bring a Maiden Card on their journey. Ravyn doesn’t know why they would need that. Ravyn says that he found two cards in the table in the ruins when he was a child. A Mirror and a Nightmare. He asks if the Shepherd King put them there, but he did not. Ravyn asks if one of his children put them there, the Nightmare doesn’t answer. Ravyn reaches into Elspeth’s mind to look for her, put is pushed out. He demands that the Shepherd King let Elspeth out. The Nightmare tells him that he is so selfish. If he called Elspeth out of the darkness now, it would hurt her. She would have no control over her own thoughts or her own body. Ravyn knows nothing about not having control. He is immune to the Chalice and to the Scythe both. But he will learn what it feels like to lose control of himself soon enough. Elm and Ione share a flagon wine line in the courtyard, and they share a little truths with each other. He’s so angry that he is breaking javelins, and he reveals that he thinks he’s been angry his whole life. They flirt a little bit, as much as you can when one of you doesn’t feel anything. She mentions that she used to smile and she used to laugh. She used to be happy, he remembers. She finds it hard to believe that Elm ever noticed her before this past Equinox and they make a wager. If he can prove that he remembers her, he will get a kiss and if he can’t, she will get one minute with his Scythe. He takes her downstairs to the cellar where they won’t be overheard, and he goes and gets them a Chalice Card. They’re going to use the Chalice to prove that he remembers her, but also to try to find where she lost her Maiden Card. They both agree that nothing is off-limits, trading a question for a question. Elm can tell that this is a line that he won’t be able to uncross, but he steps over willingly anyway. The first question worth anything is why Elm did not go with Ravyn and the others; he reveals that he was forbidden to do so. He asks her what she can remember from Equinox. She remembers sitting on the dais with Hauth getting congratulated on their new engagement. She kept trying to talk to Hauth but all he did was look at her with more and more scorn. He kept making her drink until she was drunk. After that, all she remembers is a cold, cracked stone beneath her hand and salt in her nose. Elm realizes that she may not have misplaced her Card at all. Something altogether worse may have happened. He asks if Hauth used his Scythe in her that night and she confirms that he did. After she was drunk, he used it on her. He made sure to tell her that he did not touch her, not that night. But made sure that she knew he could - at any time. Hauth made her hide her Maiden Card and he wouldn’t tell her where it was hidden. Knowing what he was, Hauth had decided it would be easier for Ione to be married to him if she were unable to feel. Elm is overcome with remorse. He is sorry that no one stopped Hauth, and no one was safe enough for her to say anything to. She repeats the sentiment to him. She’s heard the rumors about his childhood. He tells her that eventually he did tell Ravyn and then Ravyn took him away from Stone. When his mother died, Elm inherited his mother’s Scythe Card, and he was able to practice and be better with the Scythe than Hauth ever was, although that made Hauth hate him all the more. Neither of them is sorry about what happened to Hauth, but they’re both sorry that Elspeth was the one who got to do it. Ione asks why he didn’t get a Scythe Card before his mother’s death, since there are four total, but he reveals that they only have three. They pretend the fourth one is in the vault, so no one knows it’s missing, but they have no idea where it is. Elm asks Ione if she remembers going anywhere else that night, anywhere that Hauth may have hidden the card. She also has a blurry memory of spinning in the torchlight in the garden with other men around. She fell; they laughed. They touched her. Elm asks Ione what she’s looking for when she looks at him. It looks like she’s searching for something. After a blasé remark about him being handsome and asking if he thinks she’s beautiful - in which they both give half answers, he tells him that she’s looking for Hauth in his face. She sees Elm wearing fear and anger, but no violence. The two brothers could not be more different. He says he knows she can feel some things, like cold and pain. What else can she feel? It takes a minute, but she tells him that she can feel desire as well. A trick of the Maiden - to feel it in your body, but not in your heart. Now it’s time to prove his bet. Elm tells Ione he can remember when she was a child and rode her father’s horse on the forest without shoes. How two years ago, she danced at Equinox alone because no one asked her. He remembers the lines around her mouth and eyes from smiling, her freckles, the gap in her front teeth. He says her eyes are the only thing the Maiden hasn’t changed too much, but they’re no longer happy like they were before. He remembers thinking she was the strangest girl he’d ever seen, because she was happy which no one else at Stone was. When he gets close enough to kiss her, claiming his winnings, he gives her permission to use him so she can feel something, and she kisses him instead. They kiss each other hard and he can tell that she wants him to be rough with her, but he refuses. He wants whatever this is to last. Before they get too far, they are interrupted by Filick. Elm tries to tell Ione that Filick will not say anything, but she rushes off. Elspeth is Taxus. He stands across from his younger sister Ayris on the day of his coronation. He has a bruise under one eye from training with Brutus. The door is open to a cathedral as he takes a seat on his late father’s throne made of trees. The court calls out “long live Taxus. Long live the Shepherd King.” Suddenly Elspeth can hear her own name being called. The voice gets desperate and she tries to swim toward it, but she cannot move, she cannot speak, and she cannot get out. The Twin Alders search party leaves the next morning. They meet at the ruins in the meadow; the Nightmare is the last to arrive - holding his newly cleaned sword and his crown. Before they leave, he sneaks into the ruins and places his crown back, only telling Ravyn that the crown is not his to wear any longer. He leads them into the woods, into the mist, and they spend an hour weaving through the trees, going back-and-forth and changing direction. Finally, the Nightmare stops and bends down next to a yew tree. He presses his bare fingers against the trunk. The ground shakes beneath them, knocking them down and into one another as the trees rearrange themselves. The Nightmare just crouches unbothered and knocks his sword on the ground to make the trees stop. He had said one word to the tree: Taxus. Jespyr asks what a Taxus is and he tells her it’s an old name for an old, twisted tree. They walk through the woods. The Nightmare is in his own mind, not paying attention to the rest of them, who notice that they’re being stalked by wolves. One wolf, two wolves, four wolves. Ravyn tries to get the Nightmare’s attention, but the Nightmare doesn’t respond to him. Ravyn uses his Nightmare Card to enter Elspeth’s mind. He hears the Nightmare asking where Elspeth is and why she won’t answer. That scares Ravyn. But instead of telling Ravyn what’s happening, the Nightmare grabs him by the throat. Suddenly, it makes perfect sense to Ravyn how Hauth and Linden got their scars. He can feel something jagged and hard just underneath the surface of the Shepherd Kin’s fingers. When the Nightmare realizes there are wolves behind them, he’s happy. That means they’re close. As he said to the King, the first bargain takes place at a dark lake like a mirror. When they reach it, there are seven wolves following them. They each have to barter with the Spirit of the Wood by dripping blood into the lake. Then they have to swim across. The lake stretches for miles across; there’s no way to go around. When Ravyn leans forward to look into the lake, he sees himself - but not dressed as he is or as the Captain of Destriers, but like a highwayman. When he dives into the lake, something comes up from below him and grabs him by the ankle. It is himself, dressed as a highwayman. A test by the Spirit of the Woods tailored to each person. Ravyn rises to the surface where he sees Wik, then Petyr. Ravyn reminds Jespyr to use her Black Horse Card, she and Gorse both tap and swim as fast as they can to the other side. The Nightmare is already well ahead of all of them. But Ravyn and the Ivy Brothers, without any Black Horse of their own, are stuck in the middle of the lake and the monsters are catching up. The highwayman grabs Ravyn and tells him that he can be the highwayman that he was meant to be. He can ignore the King, he can love who he chooses and be who he wants. Ravyn stabs him. The monster leaves him alone, disappearing into the bottom of the lake again, but then Ravyn sees Petyr get dragged under. He dives for Petyr; Petyr’s own monster is dressed as a Destrier. And it will not let Petyr go. Ravyn pulls Petyr as hard as he can. He manages to get him to the surface and then to shore. But when they get to the shore, they’re not alone - the monster is still fastened to Petyr’s leg. The Shepherd King hits it with his sword, and it rolls back into the lake with its head separate from its body. Petyr has long open wounds where the monster’s claws got him. The wound starts to smell. The Shepherd King finds Elspeth, and she uses his true name to call for him. He pulls her out of his mind lake. She can hear what he hears now. People say to tie off his knee and to start a fire. She can hear people begging the Nightmare for help. Taxus tells her that if he takes her away from the lake, she will see what he sees but she will have no control. It will be just like when he lived in her mind except unlike her mind, his mind is a monstrous place. He is not trying to scare her. He is only trying to warn her. She looks at him and gives him her hand. She tells her him once more to let her out. Ravyn and the others have tried everything to help Petyr. They started a fire and heated Jespyr’s dagger to press it to the cut. His flesh grew black and the wound sealed shut but opened itself back up again, bleeding even faster than before. The tourniquet will not stop the bleeding no matter how tight it gets. That is when Ravyn begs the Nightmare to help them and the Nightmare (who has started murmuring to himself a bit) tells him to have Petyr use the Maiden Card. As soon as the Maiden Card is tapped, Petyr’s pain stops. His crooked teeth straighten as does his broken nose. Best of all, his leg seals up and the smell dissipates. Not even a scar is left, as if it never even happened. In his hurry to pull out the Maiden, Ravyn dropped the Mirror and the Nightmare into the mud. Gorse notices. Ravyn grabs for the Cards, using the Nightmare to invade the Shepherd King’s mind again. This time he hears Elspeth. At least, until the Nightmare forces him out. Later, when they’re further from the lake, they wash their hands in a stream and eat. Petyr has stopped using the Maiden and although his face is returned to normal, his leg is fine. Gorse, however, refuses to sit anywhere near Ravyn and wants to know exactly where he got the Nightmare Card from. He’s not saying the Ravyn is a thief, at least not out loud. Before they rest for the night, they separate to go to the bathroom and change. Ten minutes later when Ravyn returns, Gorse is gone. The Nightmare reveals that he left five minutes ago, probably to report to the King about Ravyn’s Card. Ravyn thinks he could probably catch him. But decides to let Gorse go and deal with the consequences when he gets back to Stone. Elm sits in the library with Filick. After Ione left him the night before, he did not follow her because he was embarrassed. He hasn’t seen her since. Filick asks if he’s going to see Hauth and recommends that Elm go, if only for appearances’ sake. Elm tells Filick that he doesn’t plan to attend the first feast in his honor. He has no intention of finding a wife. Filick gives him his opinion: Elm would be a much better King than his brother would. His being on the throne would be a blessing for those that want better things for the kingdom. Filick leaves and Elm stays thinking about Ione and the Card, and his brother and the throne. He could just heal his brother with a Maiden Card, but that would require his brother being awake and alive… and wanting vengeance. No, Elm will just have to become king. Soon enough, somebody else comes into the library, one of the king’s prospective brides for Elm. She propositions Elm, and he thinks about it for a moment. He used to accept these propositions, although he never felt good doing it. He never enjoyed it and always felt empty afterwards, because the women never really saw him. Of course, he wouldn’t allow them to see the real him either. He tells the woman, Maribeth, that it would be a bad idea and she supposes that’s true, especially since the King probably has already picked out a bride for Elm. That makes him think. He visits the King’s steward, Baldwyn, and asks where the marriage contracts are stored. Baldwyn asks why he wants to see them; Elm tells him that if he’s going to be forced to marry, he wants to know about the business end of it. Baldwyn tells Elm that they are kept in the record chamber and hands Elm keys - begrudgingly. Elm is terrible at carrying his keys, although it is his job as the second son. Ravyn usually does it for him, but Ravyn left the keys with Filick so he would be able to check on the prisoners, and Baldwyn took them away from Filick. Elm finally opens the door to the records room and goes through the contract between Ione and Hauth. He reads the repeated words: Providence card, Hawthorn, marriage, heir. He smiles as he reads it. Ravyn can tell that Elspeth can see him now and he wants to speak with her, which the Nightmare refuses to allow. But Elspeth begs him until he relents and Ravyn speaks to Elspeth using the Nightmare Card. She apologizes for not telling him what was happening with her degeneration. He apologizes for not getting to her in time. If he had only been ten minutes earlier, he could’ve stopped Hauth. Elspeth wishes that she had a little bit more time with Ravyn before everything happened. The Nightmare tries to force Ravyn back out, but both Ravyn and Elspeth fight him. That is just before arrows are shot into the ground in front of them. Each arrow has a small glass vial on the tip that breaks when it hits the ground and fills the air with smoke. The Nightmare can’t help but breathe it in. He’s coughing and his vision is blurring. He sees the Ivy Brothers - Petyr, with his eyes closed lying in the grass, and Wik with an arrow through his head. They might’ve heard their attackers coming if Ravyn had not been speaking with Elspeth, distracting them all. Elm takes the marriage contract to Castle Yew and asks his aunt and uncle to put it in a safe place for him until he needs it. He stays the night and tells them everything; about the quest for the last Card, about Ione, about the Maiden Card, the King’s feasts, becoming heir. Then he returns to Stone for the second feast. His father is very angry that Elm missed the first one. He tells his dad that he wants it in writing that he is now heir and he has a condition that will need to be included in the contract. That the King will honor any marriage contract Elm strikes. He assures the King that he will not choose anyone that has not already been given the King’s seal of approval. He notices that it’s nine o’clock and Ione is still not at the feast, so he goes to find her. He finds are on the fifth-floor landing with Linden. Linden has her arm in his fist and is dragging Ione down the hallway. He screams at her and Elm uses his Scythe card to keep him still. Linden tells Elm that he found Ione creeping towards the gardens unaccompanied. Elm tells him to take his hands off Ione and to stay away from her. If he ever touches her again, Elm will kill him. Then he sends Linden on his way. Ione is angry at him, and he is delighted that she is able to feel angry still. They will continue their search in the morning. When the Nightmare loses consciousness, Elsbeth is sent deeper into his mind, and she sees his memories again. She sees as he asks the trees how to create a safer way to use magic than asking the Spirit in the Woods, which comes with degradation. The trees tell him to go to the stone and drop his blood onto it and to barter. They warned him that no matter what the Spirit brings, he will always want more. When he says he wants to be strong, he’s told to bring a black horse from his stable. Time changes and he has the Black Horse Cards; he’s given one to his friend Brutus Rowan. Brutus is amazed by the Card and Taxus tells him that he’s making him Captain of the Guard, so he can keep it. He’ll need it if he’s going to date Taxus’ sister Ayris. It changes again and more Providence Cards are made, then Taxus meets his wife, Petra. They’re married and they have their first son, Bennett. Even as he holds newborn Bennett, he would rather get back to the chamber in the woods. He takes Bennett to the woods and asks the Spirit to bless Bennett with her magic, and Bennett is given magic that is the opposite of his father’s. But it’s a secret that he and the boy keep to themselves. Bennett is followed by four more boys. Two more and then a pair of twins. Taxus takes each of them to the Spirit, but they are not blessed until the little girl, Tilly, is born last. The Spirit gives her the power to heal, but every time she heals she grows more frail, so Taxus makes the Maiden Card instead. He continues to make Cards, his wife. He makes the Scythe Cards and gives one to Brutus. Brutus asks if he thinks the Spirit asks too much in their bargains. But Taxus insists that magic is safer this way, people can use magic without degenerations. Brutus warns him that the people are no longer frequenting the woods to ask for blessings from the Spirit. She may get jealous. Taxus becomes even less than a father to his children. He is distracted, he does not go to dinner with them, he doesn’t engage in what they’re doing. Brutus reminds him to be wary. Wary, clever, and good. Taxus points out that as a Rowan, Brutus is none of those things, but Brutus says that’s exactly why Ayris married him and they laugh. No matter how many Cards he has, Taxus wants more. He can think of nothing else. This time Taxus goes into the chamber and asks for a way to look inside someone’s mind. He does not want to listen to the sycophantic flattery of his court without knowing what’s real, plus Brutus has been distant lately and he would like to know his thoughts. The Spirit asked if he’s considered just asking Brutus what his thoughts are, but Taxus would rather make a Card for it. He gives up his soul for it. Ravyn wakes up with his head hurting worse than he’s ever felt before, and he is tethered to a post. Jespyr is next to him, and he can hear both the Nightmare and Petyr talking. Petyr tells them all that Wik is dead. His voice sounds empty. The Nightmare says that two women took them. Ravyn has no idea where they are, and he knows all of Blunder’s settlements. The must be very deep into the mists. Petyr can see their weapons against the wall, but they forgot to check his boot - he has a knife in one, but he can’t reach it. Pretty soon, two women appear wearing animal skulls like masks. One of them has all the Cards that they were carrying. They’re infected who got away and escaped into the woods. They take the group into the fort. One of them is named Otho, she’s an alchemist. She made the smoke that knocked them out. Her sister is Hesis, she can see through the eyes of crows. Ravyn and the others try to tell the two women that they save people who are infected. Ravyn asks if they’re familiar with a different settlement in the woods where children with the infection are taken, but the women refuse to believe that Ravyn, Captain of the Destriers and nephew of the King, would have anything to do with that. In addition, even if he did help the infected, he has still killed people as a Destrier. The families of some of the people in this camp. Ravyn tries to tell them that they’re going to find the Twins Alders Card, they will break the curse and heal the infection. Then these people could come home and be cured if they wanted to. But it doesn’t matter what he says. They tie the Nightmare and Petyr to posts, but Ravyn and Jespyr are taken to a courtyard where they are joined by Gorse. He didn’t get very far. The three Destriers are given weapons and Otho blows smoke into their faces. The smoke makes them angry and hateful. All of the things they’ve never wanted to say start to come out. They’re going to make the Destriers fight to the death. Ravyn turns on the Nightmare. The Nightmare said he cared for Elsbeth and that he would protect her. Look where she is now, he protected her about as well as he protected his own kids. Low blow. The Nightmare hits back, he is also feeling the effects of the powder. He tells Ravyn that he is the greatest disappointment in five hundred years and every time he looks at him, the Nightmare wishes he had spent another hundred years in the dark so that he didn’t have to deal with Ravyn’s incompetency. Gorse says that Ravyn is two-faced and a liar who stole the King’s Nightmare Card and has been sleeping with an infected woman. Jespyr slams her club into his shoulder. She tells Gorse that he doesn’t deserve to wear the Destrier’s cloak, and then she looks at her brother - neither does he. Ravyn retorts that if she wants to be Captain, he she can come and take the title from him, but she’ll not win the challenge because she can’t beat him without her Black Horse. But then she could bow and scrape to their uncle like the puppet that she is. But Jespyr is not done with her brother. He likes to pretend that the Destriers hate him because he’s infected, but that’s not it. Some of them hate him because he thinks they’re better than him. Ravyn retorts that he is better than them. Jespyr says that Ravyn lies to his King, his men, even himself. He’s not better than anyone and he’s especially not stronger than she is. He just pretends that he is. Ravyn agrees that he does pretend, he pretends that he doesn’t hate himself all of the time for being the Captain. Gorse calls him a traitor and Ravyn hits him with the Scythe in the shoulder. It doesn’t kill him, but it knocks Gorse down and Ravyn is able to get on top of him and choke him to death. As soon as it’s done, Ravyn no longer feels the effects of the powders. He turns around to see someone standing between him and his sister. It’s Elspeth’s Aunt Opal with her two young sons. Opal sees Elspeth but as soon as the Nightmare opens his eyes, she knows it is not really Elspeth. Opal tells everyone at the fort exactly what Ravyn and Jespyr did. Jespyr is the reason that she and her sons were able to escape. As Opal speaks, Ravyn makes use of the distraction and walks over to the posts where Petyr and the Nightmare are bound. He reaches down to tie his own boot, grabbing the knife out of Petyr’s as he does it. As Opal tries to tell Otho and Hesis that Ravyn and the others don’t need to be imprisoned, Ravyn frees the Nightmare and Petyr from their posts. Ravyn and the Nightmare talk. They don’t really apologize to each other, but they make amends. What Ravyn said about the Nightmare’s children was uncalled for. He doesn’t know what happened to them, but he does know that the Nightmare does not want to see Elspeth hurt. And the Nightmare says that Ravyn is annoying and dim-witted, but he is not a disappointment. The Nightmare asks for Petyr’s knife and Ravyn hands it over but asks him not to hurt the women. He doesn’t want that blood on Elspeth’s hands. Hesis approaches Ravyn, not yet realizing that the other two are free, and says that she can’t let them return to Stone even if what Opal says is true. At some point, someone would talk about the encampment and soldiers would come. But before she can finish what she’s saying, the Nightmare attacks and knocks her down. Ravyn catches Otho around the waist and pushes her to the ground as well. Jespyr reaches into Otho’s pocket to grab the Cards. They now have the Nightmare, the Mirror, the Maiden, and two Black Horses. Petyr grabs their weapons and hands them out. Ravyn tells Opal that if this camp becomes unsafe, she should go to Castle Yew where his family will protect her. He also promises to get Elspeth back. He looks at Hesis, who is lying in the dirt with blood on her face. She’s alive, but her nose is broken. He reminds the Nightmare that he asked him not to do that, but the Nightmare just says that Elsbeth wanted payback for Hesis punching Ravyn and breaking his nose. Elm takes Ione to the catacombs. He hates it there but it’s where his father keeps his collection of Cards. On the way they discuss what Ione can feel. She used to feel everything. At first the numb that came with the Maiden was a welcome respite. Now she tries to make the same decisions that she would have before the Maiden. It’s the only way she will be able to live with herself once she is released from the Card. She asks if he knew that Elspeth was infected before she was arrested, and he admits he’s known since Equinox and he didn’t turn her in. He unlocks the box that houses his father’s Cards. He hands her the Maiden Card from the box and she taps the Card, but there is no change. This is not her Maiden Card. So, Elm pulls out the Prophet and the Mirror, there are other ways to search. Ione asks where in Stone he feels okay and he says he doesn’t hate the library, so they retreat to the library. It was Ione’s suggestion and he realizes that she did it to make him feel more comfortable. He wonders if there are certain things within a person magic can’t touch. He tells her if she’d rather pretend that the cellar never happened, he understands. That is what he assumes after she fled the room. But she asks if it would shock him to hear that she would have stayed had they not been interrupted. They’re interrupted again, this time by Baldwyn, who wants Elm to sign the succession contract. Elm makes Ione stay as witness. As he signs, he notices a flock of women near the door. One of them has an inhuman quality to her face. Unflawed. She must have a Maiden Card. The Nightmare said there were three of them in Stone and now they know the location of two of them. After the signing is done and Baldwyn leaves, Ione asks why Elm took the Mirror Card from the box. The next easiest way to see what happened on Equinox is to look for himself using the Nightmare Card, but it is currently in Hauth’s room. He will use the Mirror Card to steal it. But for now, he gives the Prophet to Ione. The visions it shows are not always literal. Ione taps and goes stiff. When she releases the Card’s magic, she tells Elm she saw herself in a meadow outside of a small stone chamber. The Yews were there with Emory in their arms. So was Elm, her Uncle Erik, and her father. A tall man with yellow eyes guarded her with a sword and when she opened her hand, she was holding the Maiden, the Scythe, and the Twin Alders. As they hurry through the woods, Ravyn’s group is followed by crows. The Nightmare taps his sword on the ground and places his hand on an aspen tree asking for the way. As they watch, the aspen branches turn, bending and pointing toward the east. They’re walking through thick underbrush and tripping over themselves when the Nightmare says they’ve come to the second bargain. They are standing at the edge of a wood made completely of alder trees so closely together they form a wall farther across than they can see. Jespyr asks if the Twin Alders Card is inside the wood and it is, but they won’t be going for it until tomorrow. Instead, the Nightmare calls for the aspen trees, and they form a circle around the group for protection. Then the Nightmare tells Ravyn to sit down so he can fix his broken nose. Jespyr’s cheekbone is probably broken, but she’s able to use the Maiden to fix it. Ravyn will have to make do with the Shepherd King. He tells Ravyn not to worry; he’s mended plenty of noses - including his own. Ravyn says he hopes whoever broke it enjoyed it, and the King says he probably did. Brutus had an exacting hand when it came to pain. Jespyr asks if he knew Brutus Rowan well, but Petyr gets to the point and asks if it was Brutus that killed him. All the Nightmare says in return is that he did know Brutus well. He allows Ravyn to use the Nightmare Card to speak to Elsbeth, to distract himself from the pain when his nose is set. But when the Nightmare touches his nose, it takes Petyr on one side and Jespyr on the other to keep his arms down - Ravyn tells Elspeth not to look at him. He doesn’t want anyone to see him like this. She says that he is not going to lose the people who love him. Pain is not weakness. He and Jespyr are both sorry for what was said in the courtyard and make their amends. But the Nightmare leans over Ravyn and says there can be no pretending anymore. Death demands to be felt. And it wasn’t just Gorse who died, but the Captain of the Destriers as well. Later, Petyr is asleep, but Ravyn, Jespyr, and the Nightmare are all still awake. Jespyr is able to speak to Elsbeth for a while, and then Ravyn says goodnight to her. As he speaks to Elspeth, he smiles and Jespyr is happy to see his grin. The Nightmare tells them that he had a sister as well, not even two years younger than him. Their father used to say that they were twisted and intrepid like the branches of their namesake tree. Then he goes to the other side of the circle to rest. Jespyr tells Ravyn that the Shepherd King frightens her. Most of the time he seems so inhuman, but then every once in a while, he reminds them of who he used to be before he became the monster. Elm is at the third feast, and everyone is dressed as Providence Cards. He searches for Ione and when he finally sees her, she asks if Elm can take her to the garden, citing the games that are starting to be played for the crowd around them. As they walk away, he wipes the black off of her fingers and tells her she’s no monster (she’s dressed like the Nightmare with her fingertips painted black). She is not so sure, at least until she has her Maiden Card back. He asks where she wanted to search first, and they go to the rose maze. There are lots of old cracked statues there. They search every statue and they find nothing. He asks if she’s mad at him because they haven’t found her Card yet and she’s been silent; he overthinks things when people are quiet. She wonders if he is really bothered by Stone, or by her and he says she doesn’t bother him. He then changes his answer, she doesn’t bother him in the same way. What he doesn’t day is that she bothers him in the way that threads herself through his heart. Elm asks why she wanted the Scythe Card when they made their bet, she wanted to see if she could compel herself to find her Maiden. He offers to use the Scythe, but she doesn’t want it used on her again, so he lets her take his Card. But when she taps it, she sees nothing but the cracked stone again. At this point, they’ve moved out of the maze to the rowan grove, where there is a small pond with a statue of Brutus Rowan in the center. It has a lot of cracks, and it would be hard to get to. Elm takes his shirts (he’s wearing several) off and swims to the center, looking for the Card in the cracks of the statue, but he finds nothing. He punches Brutus Rowan’s chest in his disappointment. Brutus already had a very deep and wide wound on his chest and Elm’s hit does him in. The crack splinters from one crack to hundreds of smaller cracks until the legs of the statue snap and it topples into the water, taking Elm with it. He is able to swim away and haul himself onto the embankment, but Elm has lost his charm. He can feel the mist coming into his body and calling him to go to the woods. Ione pushes her own charm into his hand and puts her own hand over top, sandwiching the charm in between them. This is the second time that she has saved his life. She tells him to call it balance, but he would much rather call it something else. They continue to hold hands until they get out of the mist and into the garden. They go to Elm’s room where he has a spare charm, and he needs to get dry clothes anyways. Filick walks in as Elm is changing, and there is blood on his tunic. He tells Elm and Ione they should both come. Hauth is awake. Elspeth asks the Nightmare if Ravyn and Jespyr will be safe in the alderwood and he says no. She tells him he must keep them safe, but he reveals that he has not done well in the past to guard those he cherished. When he sleeps, she finds his memories. In the first one, he is in the stone chamber when his sister Ayris and Tilly approach him. Tilly asks if he will swing in the yew tree like he promised he would, but he tells her no, not right now. He still has work to do. It’s easier to tell the children no, now that he’s given up his soul for the Nightmare. His sister looks at him after Tilly leaves and tells him that his work has made him a stranger. He asks the trees for another Card, one that will lift the mist. But the mists are the way that the Spirit pulls the people back to her since they have neglected her for the Cards. The trees once told him that after the bargains were made, there would be a day he could heal the fever and the infection. The trees say that day is not today, so he changes what he wants. He wants to be able to speak to the Spirit directly. He asks for a Card to do so, and the trees agree, but say that the Spirit will not name her price for the Card. It does not matter to Taxus, he will pay anything. When the salt fills the chamber, stronger than ever before, Taxus falls and hits his head on the stone table, the Providence Cards falling from his pocket. When he wakes up, there is a twelfth Card on top of the stone. The Twin Alders Card. But when he taps it, nothing happens. He taps the Maiden Card to fix his head, and nothing happens. The Mirror Card does not make him invisible. She took his ability to use the Cards. Later, Brutus Rowan talks to Taxus about the mist. Blunder is in grave danger and the mist is spreading. But the Shepherd King only says that he will find a way to lift the mist. Brutus says the Spirit is forcing the fever on the people since they’re no longer asking for it. There are children powerful enough to beat his Destriers. But the Shepherd King only says that Brutus and his guard are not to touch anyone who catches the fever. Neither one of them is laughing now, neither one of them is joking around or enjoying the other’s company. Brutus says there’s nothing to laugh at ever since the mist arrived and Taxus bartered away every piece of himself to get the Cards. But Taxus knows about Brutus and how he uses the Scythe. He is getting meaner, harder. He uses the Scythe on criminals to find new ways to punish them, even sending them out into the mist. But Brutus retorts that if Taxus spent as much time ruling as he does writing his book, perhaps there wouldn’t be so many criminals. The Shepherd King just looks at Brutus and tells him that if he kills another person with the Scythe, he will kill him and take the Card out of his dead fingers, brother-in-law or not. When Brutus storms out, Taxus calls his son Bennett forward, who was hiding by using the Mirror Card. He’s about thirteen years old now and he asks why his father doesn’t just make peace with Brutus. A part of the Shepherd King does agree that the mist is dangerous. Everyone is frightened of catching the fever and degenerating, but Taxus reminds Bennett that not everyone degenerates. He never has and neither has Bennett. But Bennett smiles. There are Cards he can’t use any longer. Is he not degenerating? The Shepherd King says that Bennett has an incredible magic and he could undo the Taxus’ life work if he was feeling particularly spiteful. Bennett is often feeling that way. He asks his father to come to dinner tonight because the children miss him, but the Shepherd King just waves him away. Bennett declares that he’s with them, but he’s never really there. That memory ends and a new one begins, in this one Taxus is trying to hurry out of the castle, throwing small provisions into a bag. He’s caught by Ayris. He tells her he’s going to speak with the Spirit of the Woods to learn about the mist and ask her to get rid of it. Ayris refuses to let him leave by himself. She ignores him when he tells her that Brutus will be angry if she comes. She and Taxus have not been close for years, and every version of Taxus grows more distant than the last. He hears the sadness in her voice, but he barely registers it. Now that his soul is gone it’s easier to ignore things like that. And yet, there are things that magic cannot get rid of. Like the fact that Ayris is like a warm light to Taxus. She’s like the sun. He tells her she can come with him. They go to the wall of alder trees. They step into the alderwood and as soon as they do, the mist attacks Ayris. She breathes it in and Taxus’ sun sniffs out. Elm and Ione follow Filick to Hauth’s room, but Ione cannot go inside. Elm goes by himself and places himself next to the wall. When his father walks in extremely drunk, he sinks as far into the shadows as he can. Hauth is moving, but he has not opened his eyes. His father calls Elm forward towards his brother, but he cannot move, not until he sees Ione walk into the room. She’s there to give him comfort, he’s able to approach Hauth’s bed. She stands next to him. The King asks for the Nightmare Card, which is near Ione. She takes the card and passes it to the King, but he’s not able to use it on Hauth. Either Hauth is that unreachable or the King is too drunk. Hauth’s eyes open, and they see Ione. They go wide and he slowly drags his eyes away. Then his eyes close again. Elm and the King go into the hallway while Ione heads back to her room. The King asks if Elm signed the document naming him heir, which Elm confirms he did. He refuses to refer to Hauth as his brother, which the King notices. Elm only says that Hauth didn’t earn the title. There are marks on him because Hauth put them there. The King asks if he has chosen a wife and Elm says that there is a contract in place but refuses to tell the King with whom. The King almost uses his Scythe on Elm, but Elm is faster to reach his. He uses it on his father so that his father can’t use it on him. He tells the King that he won’t use the Card on him like Hauth did, he won’t make a puppet of him the way that Hauth did. The King says that’s happened to Rowan princes for centuries. When Elm has a son, he will also have to learn the pain that comes with the Scythe. Elm responds that that won’t happen. Elm goes out riding, not even really sure where he’s going, screaming in the wind until he feels free again. At that point, he’s nearly to the Hawthorn house. A couple of hours later, he returns to Stone with his hands full of Ione’s dresses from her house. He explains that he thought they might help her feel a little more like the real Ione. He asks her to come with him to the next feast. He has the Nightmare Card. He took it from the floor, where the King dropped it. They will use it to find the Maiden and then he will take her anywhere she wants to go. She agrees to attend with him. Ravyn and Jespyr are still awake when a shadow passes over the tops of the trees. The Nightmare tells them it’s time and opens up the aspen circle. They go to the alderwood and Jespyr asks if he can just use his sword to move them, but no, these are the Spirit’s woods. They only answer to her. He cuts his hand and presses his bloody finger to the bark of one of the trees and a jagged hole appears there. When Ravyn looks in, he sees darkness with the smell of salt, but then he sees a flash of silver eyes. The Spirit will not let them in unless they pay her with a charm. How lucky, Ravyn has a charm he doesn’t need. But no, they need a guide too. Someone must give their charm and then allow the spirit to guide them. It cannot be Ravyn or the Nightmare because the mist does not affect them. It has to be either Jespyr or Petyr. They decide to flip Petyr’s lucky coin. Petyr gives it to Ravyn and calls heads. When Ravyn finally flips it, he declares that it lands on heads, but Jespyr can tell that he’s lying. She storms over to the tree and place her charm inside it. She asks if Ravyn is with her, the same thing he always asks her. And he responds with her customary answer: I’m right behind you. The Shepherd King leans close to Ravyn. When he asked Ravyn what price he was willing to play to save Elsbeth, Ravyn had said he would pay whatever price was needed. Whatever price the Spirit asked. It was the same answer that the Shepherd King once gave, and the Spirit took his ability to use the Cards. The Cards that he had fractured himself to make. And then he paid it again here - with his own sister. Elm dances with a bunch of women at the feast because Ione still has not arrived. Finally, Ione walks in dressed in one of her own dresses, dressed to put on a show. Elm approaches her and asks her to dance. While they do, he has her reach into his shirt pocket and grab the Nightmare Card. She wants him to use it on her right away. Everywhere they look is full of people, so he pulls her into a shadowy corner behind a pillar, and he enters her mind. She thinks about Equinox and he sees when Tyrn barters Ione for the Card. Tyrn and Erik are both in the dungeon still, frostbitten but still alive. That is where Ione was earlier, seeing her father. He knew that Ione had been alone with Hauth on Equinox, which was not considered respectable but did nothing to stop it though, more afraid of the Rowans than he was willing to protect his daughter. Elm sees Ione as the engagement is announced, sees Hauth look at her with attraction and revulsion in one gaze. Watches as the attraction slowly fades away through the night. Watches Ione look at Elm, at him. She asks why Elm wears a lot of black and Hauth responds that it’s to hide the blood that Hauth left on him. Ione doesn’t like that. Hauth pulls Ione drunk into the garden where they dance. As Hauth twirls her in his arms, he let her go too early, making her fall. Elm watches as the other men paw at her. He watches as Ione places her Maidens Card. Her hand pressed over a cracked stone, dragging through ash. It’s not a wall, it’s a hearth, and Elm knows exactly where it is. But Ione wants to show him the rest of happened, she doesn’t want him to let her go yet. He watches as Ione saw Ravyn break Hauth’s hand, and Ione smiles, which took a lot of effort. He sees Ione beg to have her Maiden Card returned to her, or to have their engagement released. She is granted neither. He sees Hauth scream at her about Elsbeth, asking if she’s infected – Ione says no. Hauth grabs Ione by the hair, hitting her face, but Ione continued to say that Elspeth was not infected. He drags Ione to the window and puts her on top of the sill and releases her from their engagement at last - just before shoving her out the window. Ione falls out of the tower to the ground, where she expected to die. No one saw her fall. It was late and she couldn’t even scream or whisper because it hurt too much, so she just waited to die. But the Maiden saved her. She ran to an alley in town and stayed there for the night, before returning to Hawthorn house and waiting for her family. That is why Elm could not find Ione that night, that is why she was at the house when he got there. She says she wishes sometimes there were no Providence Cards at all, and he says she would be a perfect queen, but she responds that she would not be a perfect Rowan queen. She tells him that she could not wear a crown that would kill the infected. That is why she wanted to be queen in the first place. To have a real power to make change. Elm takes her to the throne room where a hearth stands dark. He shows her in the mouth of the hearth that there is a stone that lifts up. Inside, she finds a hole filled with weapons: a chain, a whip, a club… and a Maiden Card. She puts it in the bodice of her dress and asks about the weapons; they are used to teach pain. Elm knows firsthand. He leads her over to the throne and tells her there’s still one thing they have to do. He has a proposition for her. It’s the throne, and her sitting in it with him. He wants her to be Queen of Blunder. The marriage contract is between Ione and the heir. Not Hauth, but to the heir. She can still be the queen that she wanted to be. They can find her mother and brothers and release her uncle and dad if she wants to. And if the King won’t sanction the marriage, then Elm will make things public that the King does not want to come out. Such as Ravyn and Emory being infected, which the King was well aware of. Elm knows that Ione loves Elsbeth. Not despite her inspection, just because she loves her. That she loves the kingdom. There are things that the Maiden cannot break. And he wants to know the real Ione when she’s ready for that. He won’t make any demands on her, and if she does not care for him even after she releases herself in a Maiden, then they don’t have to move forward. He would release her from their agreement. She asks if that’s what he thinks… that she doesn’t care for him. He pulls her above him on the throne and she straddles his lap, asking if this is what he wants. He really, really does, but he wants her to be able to feel it when they’re together. She takes him to her room and pushes him against her closed and locked door. She pulls out her Card. It is going to be a lot to have all the feelings the Maiden has been keeping from her flood back at once. Is Elm sure he wants to see that? He insists that he’s there for her and she taps the Card. When they enter the alderwood, Petyr is not allowed to go with them. Only those who are infected are allowed in. The trees shut him out, locking everyone else in. Jespyr starts running. Elspeth is livid, the Nightmare knew this was going to happen and didn’t say anything about it. If Ravyn loses his sister just to save his brother, it will break him. But the Nightmare says that Yews do not break. They bend. As they run through the woods, the trees speak to them all the way that they speak to Taxus. Ravyn and the Shepherd King have to keep Jespyr in their sight, if they lose her, they will be lost in the wood. The trees attack them, hitting them with their branches and their thorns, while the animals of the forest dart in and out, swiping at them as well. The Nightmare watches Jespyr but sees Ayris. He’s so distracted that when a wolf comes from his left, he doesn’t see it and Ravyn has to kill the wolf, saving his life. Jespyr runs until they see a valley, where Ravyn stops at the edge but the Nightmare, who was following too closely, hits him from behind and they both fall into the valley. At the bottom, are surrounded by the bones of the people who got lost in the mist. This is where they come, this is where they die. Jespyr on the other hand, is already on the other side of the valley, climbing back up. Elspeth urges the Nightmare forward and he pulls Ravyn. Ravyn is barely able to keep going, but the Nightmare pushes him. He tells Ravyn that a King’s life is rife with burdens. There are weighty decisions that will last thousands of years, but those decisions must still be made. He knows Ravyn is strong, he’s known it since the moment they met. Ravyn has to keep being strong for what comes next. When they get to the top of the hill, they see two alder trees standing together: one white and one black. The twin alders. Jespyr is laying underneath them. Her veins run black, but the Nightmare says no Card can stop the infection or heal the degeneration. At least not yet. The alders wrap their roots around Ravyn’s ankles. They recognize him when they cut his hands and make him bleed. They ask if it’s the Card that he wants, or the throne. He wants to unite the deck to lift the mist and heal the infection. He must ask the Spirit for that; the trees separate to form a doorway in between them. He says he wants Jespyr to come with him, but she must stay with the trees. To feed them. Ravyn will not leave without her. He says his magic is not a gift, but the trees seem to think it is. That’s why they pour their magic back into the mist. Elspeth urges the Nightmare to save Jespyr. He blames everything that has happened in Blunder on himself. If he had never asked for a blessing, he wouldn’t have gotten the Cards or forsaken his children. This would’ve never happened. Five hundred years ago, a boy wore a crown, and he had everything in the world, yet always asked for more. That is the reason that they are where they are now. Elspeth tells him that he’s here for a second time. He lost Ayris but Ravyn doesn’t have to lose Jespyr. He’s the Shepherd King; he wrote Blunder’s history. Now he can rewrite it. The Shepherd King cuts his hand and places a handprint onto the white alder, and the trees recognize him. He tells them that they will not make Ravyn a monster as they did to him by forcing him to give up his sister. If they do not let go of Jespyr, he will cut their roots from the earth. The trees grab Ravyn and thrusts him through the doorway while they start to close it. They attack the Nightmare, but the Nightmare attacks them first. He uses his sword to cut their roots until he can grab Jespyr’s body and sling her over his own shoulders. Ravyn reaches out of the now very, very narrow doorway and grabs the Nightmare’s hand, yanking both him and Jespyr forward through the trees just before the doorway slams shut. Now it is just them on a pale shore with the sound of waves and the overwhelming smell of salt. Ione is back in her natural form by the time she’s done tapping the Card. Everything she’s dealt with since her engagement to Hauth washes over her all at once and she just starts screaming. She pushes Elm away after he pull her to him and asks him to give her a minute. He goes out into the hallway and then to Hauth’s room, where Elm returns the Nightmare Card. He tells Linden, who is waiting at Hauth’s bedside, that Hauth is not worth another minute of his time before Elm returns and sits outside of Ione’s bedroom door. He thinks about the Scythe and who he would be without it. Does he even know? What about his dad or Hauth. He can hear Ione crying inside her room and he starts to cry himself. He falls asleep leaning against her door, but in the morning, Ione pulls Elm into her room and lays down in the bed with him. They sleep entwined with her arms around Elm and when he wakes up, he asks if she hates him. She doesn’t. She asks Elm when he saw her riding her horse and he explains that he and Jespyr were patrolling the forest road. They were supposed to watch for highwaymen, but they were playing cards instead when Ione rode past them so fast that she didn’t even see them. He liked the way she was laughing. Ione admits she always thought Elm was beautiful. But also, an asshole. He never talked to anybody. He only wore black. It made for a very imposing figure. She envied Elm when he stood up to Hauth on Market Day. Everything that Hauth did to her makes her bitter and angry. She liked the idea that she could be queen, she liked how the Maiden stopped her from feeling regret or worry or fear. Elm tells her that she can tell him all of her terrible truths. He’s not going anywhere. They go out riding and Ione laughs and smiles, and Elm is overcome with love for her. They stop and sit under a copse of trees, and they make love for the first time. Afterward, he tells Ione everything. He tells her about when he was a kid, when his mom died, about Hauth and his dad, about the Yews taking him in, about becoming a Destrier, and Emory’s infection and degeneration, and the Providence Cards, and what the King’s plan was, and Elsbeth and her magic and the Shepherd King, and how they are going to find the Twin Alders. And how he will do everything to keep them safe when they return. She asks about her mom and brothers, but Elm says he doesn’t know where they are. It was important that he not know and she’s shocked, she didn’t know that Elm was part of their disappearance. He explains that Jespyr warned the Hawthorn family, but he compelled the Spindles to leave. He tried to compel Ione too, but he didn’t realize that Ione was not in Spindle house. He wanted to get them out because he doesn’t believe in anything that he’s been told. He would rather Stone burn down and the Spirit consume them all than kill a woman who hid an infected niece. He’s going to change things in Blunder. They ride back to Stone and decide to announce their marriage contract that night, but when they get there, there is a bell tolling. Elm doesn’t know what it’s signifying but thinks that Ravyn may have returned earlier than expected. But when he walks into his room, it’s Hauth who’s waiting for him. On the banks of the shore, Ravyn, Elspeth, and the Nightmare all worry about Jespyr. She will not wake up, and Ravyn cannot reach her with the Nightmare Card. All they can do is wait for the Spirit to show up. Ravyn is very concerned, but the Nightmare tells him that Jespyr will not die. They don’t wait too long before the Spirt of the Wood comes out of the water. She greets them all by name. Hauth immediately pulls his Scythe Card and tells Elm not to move, not even to speak. Elm is frozen with one hand in his pocket and the other holding Ione’s hand. Hauth can tell that Elm is trying to figure out how he is there when he was drooling in his bed the last time Elm saw him. When Hauth woke up, he was astounded to Ione standing next to his bed - healthy and not at all dead. He realized it must’ve been the Maiden Card that he healed her from when Hauth threw her out the window. He tried to tell his father when the King used the Nightmare Card, but the King was too drunk to understand him. However, Linden figured it out. Hauth calls Linden out from the shadows and Linden takes Elm’s Scythe away. Linden’s scars are now gone and his skin completely unblemished. When Elm returned the Nightmare Card last night, Linden used it and Hauth was able to say “Maiden”. Hauth had told Linden where Ione’s Maiden Card was hidden, but when Linden went to the throne room, he could not find it. He went to Ione’s room, but it was locked, so he went to Prince Elm’s, and it was not. He found Elm’s keys because Elm is terrible about carrying them and went back to Ione’s room where it took him about five minutes to find her Maiden. He tapped it and used it on himself before taking it to Hauth’s room. Elm wants to know where Ravyn and Jespyr are, Elm (under the Scythe’s power), tells him that they went for the Twin Alders. But he doesn’t know where the Card is or when they’ll be back. In between answers, Elm is being beaten. He spits blood and tells Hauth that his time is numbered. Elm knows what woke up when Hauth tried to kill Elspeth Spindle and nothing can save Hauth from him. Hauth tells Linden to give them Ione the Maiden Card back, and he forces Ione to tap it. He wants to do a little experiment. He stabs Ione directly in the heart. She collapses but is conscious long enough to take the dagger out of her chest before she stops moving completely. Elm cannot stop looking at her and the blood that is pooling around her. He has to hope that the Maiden will save her, but he cannot see how it could. He just watches Ione as she lays there for one minute, then two minutes, and she does not move. Elm starts screaming and Hauth shoves him on the ground, telling Elm not to get back up. Elm pulls himself over to Ione and cradles her head in his hands. That’s how he’s sitting when Ione says his name. He’s so relieved that he pulls Ione into his arms and cries. Hauth and Linden are completely amazed. Elm is so angry that even without his Scythe, he plans to kill his brother. But they are interrupted when Filick walks in and takes in the whole scene. He really needs to start knocking louder. Hauth tells Filick that he’s not needed, but Filick delays leaving. Hauth wasn’t in his room, they were worried. Ione’s lost a lot of blood, is Hauth sure he’s not needed. Before Filick is forced to leave the room, the King comes in. He is so grateful to see Hauth alive and well. Elm checks Ione’s chest and her wound is shrinking. It’s about halfway healed now. Hauth tells the King to host tonight’s feast in his honor, and he will tell the King everything that has happened. The Spirit kind of looks like the Nightmare on the Nightmare Card, but with silver eyes instead of yellow. She takes her claws and uses them to open her own stomach, just to pull the Twin Alders out of it. She offers to let Ravyn use the Card. He can’t take it, but he can tap it. There is still a barter to make before he can have it. Before he finishes tapping it, the Nightmare tells Ravyn to be careful what he says to the Spirit. Ravyn taps the card and the Spirit speaks to him in front of the Nightmare and Elsbeth. She calls Ravyn a lamb to slaughter, brought here by the Shepherd King, but Ravyn is no lamb. She comments that he seems determined to die like a lamb on the solstice and the nightmare is astounded. Ravyn would sacrifice himself to save Elsbeth - to save Taxus? And Ravyn just says yes. He’s been dying ever since his brother got sick. It is a price he would happily pay. He’s been dying even quicker ever since Elsbeth disappeared. And now Jespyr has been taken by the mist. Ravyn is leaving with the Card or not at all, regardless of the cost. The Spirit takes him by the hand and pulls Ravyn into the water. When he opens his eyes, he’s standing in a field of snow. It is just him and the Spirit there. She tells him they’re eight hundred years in the past. She asks if he’s like the Shepherd King: clever and imaginative, not knowing any virtue greater than his desire for more Cards. Ravyn says he’s a thief and a liar so most would say he’s lacking virtue in general. But love, he knows something about that. He thinks about his parents, about his siblings, about Elm. About Elsbeth. The Spirit makes Ravyn an offer. Leave the Twin Alders with her and she will save the people that he loves. His siblings will be free of the infection, Elsbeth will be free of the infection and the Shepherd King too. And Elm will be saved from his almost certain ruinous fate. But when questioned, she refuses to tell Ravyn what that fate is. So, he has no choice but to follow his original plan and leave with the Twin Alders. Her second offer is for him to take the throne. Ravyn would not have to bow before his uncle. He could be a measured careful king. Cognizant of the balance that is needed with magic. He could make his own rules. But Ravyn has no desire for the throne either. She tells Ravyn that he has three heads. Highwayman, Destrier, and another identity of age and of birthright. If he can name that third head, then she will give him the final Card. If he can’t, she keeps it. What is his real name? He asks for two clues since he has already denied two offers from her. Balance, you know. So, she quotes him what the Old Book of Alders says about uniting the deck. The deck of Cards will unite under the King’s namesake tree, but that tree is not a rowan. That is Ravyn’s first clue. She will show him the second. The world around them changes. They are still standing in snow near the stone chamber in the shadow of yew trees. She tells them they’re five hundred years in the past. They go inside the castle and Ravyn sees a feast happening, but the Shepherd King is not paying attention to it. He is focused completely on the Old Book of Alders on his lap. But he notices when people start running from their seats. The Shepherd King stands, but a gloved hand comes from behind his throne and holds him back. It is Brutus Rowan with his Black Horse and his Scythe. He pulls out a dagger and stabs the Shepherd King in the ribs. Destriers come into the room and Brutus orders them to find Tilly, so that she cannot heal her father, and then to find the other kids. Bring them to Brutus. The scene changes and Ravyn is outside of the Spirit’s chamber. He watches as the Shepherd King carries Tilly’s dead body to the chamber, followed by four of his sons. He hurries the children into the chamber, but Brutus is waiting inside. Brutus knocks the Shepherd King’s sword away and Taxus sets Tilly’s body down, standing between Brutus and his sons. He explains to Brutus that he didn’t know that the Spirit would take Ayris. He didn’t want her to die. Brutus is beyond apologies. Magic has made the Shepherd King awful and twisted beyond recognition, no longer fit to rule. Taxus asks if Brutus plans to kill his children and Brutus response that it will pain him to do it but do it he will. So many things have pained him thus far, and like the King said, to command the Scythe is to command pain. Destriers file into the chamber and Brutus demands to know the location of the Twin Alders Card, but the Shepherd King refuses to give it. Brutus throws Taxus on the stone table and stabs him through the chest with a sword. He then takes his Scythe and turns it on the Destriers around him. He tells them to kill the children. Taxus doesn’t die right away. He tells Brutus that he will never really die. He is the shepherd of shadow, the phantom of fright, the demon in the daydream, and the nightmare in the night. Taxus tells his sons that he will find them on the other side of the veil. The Destriers burn the chamber. When Brutus leaves the chamber, he sees a boy in the meadow. It’s Bennett, who declares that he will kill Brutus for what he’s just done. Brutus pulls out his Scythe and demands that Bennett come to him. But Bennett is immune to most of the Providence Cards. Like Ravyn. They spar, but Brutus is much larger and much older and much better trained than Bennett. He knocks Bennett’s sword away and lifts his hand to kill the boy, but Bennett steps in close and pulls the Scythe from Brutus’ hand. He rips the Scythe in half. He then takes the Mirror from his own pocket and disappears. He goes into hiding. The Destriers look for him, but Bennett is not found. Ravyn sees him with a woman saying marriage vows under twisting trees. He sees Bennett again, this time old and stooped with age. Bennett climbs into the chamber, opens the stone, and drops his Nightmare and Mirror Cards into it. He tells his father to be wary, be clever, and be good. Ravyn is surprised to see that the Scythe Card could be destroyed. The Spirit replies that although four were made, no one has seen the Rowans use more than three at a time. Ravyn had always been told that the magic of the Cards did not fade or decay, and they could not be destroyed, but the Spirit only responds that the Nightmare is a liar. Bennett could destroy the Cards. She asks Ravyn for his answer, Ravyn knows now exactly who he is. He swung from the same trees that Tilly did with his siblings. He remembers the name that the Shepherd King gave the trees. An old name for an old, twisted tree. An old name for a yew. His name is Taxus. Hauth is still using the Maiden Card. He has taken it back from Ione and is now at a feast sitting next to his father with Ione on his other side. Linden still holds Elm’s Scythe. Hauth makes an announcement. He is so happy that he is back and proud to say that he protects Blunder. Since his illness, family means much more to him than it did before. He no longer wants to take his family for granted. He’s happy that the people of Blunder accepted Elm while Hauth was abed and he bids Elm to come to the dais and refill their goblets. Elm is under the Scythe’s power and has no choice but to do as commanded. Linden gives Elm a flagon of wine. Hauth has Elm fill the King’s empty goblet and toasts to family. He turns to the King and quietly says that he understands Ravyn will return shortly with the woman who attacked him - who should be dead. The King says that he needed Elsbeth to find the Twin Alders, but Hauth disagrees. His father is a fool. Why would you want to get rid of the mist and the infection when it is the only thing that the people fear. It is the only thing that keeps the Rowans on the throne. And not only is Ravyn going to come back with the Twin Alders, but he’s going to come back with the Shepherd King. Elm points out that when the Shepherd King does return, it will be Hauth who has to answer to him. But that is why Hauth has Elm and Ione. As bargaining chips. It’s then that the King starts to choke and Hauth orders with his Scythe for everyone to ignore the King. The King is dying from poisoned wine, and it wasn’t Hauth that poured his cup. It was Elm. The King refuses to go quietly though and he lunges forward, knocking Hauth to the ground. He pulls Hauth’s Scythe from Hauth’s hand and throws it to the floor, releasing Elm and the others from Hauth’s command. People start to flee the hall. The King takes his own Scythe Card and gives it to Elm. Elm uses it as his brother screams to have him arrested. Elm commands everyone to be still and pushes out his command as far as it will go. He takes his own Scythe from Linden and pulls Ione out of her seat, asking her to come with him. Even the guards in the tower and the stable boys aren’t moving, his command has gone so far. They take his horse and they ride away. Elm gives Ione his own Scythe while keeping his father’s. He tells Ione that she has to get away before the Destriers come. Find the others and if she cannot do that, stay out of sight in the mist. Use the Scythe if anybody looks at her strangely. He has to stay and be the chip that Hauth can barter with. She doesn’t want to go, or rather, she doesn’t want to go without him, but he makes her leave. He forces her not to look back, using the Scythe for as long as he can, ignoring the pain if it means Ione is safe. He is sitting on the ground looking at the moon when the Destriers find him. The Nightmare drops to the ground and holds Jespyr in his lap. The black in her veins is no longer spreading, but her breathing is labored. Ravyn has not yet returned and the Nightmare comments that Jespyr reminds him of both Ayris and Tilly. He confirms what Elsbeth thinks, that Brutus killed him and his children. When he took Ayris to the alderwood, the Spirit killed her. He tried to carry her body back but only made it halfway before setting Ayris’ body down in a quiet glen and walking away. He wanted to remember everything the Spirit and the trees had told him about how to unite the deck and make charms. He had to preserve his strength for that. Brutus waited three months before getting his revenge. Taxus tells Elsbeth it won’t be long before he leaves her, but she tells him that she will not allow Ravyn to unite the deck and sacrifice himself. The Nightmare will not allow that either. He has a plan. Before he can reveal it, Ravyn lands on the shore from a wave. He is holding the Twin Alders Card in his hand. All it cost him was his name and he tells them he knows who he is now. Descended from Bennett Taxus. Elspeth is shaken, she did not suspect. But she quickly puts it all together. But Ravyn tells Taxus that he knows how Taxus died and assumes that Taxus wants revenge, but he will not be the person that helps get it. He will not steal the throne, and he will not become king. But that’s not what the Shepherd King wants. He wants balance. He will take the throne back, but not for Raven… for Elm. The Scythe has been used to cause unspeakable pain for hundreds of years. Children have been killed; Physicians have been turned into murderers. If his heirs were to take the throne back, there would be civil unrest. Taxus does not want to cause Blunder more pain. However, Elm has lived his life under the Scythe. He has looked pain in the eye and refused to let it make a monster of him. He is better than either the Shepherd King or Ravyn. The Spirit comes out of the water. She tells them if they’re going to unite the deck and rewrite history, they’ll need to be fast about it. The Twin Alders makes you lose all sense of time. Ravyn taps it again and the world changes quickly. The Nightmare, who had stood and left Jespyr on the ground while he spoke to Ravyn, lunges to pick up Jespyr again. As he lunges, he falls and hits his head hard. When he looks up, the Twin Alders are above him again. They are back in the alderwood, but now there is snow on the ground. It must be close to solstice. The Nightmare cuts his hand and asks one of the trees what day it is. It’s not close to the solstice, it is the day of the solstice. They have been with the Spirit for twenty-four days. And now they have to hurry, they have to get back to Yew before the night is over. The Nightmare puts Jespyr over his shoulder and starts to run with Ravyn following after them. They run down the hill, into the valley, back up, and through the woods where the beast of prey prowl around them. The Nightmare carries Jespyr while Ravyn swings his sword at anything that comes too close, protecting all three of them. The Shepherd King will not release Jespyr. He will not relive what happened to Ayris. They continue to run and at one point Ravyn cannot keep going. He stumbles, but the Nightmare makes him get back up. Petyr is no longer waiting when they get out of the woods. Ravyn tells the Nightmare that even if they get to Castle Yew in time, he doesn’t have all of the Cards. He has everything but the Scythe, which is carried by Elm. Jespyr wakes for just a minute, complains that the Nightmare smells bad, touches Ravyn’s broken nose, and then slips back into unconsciousness. Ravyn’s nose doesn’t hurt anymore; the swelling has gone down. They make it all the way to the lake, where the Nightmare tells Ravyn that they won’t have to fight the monsters this time since the barter has already been paid. Before they can dive in, Ravyn smells salt and feels something familiar. Someone is trying to use a Providence Card against him, but he is immune to it. He looks behind him and finds Petyr and Ione. Elsbeth is delighted to see Ione. She is delighted to see Ione as Ione. Jespyr is wrestled away from the Nightmare so that Petyr can carry her instead. Ione explains that Elm is not there, he is at Stone with Hauth. That Hauth was healed by the Maiden Card and then killed his father. No one knows what’s happening to Elm right now other than the fact that Hauth is keeping him alive to trade for the Twin Alders Card. Ione explains that Elm compelled her to leave and she rode directly to Castle Yew, begging to know where Ravyn had gone. His father tried to accompany her, but she left without him. She got lost immediately when she rode into the woods, but then she found a path as if the trees opened it for her. She got to the lake and crossed it on her horse. It was weird, because the horse seemed afraid of the water. On the other side, the crows were following her, but then she found the encampment with the women wearing masks of bone and she saw her mother and brothers. Two days later, she found Petyr, who had gone back to bury Wik. They don’t have much time; they need to get back to the chamber to get the Cards in the stone table. Then they will unite the deck, and Ravyn thinks to himself that he will do it, but the Nightmare sees his face and tells him that he has a different plan. Ravyn can’t talk about it now; they have to get across the lake. They put Jespyr on Elm’s horse and Ione leads the horse into the water as she speaks calmly in its ear. They all cross the lake. Petyr is very nervous, and Ravyn’s legs are cramping, but they all make it across. They continue on until they find the path that had been opened by the Nightmare and follow it back to Castle Yew. They can see the towers in the distance, but as soon as they walk into the meadow, they can smell smoke. Hauth is already there. The Nightmare puts his hand over Ravyn’s mouth and pulls him back into the trees. Now would be a good time to listen to his plan. Elm is in the dungeon with Erik and Tyrn. It is so cold and nobody comes down there except the person with rotten bread and water, and even that is sporadic. At some point, Filick brings Elm a tonic and a blanket, and reminds him that Ravyn will come. Elm is not so sure he’ll make it in time. About ten days in, Elm can hear Destriers coming down the corridor. Erik encourages Elm not to falter. When the Destriers come in, Linden is there with a Chalice Card. They beat Elm and then he makes Elm drink. He asks where Ravyn and Jespyr went, but Elm doesn’t know, so they beat him again. Linden returns a couple hours later and asks where Ione Hawthorn is, but Elm doesn’t know. Hauth comes down and uses the Scythe. He wants to know why Elm did not flee with Ione. Elm is honest - he had no choice. He’s hostage enough for Hauth, plus Elm wanted to stay and kill Hauth. Hauth is still under the Maiden’s effects and has no feeling whatsoever. He never cared for Ione, but he will still hunt her down and take back the Scythe that she holds. Elm tells Hauth that he’s been betraying them for years. He was on the forest road when Hauth was injured. He was a highwayman when the Iron Gate was stolen from Wayland Pine. And he would do it all again. Once Hauth and his Destriers leave, Erik asks Elm if that’s true. Was he on the forest road when the Iron Gate was stolen? He was, and so was Elsbeth. She had been helping them find the deck to heal Emory and herself. Tyrn asks if Ione is safe, but Elm doesn’t know. He tells Tyrn to pray that Ione forgives him for trading the Card for her marriage to Hauth, because Elm never will. When Elm sleeps, he dreams of Ione, but he wakes shivering. Erik tells him he shouldn’t sleep for as long because he needs to keep his body moving to stay warm. Erik comes clean to Elm. Elspeth’s mother was infected. She suffered her degeneration in silence to try to hide it from her husband, knowing that if he ever had the Chalice used against him, he would be killed for her secret. She died and then Elspeth caught the infection, and Erik began to hate who he was. Hate the Destriers and the laws. He was a traitor in his heart, and when Ravyn replaced him, he believed Ravyn was just as cold as he had been. At least, until Market Dat when he saw Ravyn with Elspeth. He realized then that the Captain of the Destriers was just a mask that Ravyn wore. Tyrn whines about their food and Erik tells him to starve. Obviously, he’s not forgiven his brother-in-law. Tyrn ask them if it would be a surprise to find out that he killed a man - and it would, a little bit. He explains that he found the Nightmare Card when he met a highwayman on the road by chance. He saw the velvet peeking out from the highwayman’s sleeve, and he stole the Card and killed the man. He felt no joy when he traded the Card for Ione’s engagement. He was afraid of losing everything that he had gained, and he betrayed Elspeth because of that. He was afraid that if Ione didn’t become queen that he would’ve murdered a man for nothing. He admits that he is weak. Everybody knows it. Weak and blood stained. Elm responds - aren’t they all. At some point, they’re all taken out of the dungeons. The Destriers are not gentle with them, they slam them against the cells and beat them as they go. They strap them to horses and ride to Castle Yew. But when they get there, the place is desolate. It is completely empty. Hauth plans to burn it down tonight - the night of the solstice. When they get towards the chamber in the meadow, they find even more Destriers with Ravyn’s parents, Jon Thistle, and Emory. Emory’s hand is bleeding, and Hauth reveals that he used the Scythe Card and found out about the stone table. He used Emory’s blood to open the table and take all of the cards that Ravyn had left behind. Six of them. But Hauth has no interest in uniting the deck. Ravyn must return tonight if he wants to save his brother, and Hauth plans to use all of these people as bait. Hauth has no intention of actually letting them go. They will all die tonight, but Ravyn doesn’t need to know that. Elm counts fifteen Destriers in total, meaning that not all of them have Black Horses. Emory tells Hauth that he won’t win. When Hauth comes closer to him, Emory grabs his wrist and insists that Hauth won’t win. For nothing is safe and nothing is free, debt follows all men no matter their plea. When the shepherd returns, a new day shall ring. Death to the Rowans, long live the King. When Emory says this last part, he looks directly at Elm. Hauth hits Emory across the face with his fist, and Emory falls. He does not get back up. They’re all pleading for Hauth to leave Emory alone when there’s movement in the meadow. Ione comes into the clearing. She has three Providence Cards in her palm. The Maiden, Elm’s Scythe, and the Twin Alders. Both Tyrn and Elm beg for her to go, but Ione plants her feet and speaks to Hauth. Hauth demands to know where Ravyn is. She taps the Maiden Card and refuses to tell him, Hauth goes for his Scythe. Before he can tap it, a knife buries itself in his hand and the Scythe slides out of Hauth’s grasp. Elm hears Ravyn’s voice in his head. Ravyn appears in the air in front of Ione. He points to all the Destriers and tells them that he is no longer their Captain, but he has business with their King. If they wish to live, they should leave now. The Destriers are not interested in leaving. Ravyn speaks to Elm’s mind and tells him to follow Ione into the woods and get them both to the stone chamber. This is all about to end. Hauth commands the Destriers to kill the prisoners as Ravyn disappears again and Ione runs for the woods. Before the Destriers can strike with their swords, the earth begins to shake and the trees attack. Some of the Destriers are caught by the trees and wrenched to the ground, sucked beneath their roots and killed. Elm trips when the ground shakes again, falling into Erik and Tyrn. When he looks up, several Destriers are running after Ione. When the ground rolls, Ravyn and Jespyr do not stumble, they are well used to the Shepherd King’s tricks. When Hauth gives the order to kill the prisoners, Jespyr is waiting in the shadows. She cannot use her sword because she’s still too weak, but she takes two Destriers down with her knives. A third lunges at her, but she dodges him, and Petyr comes out from behind her to knock the Destrier off his feet. The yew tree takes care of the rest. Another Destrier who had not run after Ione and had been standing behind Jon Thistle with his sword drawn fell when the trees rumbled, and when given the option by Ravyn, he surrenders and runs into the night. Eight Destriers are chasing Ione. Elm, Erik, and Tyrn are chasing the Destriers (slowly since their feet are frostbitten). Everything is going to plan. Hauth is fighting trees, they are keeping him away from his Scythe Card which is on the ground. Ravyn turns to his family and Jon Thistle. Jespyr has Emory in her arms. Ravyn tells them to take Jespyr and Emory back to the house and keep them safe. They need to rest. After some argument, they go. Petyr tells Ravyn that he will escort the others back to Castle Yew, but then he will be back. Ravyn uses the Nightmare Card to speak to Elspeth. He tells the Nightmare and Elspeth that the Yew family is on their way to the castle and Elm is on his way to the chamber. There’s only thirty minutes until midnight, according to the trees. Ravyn has to deal with Hauth and bring him and the Cards he carries to the chamber. Ravyn has been waiting for this moment for years. He tells the Nightmare he does not need the help of the trees, he can handle Hauth himself. And he tells Elspeth he loves her - for the first time. Ravyn tackles Hauth and they roll in the snow. Hauth actually scratches Ravyn with a dagger, swiping across his torso. But then Ravyn uses his Mirror Card and disappears. He’s also using his Nightmare Card and speaks to Hauth’s mind, telling him that he inherited the Card. Hauth is using his Black Horse, but Ravyn is still able to get a dagger to his neck. But Hauth is under the effects of the Maiden, and he doesn’t care what Ravyn does to him. He cannot die. He pushes himself forward so that his neck presses into Ravyn’s dagger. Hauth presses so hard that he knocks Ravyn down and he punches Ravyn in the sides, breaking his ribs. Ravyn takes Hauth by the throat and rolls him into the ground. He punches Hauth over and over again, insisting that they are going to the chamber. Hauth wants to know how Ravyn plans to get him there since he can’t use the Scythe. Ravyn pulls the Cards out of Hauth’s pocket. He throws them on the ground, ignoring most of the Cards as he looks for the Scythe. He takes Scythe in his hands, and he tears it in half. Hauth is astounded. But then he takes a dagger and stabs it into Ravyn’s ribs. Right in the spot that Brutus Rowan stabbed the Shepherd King. Hauth reaches into Ravyn’s pocket and takes out the Nightmare and the Mirror. He leaves Ravyn in the snow and taps the Mirror Card to disappear. Elspeth can see Ione riding through the forest towards her and the Nightmare. She’s leading the Destriers towards them, and the Nightmare uses the trees to cut them down. Pretty soon they can hear the voices of Erik, Tyrn, and Elm as they walk toward them. There’s a lot of confusion on the part of Tyrn and Erik, especially when they see Elspeth, but they are promised answers later. The bindings holding their arms are cut and the Nightmare asks how many dead Destriers they saw on their way. Eight of them followed Ione, four of them were seen by Elm on his way, and three of them were just taken by the trees - meaning that there is one left. Of course it is Royce Linden, who steps out of the trees with a bow. He shoots, missing Elm and hitting Ione in the shoulder. The Nightmare and Elm both run at him and the Nightmare knocks Linden down, but Elm is the one that does the honors - taking the Shepherd King’s sword and using it to stab Linden in the chest before returning it to the Shepherd King. He had made a promise to kill Linden if he ever hurt Ione again. Ione uses the Maiden Card to heal herself, passing it to Elm and to Erik and to Tyrn so that their frostbitten toes are healed, as well as any other injuries they have. Now they wait for Ravyn, but Elspeth and the Nightmare can see the Cards running in the opposite direction of the chamber. They realize that something is wrong. The Nightmare tells Elm and Ione to get to the chamber while he runs after Hauth. They find Ravyn bleeding on the ground, still conscious but struggling to stay alive. He wants to tell Elsbeth he’s sorry for not surviving and giving them the time that they wanted, but they do not have time for apologies right now either. Ravyn tells them to go after Hauth, they have to finish before midnight or else all of this was for nothing. The Nightmare takes off after Hauth and catches him fairly quickly. He uses the trees to drag Hauth back to the chamber and drop him inside. He tells Hauth that he is the last Rowan. Rowans and yews used to grow together in the wood, in balance with each other. In balance with the magic. It’s been a long time since that happened. Hauth says the Nightmare might’ve killed Elm quickly, but he’s not so easy to kill. The Nightmare corrects him. He is not killing Elm. He’s crowning Elm. Hauth is the last Rowan because Elm is something in between a Rowan and a Yew. First of his name, King of the Elms. Elm and Ione climb through the chamber window. The Nightmare gives his sword to Elm and bids him to use it on Hauth. He must be getting back; his family has been waiting for him. The Nightmare leaves. Ione told Elm on the way to the chamber what needed to happen next. What he would need to do. Elm wasn’t ready before, but he’s ready now to step up and become King of Blunder, with Ione at his side to help change things. But Hauth tells them they’ve forgotten a pretty important step. There’s no one left in the chamber who is infected. That’s true, Ione agrees. There’s no one who’s infected yet. She places all the Providence Cards on the stone as Elm keeps the sword leveled at Hauth. Hath says there’s another problem: Hauth can’t die. He’s using the Maiden. He lunges forward and catches the sword in his hand. He holds the blade of the sword while he wraps the fingers of his other hand around Elm’s throat. He plays right into their plan, because that is the hand that he keeps his charm on. Elm grabs the charm and rips it off of Hauth’s wrist and Hauth is immediately enveloped by the mist. He starts to twist and scream, and his veins run black. Elm can’t kill him alone and Ione helps him. She grabs his hand holding the sword and together they press it into Hauth’s chest. He bleeds on the deck and slowly the Providence Cards disappear. The Maiden is still trying to heal Hauth, but he is completely taken by the mist. He rips himself off of the sword and past Ione, throwing himself out of the chamber window and running into the woods. He leaves his crown behind. On the stone table where the deck laid there is one Card. It doesn’t look familiar. In this moment, when Elm becomes King of Blunder, he realizes that everything in his life has been leading him to this moment. He picks up the new Card, puts it in his pocket, and he and Ione climb out of the window. They spot a trail of blood leading back toward the castle. Ravyn wakes up while he’s being dragged by Petyr, who holds his shoulders, as Ravyn’s family follow them. Petyr is dragging him through the castle to the table in the hall, which they left lay him on top of. They are panicking, not sure what to do with Ravyn’s wound, when the Nightmare storms into the castle. He tells Jespyr to light a fire and Jon Thistle to cut away Ravyn’s tunic. The rest of them are going to need to hold Ravyn down. Everybody is bewildered, Ravyn can’t use the Maiden Card. The Nightmare points out that they’ve got two other kids that have magic. Jespyr doesn’t even know what her magic is yet, but she’s about to find out. Magic runs in bloodlines, like how Ravyn has the same gift as Bennett. Tilly could heal. The Nightmare has the others hold Ravyn still as he pulls the dagger out of Ravyn’s ribs, and Jespyr places her hands on the wound. Ravyn passes out from the pain. When he wakes up, Ravyn is alive and Elm is sitting next to him. The new King of Blunder. He’s been using the new Providence Card, the Shepherd. It has a picture of a man with golden armor and yellow eyes, and it takes away someone’s magic. Emory has already used it and is feeling much better. Everyone is so happy to see Ravyn alive and awake, and Ravyn apologizes to Elm for leaving him in Stone. He shouldn’t have done it. He knew how much Elm hated it there, but Elm tell Ravyn it was exactly where he needed to be. Ravyn falls asleep again, and he wakes up that night with the Nightmare sitting next to him. He needs to show Ravyn something, and he takes him back into the woods. Taxus explains that the Cards that were used to unite the deck have disappeared, but the Cards that were not used are still floating around. He has the second Nightmare Card in his hand. He takes Ravyn to the chamber, where they see the Shepherd King’s crown and the Rowan crown sitting on the table together. Taxus asks if Ravyn will tell his family who they are descended from, but Ravyn isn’t sure yet. He reminds Ravyn that Elsbeth thought people wouldn’t love her for who she was, and she’s been proved wrong. Ravyn shouldn’t be afraid to tell his family. He explains that when he first entered Elspeth’s mind, he thought he could be the father she deserved after doing so poorly with his own kids. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to care for her. Taxus tells Ravyn that Elspeth cannot touch the Shepherd Card. If she does, she will absorb every payment that was made for the Shepherd as well as for all the Cards that were traded to receive the Shepherd. And she would not be healed. Ravyn is obviously upset. Part of the reason he did this was to save her. Taxus reveals that there is one way. The Shepherd King gives Ravyn the last Nightmare Card and tells him to destroy it. If he does, then Elspeth’s degeneration will have nothing to cling to and she will return, while Taxus finally gets to rest. He couldn’t tell them before this, they had to unite the deck and rewrite history. He had to lead both Ravyn and Elm to where they needed to be. And he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Elspeth yet. Ravyn goes out to the meadow and waits ten minutes for Taxus to say goodbye to Elspeth before ripping the Card in two. The Shepherd King apologizes to Elspeth. He’s sorry because he was too alone in the dark, and he dragged her down with it, but Elspeth maintains that it was all worth it to make the deck and lift the mist. To right old wrongs. And she would do it all again just to know Taxus. He doesn’t know what it will be like to finally go through the veil, but he hopes that it’s gentle and quiet like when Elspeth freed him from the Nightmare Card. She tells him their story one last time. Elm releases a statement. The mists have been lifted. He has the Shepherd Card, should anyone choose to let go of their magic. If they choose to keep it, there will be no punishment for that. Anyone who needs a place to stay is welcome to come to Stone and stay there as long as needed. The castle is now open to all. On the spring equinox, they all gather together at Hawthorn house to celebrate the wedding of Elm and Ione. They are all there: Elspeth’s dad and stepmother and half-sisters; Ione’s brothers, mom, and dad (although he’s forced to sit in the back); Elm’s aunt and uncle, Jespyr, Ravyn, and Emory; Petyr and Jon Thistle; Filick Willow. They’re all laughing together - except for Elspeth’s stepmom. Ravyn is the best man, and Elspeth is the maid of honor. Everyone is so happy for the couple and as they trail out of the ceremony (Elm wearing the Shepherd King’s sword), Elspeth thinks she sees, just for a moment, the Shepherd King coming down a trail. But it can’t be him. She knows that he has been reunited with his children. Ravyn saw it while using the Mirror Card. Ravyn never got rid of his magic. He used it to destroy the last Scythe Card. He didn’t wish to be cured. It’s his own small way of holding onto what happened in the Alderwood, and his way of holding on to Taxus.