Page 28 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

I go so still that I can barely feel my heart pounding inmy chest. They talk of cruelty? I’m not sure I have ever heard anything so cruel as their mockery of my love.

I turn away sharply and stomp off to the campfire. This close to the flames, the air is thick, smoky. But at least the Blades lose interest in me in favor of the other, more willing women who sidle up to them.

Girlie.A soft, almost pleading voice comes from behind a flowering shrub. I spin, muscles tensing, and let out a tight breath when I see the cloudfox peeking between the iridescent blue blossoms.

I press my lips together tightly. My first instinct is to tell the cloudfox once more to get out of my sight and leave me alone. I hurt it before—it should know better.

But instead, I ask warily,Why have you been following me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll hurt you again?

The cloudfox’s silvery eyes flash, showing the whites, her paws anxiously prancing a few inches above the grass.

Yes, yes, to the hurt.Her voice trembles, but she holds her ground.But now we are even, yes? Girlie looked into my mind…I looked into girlie’s, too.

I wrinkle my brow, still braced for danger.What do you mean?

I saw…Her voice softens to a hush.I saw girlie has the power to grant a name. I saw what girlie really is. I am…pulled…to girlie.

I glance over my shoulder, instinctively checking that we’re alone.You want a name? That’s what this is about?

She nods eagerly, her blue tongue lolling.

I twist my twine ring, unsure if I can trust her. The request shouldn’t completely catch me off guard. Regular animals—mice, cats, birds—don’t care about names. They can’t grasp the concept of a name's meaning. They simplyidentify one another by rudimentary features like feather color or tail shape.

But fae creatures, I’m learning,cravea name.

For them, names hold immense power. They cannot give themselves a name; it must be uncovered like a long-buried treasure, revealed only with patience and insight. It took me weeks, but when I finally discovered Tòrr’s name, I was able to achieve the impossible—to mount and command him.

I will find your name,I promise the cloudfox,but in return, you must do something for me.

I glance at Iyre’s carriage. She keeps it locked and guarded by Paz, her companion, so there is no way to sneak in to access the bottles now. I’ll have to wait until she moves them to her tower room.

The cloudfox’s bushy tail wags, throwing off small puffs of cloud that dissipate into the air.Name your task!

I pause.First, how can I trust you?

Her rump wiggles as she prances.We will strike a fae bargain!

I’m unsure what exactly she means.And if you lie again?

Does girlie not know anything? Fae bargains are binding!She sits straight and recites a singsong rhyme.‘A pinch of earth to close the deal; what’s given now, the ground will seal.’

She scratches her silver claws in the dirt and looks at me expectantly.

I scoop a small pinch of the loosened soil and rub it between my fingertips.Like this?

Yes, yes. We mix our earth. The deal is sealed.

She drags her paw through our two piles of soil until they’re one.

This is new information to me. The Book of the Immortals mentions fae bargains only in passing. As far as I know, fae can lie, cheat, and steal with impunity. The fact that anything at all can bind them is…powerful.

Slowly, I brush the dirt off my fingers.

When we reach Drahallen Hall,I say,Come find me. I will give you instructions.

The cloudfox bobs her chin excitedly. She crouches to bound off into the woods but then pauses and turns back.

Girlie should be more careful around the woman in white,she warns.

---