Page 4 of Stolen Thorn Bride

She’d asked herself that question far more than was healthy, and continued to ask it as she made her way back through the village towards home, stopping only to purchase a hank of rope from the shop.

* * *

That night,as the fire burned low and Kasia tucked her two youngest siblings into the lone bed in the cottage’s tiny second room, Ellery began demanding a story, as she always did. More because she didn’t want to go to bed than because she wanted a story, but Kasia always obliged.

Stories, she believed, were important, and she’d loved hearing them for as long as she could remember—from her father, from Gianessa, or from anyone else with enough patience to tell them. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but Kasia, too, had taken her turn listening to the blacksmith’s far-fetched tales of distant lands and wishing they could transport her somewhere far away.

“What would you like to hear?” she asked with a sigh, trying not to think about the lengthy list of chores yet to be done after the young ones’ bedtime. Rordyn had been quiet and brooding when he came home from work, so she knew she couldn’t count on him to be much help.

“Pirates!” Ellery insisted, as Kasia had known she would.

“No more pirates,” she replied firmly. “Not tonight. You’ve grown piratical enough as it is.”

“Tell us about the elves,” Liam asked quietly. “I do love to hear about the elves.”

“Elves aren’t real.” Ellery’s eyes were about to roll again, so Kasia jumped in.

“Oh, but they are,” she said. “You’ve both seen the Stone. You’ve heard the tales of its writing.”

“Tell us again!” Liam begged, so she smiled, smoothed his golden curls, and told it again.

“Once, many long years ago, humans came to these lands, seeking refuge from a great evil across the sea.”

“Magic!” Ellery interjected gleefully, in spite of her disappointment over the pirates.

That was the folk version, certainly. But Kasia’s father had told her of the true evil—the Zulleri Empire, which had so oppressed its subjects, hundreds of them had fled to the new land of Abreia to escape.

“What they found,” Kasia continued, “was a wide, fertile land, with mountains, rivers, and fields for plowing. The humans settled in with grateful hearts before they realized the land was not exactly empty.”

“Elves!” Liam exclaimed.

“Oh, not at first,” Kasia reminded him. “As the Five Thrones were established, they encountered many others, such as the fae, the night elves, and the dwer, and bargained with them to share the land.” A dreadfully oversimplified version of the truth, Kasia suspected, but as usual, kept her opinions to herself. “But it was not until some years after a small group of settlers reached this very spot and founded our village of Merivale that the elves made themselves known.”

“They came riding in on their horses!” Liam’s eyes shone in the flickering firelight.

“Yes,” Kasia agreed. “One day, as the settlers were digging their wells and laying the foundations of their new homes, they were interrupted by a sight both terrifying and glorious. A beautiful woman with long, shining hair, pointed ears, and eyes like the very stars in the sky rode into town on a horse as dark as the darkest night. She was followed by twenty more, both men and women, each as beautiful as the last, all of them clothed in shimmering robes, belted with silver and gems.”

“I wish I could have been there,” Liam sighed happily.

“Oh, but they were also frightening,” Kasia went on. “Though they bore no weapons, their hands and their faces glowed with their magic, and they did not seem pleased with the humans’ presence.”

“But they didn’t hurt anyone.” Liam seemed quite determined to believe the best of them. As he was of everyone, really.

“No, they did not. The elves returned peacefully to wherever they’d come from—a far-off place the humans could never seem to find. Each year after that, the elves would return, as if reassuring themselves that the humans were peaceful as well. But then…”

Ellery’s eyes widened with relish. The more drama, the better, as far as she was concerned.

“Over a hundred years ago, they came again, and this time everything changed. The Elf Queen descended from her horse, approached the leader of the village, and proclaimed that they would continue to live in peace with the humans, provided that their borders were never crossed again.”

“Not even once!” Perhaps it was the mystery that intrigued Liam, because it was quite true.

“Not even once,” Kasia agreed. “They placed a stone at the northern edge of the village and wrote on it with magic, as a memorial to the agreement that was struck that day. And the village leader did not protest, because there were stars in his eyes, and the Elf Queen was so beautiful he would have agreed to anything.”

Ellery was frowning. “I don’t think she could have really been that beautiful. It’s just a story.”

“Oh, is it?” Kasia leaned closer. “But we’ve all seen the Stone, Ell. Even if no one can read it, no human hands could have placed it there.”

Even Ellery had to pause at that. A towering piece of white marble, the Stone seemed impervious to weather or stain. And while no words could be seen, one of its faces was completely smooth, and Kasia liked to believe that whatever had been written there would require a powerful magic to become visible once again.

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