The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater

Author:Olivia Atwater [Atwater, Olivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf, azw3
ISBN: 9781778271397
Publisher: Starwatch Press

Despite her own weariness, Winnie knew she would not be able to sleep. Instead, she descended below stairs to the kitchen, where Cook now worked to prepare an afternoon tea.

“I did not see you in the Witchwood Knot last evening,” Winnie observed, as she slipped into the half-lit room.

Cook sighed heavily. The circles beneath her eyes were deeper than ever. “I’ve spent so many years wishing I could sleep the whole night through,” she said. “I lay awake last night, expecting I might finally have my wish… after a fashion.”

Winnie set the kettle on as Cook continued to work. “That seems a bit dramatic,” she replied. “I am sure that we can find a better aid for sleep than death by faerie.”

Cook stared down at the stove. “Do you know why things continue as they are?” she asked.

Winnie leaned against the wall, closing her arms around herself. “I believe that I might,” she said. “The creature who laid this curse upon Witchwood Manor did so using magic born of blood and iron. I do not understand it all completely… but it seems the Knot takes power from the Longfell bloodline. So long as Lord Longfell and his son remain within the manor, the curse continues on.”

Lord Longfell’s decision to move into Witchwood Manor had been no coincidence. Whatever the man claimed to believe about faeries, he clearly knew the circumstances under which the curse would fail.

The kettle whistled softly in the gloom, breaking the silence which had fallen in the kitchen. Cook offered it out to Winnie, who took it pensively.

“The lady of the Witchwood Knot has charged Mr Quincy with driving out the blood of Longfell,” Winnie told her. “The other faeries cannot walk within Witchwood Manor—but the curse has less of a hold on him, I think, because of what he is. He cannot leave the manor; he proved that on the day that I arrived. But neither is he fully trapped within the Witchwood Knot. Because…” Winnie pieced together what she’d learned the evening before. “Because iron does not bind him, as it binds the others.”

Cook smiled grimly. “More scones went missing, just last night,” she said, with a hint of sideways agreement.

Winnie glanced over at the other woman as she steeped a pot of tea. “What?” she asked. “That isn’t possible. I played another game of cards with Mr Quincy. We were together until morning—” Winnie cut herself off, knitting her brow. “Well… there was some time before that, I suppose. I had a conversation with my sister.” And Mr Quincy had only arrived in the conservatory partway through that twisted game of Hot Cockles.

“It was earlier in the evening,” Cook agreed. “I left to bring some tea to those upstairs. When I returned, the scones were gone.”

The revelation left Winnie subtly ill at ease. In all the chaos of the night before, she had lost track of Robert and Mr Quincy at separate times.

I cannot afford for that to happen again, she thought. Robert is directly in his sights now.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.