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“Your tapestry became a mystery to me the moment your life was spared. I don’t know when you’ll die, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t know what you’ll do, or the person you’ll become. Not anymore. I wove your fate as I once knew it, which had you dying by your brother’s hand. But you’ve changed your fate several times over. You are a mystery to me. A sweetbrier, full of thorns in my side.”
“How do you know who I am?” Blythe demanded, praying she wouldn’t stammer. “Isn’t it obvious? You summoned me.” Solanine sported her cruelty with a smile. “Part of my job is keeping those like us in line, and you’ve broken the rules, little lamb. So here I am.”
“I suppose you are the right age… you’re the baby, aren’t you?” Solanine countered. A question for a question. “The one she would flaunt to anyone who gave her the time.” She tilted her head, curious, but Blythe ducked away, not letting this woman get a closer look at her eyes. Signa. She thought that Blythe was Signa. And for now, Blythe didn’t think it wise to clarify.
“I know Rima because I’m the one who killed her.”
“You have upended the world’s balance, but as you are of Rima’s blood, I will offer you a chance to fix your mess, just as I offered her.”
“You gave the fox a stocking?” Blythe asked, incredulous. “Why wouldn’t I?” Aris’s neck retracted, as if he found the question distasteful. “Beasty is a part of this family.” “Beasty? That is what you chose to name her?” “I thought you’d appreciate having her named after you.”
The life you have lived is different from the one that I did. I am your origin, and you are my future. We are different, Blythe. But history has a way of repeating itself, and you cannot let it. You must fix what has been set in motion.”
“Fight the temptation. Should you touch those threads with your bare skin, you’ll feel like you’re inside someone else’s body, experiencing their entire life in a matter of seconds.” “Seconds?” Blythe snatched her hand back, clutching it to her chest as though it were primed to betray her. “How is that possible?” “In the same way that all this is possible, which is to say that I have no idea.
She would confide in her cousin, share all that she knew, and determine a plan to face Chaos. But in the event that she got it wrong—in the event that Chaos won—Blythe would not spend her final moments stuck alone in her bedroom suite counting the whorls in the wallpaper. This time when she faced her impending doom, she would spend it traversing the countryside with a handsome man.
For years I have felt bitterness toward every soul who bows to their fear. And yet I now find myself ruled by my own. You have bewitched me, Sweetbrier, and for that I am terrified.”
“You’re always so put together. So polished. I like seeing you undone.” Blythe gasped as he took hold of her hips, pressing her against the shed. “Good, Sweetbrier.” His voice was a raw husk, the brogue of it thicker than she’d ever heard. “I want to be undone by you.”
“Still despise me, Sweetbrier?” In his ear Blythe whispered, “Don’t get cocky.”
