Chapter 10

In a marsh, Oak paints ward marks on boots and hooves, while Tiernan quietly warns Wren with strands of her hair that the bridle’s magic can bind her even unworn. They reach the Thistlewitch, who, after meager hospitality, recounts how Queen Mab gained creation power from a hag, raised new faeries and isles, and tricked the hag into killing her own daughter, Mellith. The hag cursed Mab so her power depended on Mellith’s heart; separated from it, Mab’s works would unravel. Mab’s bones retain great, consumable power; the heart, opposite in force, would complete or counter it.

Pressed, the Thistlewitch suggests Mellith’s heart would make any wielder Oak and Yew King. She demands Oak’s promise to grant her the first thing she asks if he ever becomes king; Oak agrees, sure he never will. Privately, she shows Oak where the heart is; he returns grim, saying it’s out of reach and must be kept from Lady Nore. The trio departs the swamp, and Oak declares Wren won’t continue, but delays the decision until they reach Undry Market near Portland, planning to buy a boat and cross toward Lady Nore’s lands.

They fly north on ragwort steeds; along the way, campfire talk reveals Tiernan’s guarded warmth and Wren’s past exploits, and Oak bathes wounds from Annet’s court. On the third day, a monstrous storm forms; lightning and winds smash their ragwort mount, forcing a muddy crash. Taking shelter, Wren and Oak argue about Hyacinthe and trust; Oak denies using inherited charm magic and reveals his origins and scars. Tiernan rejoins, singed by near lightning; they speculate the storm is unnatural and debate seeking the Undersea or instead trekking inland through the cursed Stone Forest to avoid Nore’s patrols. Oak goes to scavenge supplies.

Wren builds the fire and learns from Tiernan how Oak became his friend by hiding his wounds and baiting threats toward himself. Restless, Wren forages and is confronted by Bogdana, who pursues, then bargains for a parley. Bogdana claims Oak may trade Wren to Lady Nore for Madoc, urges Wren to abandon him, and tells a tale that she herself breathed life into a snow-shaped child—Wren—binding her with the hag’s magic. She admits constraints prevent harming Greenbriars and menaces Wren’s mortal family, revealing Bex saw her and received “advice.”

Shaken by the possibility that Oak concealed a plan to exchange her, Wren refuses Bogdana’s offer. As the hag withdraws, Tiernan bursts through the trees, sees Wren with Bogdana, and shouts “Traitor,” setting off a new breach of trust.