The fey woman stood waiting, a shielded candle in her hand. Tall. Beautiful. Terrifying. Behind her was Ash. A cruel gag cut into the corners of his mouth. He was chained tight against the wall. When he saw Lily he made a terrible sound of anguish. A monstrous sound. That sound said, Lily! It said, You shouldn’t have come.

“Ah. The foolish human girl has come to your rescue.” The woman took a step toward Lily. “Or so she believes. What is your name, young woman?”

She swallowed. Found in her quaking heart a kernel of pride. “I am the only daughter of the chieftain of Bann. They call me Lily.” Another breath. A step of her own, forward. Tonight she was a warrior. “You said I could come and get him. Ash. Brión. So I’m here. Unchain him. I’m taking him home.”

The woman’s lustrous eyes widened. She threw back her head and let fly a peal of mocking laughter. “Oh, I don’t think so. I really don’t think so. Are you truly so lacking in understanding that you imagine you can stand up to me? Don’t you know who I am, Lily?” She made the pet name sound like something she might toss on the midden.

“I love him.” Lily kept her voice steady, though her whole body was trembling. She kept her back straight and her head high. “True love is the most powerful thing of all. It doesn’t matter who you are: noble lady, enchantress, great queen of the fey. If you believe in love, you will let him go.” Still thinking, at that moment, that she could do it. Still hoping, for all her terror.

“Oh, Lily,” the woman said. “There is no such thing as love. Passion, yes. Possession, most certainly. But love? It exists only in the soft minds of human men and women. Love will not save your young man. Nor will it save you from your due punishment. You think he’s suffering now?” She gestured toward Ash, who was writhing in his chains, moaning animal sounds through the tight gag. “You understand nothing of pain. But you will. Believe me, you will.”

Every instinct told Lily to flee while it was still possible, down the stair, over the river, back home through the forest before the fey woman cast a spell. But there was Ash, captive, chained, hurt. She could not leave him.

The fey woman spread out her arms. She became even taller, far, far beyond the height of the tallest human woman. The tower room darkened; the candle glowed an eerie blue. “Hear now my curse!”

Someone coughed behind Lily, making her jump.

“No, you don’t,” said the ferryman. “Leave the girl alone; she’s only trying to help her young fellow there.”

The fey woman’s face became a mask of anger; it was terrible to behold. The air seemed to crackle with her fury. Outside, lightning flashed white.

“Go,” whispered Lily to the wee man. “Run, go!”

But it was too late; both he and she found themselves unable to move, frozen in place as the words of the curse rang out. Ash would be changed. He would be condemned to suffer in the tower until Lily could rescue him. The ferryman and his folk would be bound to serve and to hold their silence.