Thornwood by Leah Cypess (read after .txt) 📕

Varian laughed derisively. It would have annoyed me, but I suspected he was scared, too. “And then what? You know the fairy queen can’t be defeated. She’s far too powerful.”

My shoulders tensed. I drew in a breath.

Everyone seemed to agree that it was impossible to defeat the fairy queen. But that wasn’t our only option.

It can trap the fairy queen, the fairy godmother had said.

And the fairy queen had been trapped once before.

“There’s something in this castle,” I said, “more powerful than the fairy queen.” I looked across the room at the spinning wheel, with its empty bobbin. “She was trapped in this spell, hundreds of years ago, by this spinning wheel. Maybe that’s why the fairy keeps wanting us to spin gold thread. She’s hinting that we can use it against the queen.”

“Why wouldn’t she just tell you that?” Edwin objected.

“Because she can’t. She can’t work directly against her queen.” I turned to face the center of the room. “All this time, she’s been waiting for me—I mean, for us—to figure out how to do it ourselves.” Everything that comes from that spinning wheel repels the Thornwood. All those hints. “She’s been trying to make us realize that the golden thread from this spinning wheel can be used to hold the fairy queen.”

We can harness its power and keep you safe.

I started across the room. “So I guess I had better start spinning.”

I settled myself at the spinning wheel and began to spin.

I spun as fast as I could, pedaling swiftly and steadily, drawing the imaginary wool in with fumbling fingers. I was relieved when the wool appeared in my hand, thick and black; dimly, I heard someone gasp, but I was concentrating too hard to figure out who it was. The pedals purred smoothly, the wheel whirred, and gold thread wound thicker and thicker around the bobbin.

“Look,” Varian said in a strangled voice.

The thorn branches blocking the door were bulging inward. One branch broke through and reached into the room, curving in our direction.

I tried to spin faster and overdid it. Some of the thread over-twisted and formed clumps, and I felt a sense of disgruntlement from the wheel. I ignored it; I didn’t need this thread to be pretty, I just needed it spun. I drew and pedaled, concentrating fiercely on not letting the thread break. As long as I didn’t spin too fast and didn’t change the direction of my feet, the thread wouldn’t get too thick to jam up the works.

The bobbin was full, so I stopped and started unspooling the thread. The thread was light and slippery in my hand, and made my skin tingle where I touched it.

My life energy had gone into this thread. The thought made me want to fling it away, but instead I held it tighter.

“Your Majesty!” I shouted. “Come and face us! Or are you afraid of a bunch of humans?”

There was a scraping sound behind me. Another branch was snaking over the edge of the windowsill, thorns scratching the stone.

A shudder ran through my body. All the magic thread in the world would do us no good if we couldn’t get the fairy queen to come here and be trapped by it.

Unless…

I yanked the thread at both ends, twisting sharply, and was relieved when it tore. I pulled it out to both sides and dashed over to Rosalin. Another branch escaped from the door and crawled toward us.

“Turn around,” I told Rosalin.

She didn’t move, so I started winding the thread around her. Varian pulled his hand free and stepped away, giving me room. He stepped so fast he stumbled, but he righted himself before he fell.

Rosalin grabbed my wrist. “Briony, stop it!”

“They’re going to come for you first,” I said. “This thread will protect you. I’ll spin protection for the rest of us after—”

She shook her head. “You can’t spin fast enough. The only way to protect us all is for the Thornwood to vanish, and there’s only one way that can happen.” Her chin trembled, and she clenched her jaw. “I knew this was going to be necessary when we came here. I’m ready.”

The branch touched her foot. Varian chopped it in half with an overhand swing, then whirled and sliced off a second branch that was creeping our way.

Rosalin shuddered but spoke with dreadful calm. “The fairy godmother already gave us the answer. My life powers this spell. If I die, the spell will vanish, and the Thornwood with it. You know as well as I do what has to happen.”

“No!” I said. “I know better than you do. As usual. We’ll get the fairy queen here, and we’ll trap her with the golden thread and force her to let everyone go!”

She smiled at me sadly, but the smile looked painted on. “How are you going to get her here?”

“I—I’ll think of something.”

“I’m sorry I teased you so much. I’ll never say anything about your hair again.” She did her best to laugh. “Even if never only lasts for another few minutes, that’s going to be a challenge.”

“Stop it!” I wrenched free of her grip and looped a strand of gold around her arm. “Stop being brave! Be scared, and help me figure out how to get the fairy queen here!”

“Take care of Varian,” she went on. “Tell him not to feel guilty.”

“I will not! And Varian can take care of himself!”

Varian was chopping down branches swiftly and methodically, and so far, he was keeping ahead of them. But thorn-studded vines were curling over the windowsill and heading across the floor, curving widely to avoid the spinning wheel.

The spinning wheel! Even more than its thread, it had power over the Thornwood.

“Come on!” I shouted, and pulled Rosalin to the spinning wheel. Edwin joined us immediately. The thorns hissed in our direction but didn’t come closer.

Varian screamed. The sword flew out of his hand and landed on the floor. He