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She extended a slender, wooden hand, pointing in the direction of the wolf pack. "They indentured her, bound her to the alpha of a wolf pack. The covens consider your kind lower than the beasts of the forest. It seemed fitting. She had no choice but to serve them from the fringes. No one but the alpha and his subordinate knew of her threadbare existence in the far forest. Here, she learned to survive. She became a friend to us, helping us through months of drought, keeping the forest fire away from our home."

The wind seemed to slither around them.

"Within the pack was a male who had not yet met his lifemate. He was attractive to your kind and liked to wander," she continued. "He found a maiden with long dark hair gathering herbs in the valley and pursued her until she gave in. He was the first male she had seen in years besides the cruel alpha who enslaved her. They promised everything to each other in secret; they made a pact to run away together. Never did he know of her past or her servitude to the Alpha."

Blaidd had an uneasy feeling about where this was heading.

"But on the day her indenture ended," the changeling said softly, "he met his true lifemate. My friend lost everything."

Silence pooled around them.

"He forgot her. Forgot the promises. Forgot the child forming in her womb."

Blaidd closed his eyes briefly. There was a reason wolves remained chaste until they met their lifemate.

"She accepted her fate," the changeling went on. "She loved him still, wanted what was best for him. She retreated to a cottage deep in the forest, protected by wards none but kin could cross. She raised her daughter alone."

The bark-forms along the trunk seemed to lean closer as if listening to a story retold many times.

"The child grew into extraordinary beauty. And she inherited her mother's power."

Fae felt the chill creep up her spine.

"One day," the changeling said, "a young wolf found her picking flowers in a meadow in the forest." A faint, almost amused note threaded through her voice. "History unremembered is fated to repeat itself. They fell in love. She brought him home to meet her mother."

Her vine-hair stilled.

"And the bitter witch saw the truth. He was the splitting image of the male who had abandoned her. For their sake, she never told them the truth. She only refused to let them be together."

The hopelessness of that young love now became clear.

"The affinity between the young ones was not that of lovers." Her gaze swept across them. "It was blood. When her daughter demanded answers and threatened to follow him into the packland, she was forced to reveal the truth."

The clearing seemed to ripple.

"That night," she said, her voice dropping lower, "my friend's daughter hung herself from a willow tree. In desperation, she brought her to us, begging us to bring her back, just like Isolde. And we agreed, but she came back altered. The young boy never returned. The witch and her changeling daughter were spectators as he found his lifemate and had cubs, forgetting about her existence, like she never existed. "

The leaves trembled.

"And thus," the changeling finished, "began the witch's revenge. Over the years, she would take a wolf here, a cub there—all sacrificed to her daughter, who did not observe the rules of the Great Oak. Her revenge has spanned more than four hundred years, long after the careless youngling had grown grey and perished. He was not to know that two of his children had yielded their lives to a creature thirsty for his blood. And when we sent Isolde, the changeling daughter saw her chance to break free…from us and from her mother who could no longer control her."

Finally, Fae asked the question that was on all their lips, "What is her name? The witch's daughter who was resurrected? "

The changeling considered her with her bottomless eyes. It was like looking into the abyss. "You know her well, Faelynn, daughter of Herio. She crept into your home and stole your charges. She ate your food but showed no loyalty. All she wanted was to destroy the life of the one you were bonded to. Because it was your great-great-grandfather who betrayed the witch. You are kin. We call her the cursed one, the unclean. But you know her as Ro-wee-nah."

Everything seemed to freeze under the weight of the changeling's revelations.

For a long moment, Blaidd did not move. Then, abruptly, he said, "I agree to your terms."

Fae turned her turbulent gaze toward him, but his gaze was fixed on the changeling leader.

"Tell me where Eira is," he said evenly. "And I will accept your condition."

The vine-haired being studied him. "You accept the five years?"

"I accept," he said, though the word tasted like ash in his mouth.

"Before I give you her location," the changeling replied, "it is your duty to destroy the unclean creature."