Tithe by Holly Black

others for protection. The human sacrifice is a show of power. Power that could force our obedience.”
    “But won’t they just take you back by force, then?”
    “No. They must obey the agreement as we do. They are bound by its constraints. If the sacrifice is voided, then we are free for seven years. None may command us.”
    “Look, you guys, you know I’ll help you. I’d help you do anything.”
    The huge smile on Spike’s face chased away all her former concern over his gruffness. He must have just been worried she’d say no. Lutie flew around her happily, lifting up strands of her hair and either tangling or braiding them; Kaye couldn’t be sure.
    Kaye took a deep breath and, ignoring Lutie’s ministrations, turned to the Thistlewitch. “How did this happen? If I’m like you, how come I live with my … with Ellen?”
    The Thistlewitch looked into the river, her gaze following the wobbling egg-boats. “Do you know what a changeling is? In ancient times, we usually left stock—bits of wood or dying fey—enchanted to look like a stolen babe and left in the cradle. It is rarely that we leave one of our own behind, but when we do, the child’s fey nature becomes harder and harder to conceal as it grows. In the end, they all return to Faery.”
    “But why—not why do they return, but why me? Why leave me?”
    Spike shook his head. “We don’t know the answer to that any more than we know why we were told to watch you.”
    It was staggering to Kaye to realize that there might be another Kaye Fierch, the real Kaye Fierch, off somewhere in Faerie. “You said … glamoured. Does that mean I don’t look like this?”
    “It’s a very powerful glamour. Someone put it on to stay.” Spike nodded sagely.
    “What do I really look like?”
    “Well, you’re a pixie, if that helps.” Spike scratched his head. “It usually means green.”
    Kaye closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head. “How can I see me?”
    “I don’t advise it,” Spike said. “Once you pull that thing off, no one we know can put it back on that good. Just let it be until Samhain—that’s when the Tithe is. Someone might figure out what you are if you go messing with your face.”
    “Soon it’ll be off for good and you won’t have to pretend to be mortal anymore if you don’t want,” Lutie chirped.
    “If the glamour on me is so good, how did you know what I was?”
    The Thistlewitch smiled. “Glamour is the stuff of illusion, but sometimes, if deftly woven, it can be more than a mere disguise. Fantasticalpockets can actually hold baubles, an illusionary umbrella can protect one from the rain, and magical gold can remain gold, at least until the warmth of the magician’s hand fades from the coins. The magic on you is the strongest I have seen, Kaye. It protects you even from the touch of iron, which burns faerie flesh. I know you to be a pixie because I saw you when you were very small and we lived in Seelie lands. The Queen herself asked us to look after you.”
    “But why?”
    “Who can tell the whims of Queens?”
    “What if I did want to remove the glamour?” Kaye insisted.
    The Thistlewitch took a step toward her. “The ways of removing faerie magic are many. A four-leaf clover, rowan berries, looking at yourself through a rock with a natural hole. It is your decision to make.”
    Kaye took a deep breath. She needed to think. “I’m going to go back to bed.”
    “One more thing,” the Thistlewitch said as Kaye rose from the bank and dusted off the backs of her thighs. “Heed the warning of your shattered eggshell. Where you go, chaos and discord will follow.”
    “What does that mean?”
    The Thistlewitch smiled. “Time will tell. It always does.”
    ***
    Kaye stood on the lawn of her grandmother’s house. It was dark except for the silvery moon, the moon that didn’t seem anthropomorphic tonight, just a cold rock glowing with reflected light. It was the bare trees that looked alive, their twisted branches