About this story
A wood-spirit, Habundia, teaches you herb-craft and a ring that hides you from sight, then helps you steal her captor's enchanted boat. It carries you to an island where three women are held prisoner by the Witch-Wife's sister; you leave to complete its circuit rather than risk a rescue, and it lands you next beside an old man and two children who never seem to age.
How it opens
The Witch-Wife stole you from poor Audrey at Utterhay and raised you beside a measureless lake.
Witch-WifeBirdalone, your hands are mine for field, hearth, and whatever craft I teach next.
You grew strong under forced labor, and Evilshaw kept the hours your captor could not command.
I have watched you turn captivity into knowledge without mistaking endurance for consent.
Tell me how I will recognize that season without merely obeying another mistress.
Choose
I will wear it only if it cannot command my will.
Show me its power before I carry it beyond this oak.
Tell me when invisibility will fail before I trust the ring.