The Seventh Bride
T. Kingfisher
Language: English
Pages: 226
ISBN: 1503949753
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Young Rhea is a miller’s daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don’t turn down lords—no matter how sinister they may seem—Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement.
Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.”
With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.
Revised edition: This edition of The Seventh Bride includes editorial revisions.
believe her, but then again, they might not. And she would have failed to turn up at the appointed time, and Lord Crevan did not seem like a particularly forgiving man. The second reason was that the whole situation was just wrong. It didn’t make any sense. Crevan had gone to all the trouble of setting up a half-dozen bird-golems to guard the entrance to his house, and given them a bit of rhyming doggerel to memorize, presumably to warn off intruders. Certainly they would have been quite
more than the rest of us. Well, not me. I was the first wife.” She slammed her fist into the dough, perhaps with a little more force than needed. “Hard for someone like Ingeth to admit that they were wrong. Or maybe she’s mad at her god for not saving her. I don’t know. It’s quieter now, thank the saints.” “What happened to her?” asked Rhea quietly. Maria looked up at the ceiling, then down at Rhea. I should have asked before. Oh, it was stupid not to ask when I first got here. They were
front of the golem-wife. Thick cords bound the golem’s wrists to the pole. They were impossibly thin, bone covered with hard skin, no flesh left on them. The cords looked strong and unfrayed by comparison. She’s tied up. She’s tied to the pole. She can’t reach out and grab me. Rhea swallowed hard. “Do you suppose her eyes are going to open?” she asked the hedgehog. Her voice was shaking terribly. The hedgehog gave her a look. “Yeah,” said Rhea sadly. “Me, too.” She took a deep
nodded. “If it was just me, I’d ruin the wedding. Yell “No!” when the priest asks if I’ll marry this man. But he’s threatening my parents. He’ll kill them—take the mill—turn them out—oh, Maria, I can’t!” She began to cry, wretchedly, feeling as helpless as Sylvie. Maria put a hand on her shoulder. After a few minutes, Rhea stopped. If I have learned anything in this last week, it’s that crying doesn’t seem to help at all. “Better?” asked Maria conversationally. “A little.” “You’re willing
old. Something that liked flattery.” She tasted the sauce and frowned. “Needs more salt.” “Where did she come from?” “Up Sylvie’s way, I think,” said Maria, drying her hands on her apron. “Their lands aren’t as settled as ours, and things come up from under the ice sometimes.” Sylvie, sitting at the table, nodded. She was rubbing beans between her fingers, separating out the small ones and the occasional pebbles. “There was a glacier not far from my town,” she said. “Sometimes when the ice