Nettle & Bone

The dust-wife tells Marra to hush as the drowned ones are difficult. As a dead boy swims upstream, Marra tells herself to take deep breaths and not get sick. After some cajoling, the boy reveals to the dust-wife how to reach the goblin market. He then looks at Marra—the dust-wife threatens him against trying to drown Marra, and the boy leaves. The dust-wife finds the door in earth, wood, and water, and the pair walk through. As they go, Marra finally asks how the demon got into the chicken. The dust wife matter-of-factly replies that it was the usual way.

In the market, jeweled pavilions sit next to mud huts. Some stalls are upside-down bird’s nests. The crowd moves unlike any group Marra has ever seen. The dust-wife tells Marra not to stare or show fear. Marra should refuse to take anything until she knows the price. Marra had heard stories about fair folk and the old gods but never realized they were there the whole time. The dust-wife finds a stall selling what they need. She asks the price, and the woman behind the table says six weeks of her life. The two negotiate and settle on two weeks. Marra pays.

The shop owner drops a caterpillar into Marra’s hand. The caterpillar spins a cocoon. Moments later, a moth emerges. Marra blows on its wings, telling it to find what she needs to help her sister. The dust-wife and Marra follow the moth, threading their way through the goblin market. They’re briefly held up as a woman moves down the aisle—the crowd splits to allow her passage. Only the dust-wife’s brown hen remains upright. Marra genuflects, thinking that the woman resembles the Lady of Grackles. The pair spot the moth at the end of the row and tear after it once the goddess-woman passes. The moth flutters to a booth for teeth.

As the two women approach, the moth lands on the attendant assisting the tooth seller—the attendant is a strong human man. The dust-wife learns the man fell asleep in a fairy fort, so the fairies took him. The man says nothing as the dust-wife and tooth seller negotiate his price. The tooth seller warns the dust-wife that the man was found with blood on his hands. He demands 10 years of life for his attendant. The dust-wife counter-offers a nun’s tooth. Marra balks because she is not actually a nun and does not want to lose a tooth. The dust-wife hushes her. They agree to the price and call the Toothdancer.

The Toothdancer looks like a stork man wearing a black suit. Marra asks if it will hurt. The Toothdancer scoffs, telling Marra he knows his work. He takes out a small whistle. As he begins to play, Marra’s teeth dance in her mouth. One of her teeth begins to jump out of her gums, eventually out of her mouth and into the tooth seller’s hands. Marra almost faints, but the man they’ve just bought catches her. After also buying a glamour to disguise Bonedog, the company makes its way out of the market. When they resurface, the dust-wife frees the drowned boy.

The man introduces himself as Fenris. The dust-wife jokingly tells Marra she now has a dog and a wolf. If she gets a fox, it will be a proper fairy tale. Marra suggests that would be a good thing. The dust-wife replies that “fairy tales [...] are very hard on bystanders. Particularly old women” (99). Marra asks if the dust-wife could be the fox. Fenris laughs and begins to call the dust-wife “Lady Fox.” The group makes their way to the pond for Fenris to bathe. Fenris reveals that he was a knight forced to kill a man. Knowing the murdered man’s clan would be honor-bound to kill him in return, forcing his clan to repay his death in turn, he thought it best if he just slept in a fairy fort. He did not entirely believe the superstition, but he assumed it would be better than killing himself for something he did not think was wrong.

The company continues its quest, learning more about each other. Fenris asks what they require of him. Marra explains that they might need him to kill Vorling. Fenris asks if she deserves it. Marra tells him about her sisters. He agrees that Vorling certainly deserves it. Fenris tells them about his home. Finally, talk turns to how they hope to accomplish their impossible mission. The dust-wife does not know how to get around the royal godmother. Marra tells them about her own useless godmother. The dust-wife considers this.

As they progress, Fenris confesses that he does not believe in ghosts. The dust-wife asks if he would desecrate a grave. Of course not, he replies. The idea disgusts him, not because of what it would do to the dead, but because of what it would do to him. The dust-wife says he is wrong, albeit in an interesting way.

As the three travel through the Southern Kingdom, they sleep in barns and make do with little. Fenris does the bulk of the labor, including chopping wood in exchange for food or room. Marra and Fenris grow closer, and attraction blooms—the two sleep back-to-back under the same blanket.

They eventually cross into the Harbor Kingdom. While there, Marra and the dust-wife have a confrontation with a couple of drunk men. Bonedog bites at one man to get him to back off. The man goes for Bonedog, but Fenris arrives in time to stop the incident from escalating. Rather than fight the men, he coaxes them back to the pub for another round. When he returns, Marra chastises him for going off with an armed man. Fenris tells her it was the best way to protect her and the dust-wife; his life is already forfeit.

The group agrees to recruit Marra’s godmother to their quest. Marra tells them she thinks her godmother lives in Trexel. Marra’s determination to kill Vorling is as strong as ever, so the group travels to Trexel.

The group arrives in Trexel and finds Agnes, Marra’s godmother. Agnes does not recognize Marra, but once Marra tells her who she is, Agnes invites them all in for tea. Marra wants to leave, thinking Agnes must be unable to help. Frustrated at Agnes’s apparent uselessness, Marra shouts at the woman for giving her and her sisters only the useless gift of health. Agnes starts to cry quietly and confesses that health is the only gift she can give.

Marra apologizes for her outburst. It turns out that Agnes is only the royal godmother because Agnes is family, specifically Marra’s great-aunt. A fairy seduced Marra’s grandfather, and Agnes was the resulting child. Agnes has just enough magic to be the godmother. Marra realizes Fenris is comforting her as she struggles to see how Agnes can help. Marra feels completely overwhelmed. Agnes agrees to come as Kania is her niece, but guilt immediately overcomes Marra. All these people will probably die on this fool’s errand. Fenris compares them to the five fingers of a fist.

The group sleeps on Agnes’s floor, and Marra notices the lack of Fenris’s back against hers. She tells herself she is being absurd. She scoots closer to the fire and sleeps.

The company departs late the next day, much to Marra’s dismay. Combatting her frustration with Agnes, she reminds herself that “[o]ur own flaws infuriate us in other people” (132). The dust-wife finds something about Agnes interesting but cannot or will not articulate what it is. Agnes explains what being a godmother is like to the group. She practiced on baby animals growing up, and she can tell when someone has been blessed. Agnes admits that she once cursed a mouse out of curiosity, and the woman’s deep compassion for the mouse startles Marra. Agnes tells them she can offer many gifts but only blesses children with health because it cannot go wrong.

The dust-wife then asks Marra to repeat the blessing Vorling’s godmother gives verbatim. They discuss how they could get around the blessing and attack Vorling. Fenris says he does not need to make it out alive, but Marra objects. The dust-wife argues against an army of the dead as the dead cannot be controlled.

The group stays at a farmhouse in exchange for Fenris splitting wood. Marra and Fenris sit by the fire and discuss their odds of survival. Fenris takes Marra’s hand in the dark. He offers to go back to the convent with her if they survive.

They finally make it to the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Marra feels the weight of her mission like a physical burden. She collapses. Bonedog notices and moves to comfort her. Then, the rest join in encouraging her. She cannot believe she has come so far and still has so much to do. She wipes her eyes, takes her godmother’s arm, and carries on.