Lireen Sedgewhistle
the Duskthistle Fairy
Named for the dry rattle of sedge stems at twilight and the low note of a whistle the night wind steals away.
Shadowfold — you can fold a shadow into a pocket and carry it until dawn; anything hidden in that shadow stays lost until you let it go, but you can hold only three shadows at once, and each leaves a cold bruise on your palm.
- Familiar
- a centipede that glows faintly at the joints named Ticktock
- Court
- Court of the Last Light
You are counting the teeth of a comb made from a deer's ankle bone when the dusk settles over the marsh. The comb belongs to a woman who laughed too loud at a funeral, and you are deciding whether to return it or keep it. That is how you came to the sedge whistle — not by choosing it, but by refusing to give back what was not yours to keep. The marsh offered you a bargain: one truth for every tooth, and you have been collecting ever since.