#Blackthorne Publishing

[gijoe-forever]

[cryptocollectibles]

Man of Rust #1 (November 1986) by Blackthorne

Written by Cliff MacGillivray, drawn by Rick Burchett.

[animationproclamations]

The Flintstones in 3D, 1988.

[helenofblackthorns]

I feel like one thing we can take away from this kickstarter is that Cassandra Clare will never be done with the Shadowhunters universe. like literally all these new short stories come from the fact she took a six month "break" from writing shadowhunters lmao

[theblackthornkeyisawesome]

god, i didn't know other people actually liked blackthorn key 😅

interesting how you find things out

.

[acapellapotato]

so buildbox released their beta for an ai visual novel creator

so i wanted to see what it would do w/ solar ashes...........................

WHO is this man? what is that sentence?????? also the choices don't mean jack shit. both approach & befriend go to the same thing.

Ashe is also a followerer of Sleria. this is what it gives you if you renounce Korrin. i have multiple posts that explain why this wouldn't happen lol

Ashe had to go to a mountain because, get this, you apparently didn't renounce Korrin & had to prove your loyalty to Sleria. and once again WHO the fuck is this man????

also it gives you the option to let Korrin perish bc his magic is suddenly unstable but if you choose it you get an option to save him with the relic you just got. again you can choose to let him die so you don't take any harm & everyone suddenly cheers bc his magic caused harm? then Sleria gives you a blend of her magic & Wild magic to show she approves of Ashe & Korrin's romance. then you both run off & live happily ever after. as if you didn't let him die

i almost forgot the worse part

after it generates 1 story the bot won't do anything if you don't buy a yearly sub LOL

[marrr444]

🤓✋

Alright

So who else didn't order SOBH and is PRAYING that their local library will have it?

[cassandraclare]

New publishing announcement!

Hi guys!

I know it’s been a long time since there’s been news about The Wicked Powers. I’ve actually been sitting on information for a long time because I was not allowed to talk about it. It was making me pull out all my hair, so I am super glad to be able to share the following announcement with you: The Wicked Powers is scheduled for publication, and will be published by Walker Books in the UK and Random House in the US.

There’s a bunch more about this announcement, including the announcement of a brand-new YA romantasy series I’ll be doing called In Fire Foretold. That will be published by Pan Macmillan in the UK (same people who published Sword Catcher) and by Random House in the US.

I know there will be a lot of questions about what my schedule is, why things are coming out when they are, whether I have anything coming out next year (Yes, The Ragpicker King, the sequel to Sword Catcher, and also for those who participated in the Kickstarter, those four books) and the overall future of everything Shadowhunter-related. So I will be doing followup announcements to address all that stuff, but first, here are both press release from my publishers in the US and then in the UK with all the info!

GLOBALLY BESTSELLING FANTASY PHENOMENON CASSANDRA CLARE TO PUBLISH  FINAL TRILOGY IN THE ‘SHADOWHUNTER CHRONICLES’  AND NEW DUOLOGY WITH ALFRED A. KNOPF BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS  First book in THE WICKED POWERS to release in Spring 2026

(New York, NY, April 5, 2024)—Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, will publish five new books from #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Clare, whose novels have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, been translated into 43 languages, and published in more than 60 countries. The new publications will begin in Spring 2026 with the first book in THE WICKED POWERS trilogy, the sixth and final series in Clare’s 23-book, young adult fantasy franchise The Shadowhunter Chronicles. Also slated for publication with Knopf is a brand-new YA romantasy duology, IN FIRE FORETOLD. The news was announced today by Melanie Nolan, VP and Publisher, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, who acquired North American rights from Suzie Townsend and Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary & Media in a highly competitive auction. Michelle Frey, Senior Executive Editor, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, will edit both series. 

Cassandra Clare mesmerized readers across the globe with the publication of City of Bones (2007), the first book in the Mortal Instruments series, and was quickly dubbed the “New Queen of Fantasy” by the Wall Street Journal. The Mortal Instruments became the basis for the far-reaching Shadowhunter Chronicles, an intricately drawn world that has seen global success and has been adapted into both a feature film and television show. The books follow the Shadowhunters, a secretive race of humans born with angel blood, whose mission is to eliminate the demons that plague the Earth. Knopf’s first publishing collaboration with Clare, THE WICKED POWERS (Spring 2026), will follow Kit Herondale, Ty Blackthorn, and Drusilla Blackthorn from The Dark Artifices series as they are drawn into the final massive conflict between the demons and the angels. 

IN FIRE FORETOLD is a pulse-pounding YA romantasy duology set in a new world with entirely new characters. The story centers a young woman who must learn to control her dangerous magical abilities in order to save her kingdom, all while finding herself torn between two brothers—the kingdom's princes, born to a cursed royal bloodline. The publication date for IN FIRE FORETOLD, as well as news of additional books to come from Cassandra Clare and Knopf, will be announced. 

Says Cassandra Clare: "I am delighted to have Knopf and Penguin Random House as my publishers for this last trilogy in the Shadowhunters world. They truly understand what it means—both for the story and for my readers—to wrap up such an epic tale that has been told over so many years. I'm also excited to be launching my next YA series — a kickass portal fantasy that contains a ton of things I love, from a bold and reckless heroine to a magical wasteland filled with terrifying monsters that must be fought, to a love triangle with two very unusual cursed princes. I can't wait for us to bring these stories to the world."

Says Michelle Frey: “Cassandra Clare is a beloved author whose work has a massive following for good reason: she sucks you into a fully imagined world and never lets go until the last, satisfying page. I have long admired Cassie and am thrilled to be working with her on both the delectable final trilogy in the Shadowhunter Chronicles and the heart-stopping new love triangle she has dreamed up with IN FIRE FORETOLD.”

Random House Children’s Books (rhcbooks.com) is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, and nonfiction, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

UK/AUS/NZ:

Walker Books will publish three new books, the final trilogy in Shadowhunter Chronicles, the first coming in Spring 2026.

Separately, First Ink will publish a brand new YA duology, introducing readers to a fantastical new world of Clare’s creation, filled with enticing new characters and heart-racing action. With sales figures for Cassandra’s novels exceeding 40 million copies worldwide, translated into 43 languages and published in more than 60 countries, these are exciting and major acquisitions for both publishing houses.

Walker will launch THE WICKED POWERS in Spring 2026 with the first book in the trilogy, The Last King of Faerie. THE WICKED POWERS is the final instalment of Clare’s 23-book, young adult fantasy series, Shadowhunter Chronicles.

THE WICKED POWERS (Spring 2026), will follow Kit Herondale, Ty Blackthorn, and Drusilla Blackthorn from The Dark Artifices series as they are drawn into the final massive conflict between the demons and the angels. The novel marks the beginning of the final trilogy in Clare’s globally beloved series.

Cassandra Clare Says about THE WICKED POWERS: "I’m thrilled to be taking this momentous step in the Shadowhunter chronicles with Walker! They published City of Bones in 2007 and now we will be bringing this huge epic to a close together. With their creativity and dedication, I know they’ll do it justice."

Denise Johnstone Burt says: “We at Walker are immensely proud to have been Cassie’s publishers from the very beginning, when City of Bones launched the Shadowhunters into the world. Since then Cassie has become one of the most beloved writers in YA fantasy all over the world, and with very good reason. Her world-building and character portrayal are absolutely second to none and her books never fail to mesmerise her fans. I am delighted that we will be returning to the world of Shadowhunters once again in THE WICKED POWERS, and know Cassie will bring the Chronicles to a conclusion with her trademark brilliance and consummate style.”

First Ink will publish IN FIRE FORETOLD, a pulse-pounding YA romantasy duology set to delight all fans of Cassie Clare. UK and Commonwealth rights were acquired by Samantha Smith, Publisher of First Ink and Macmillan Children’s Books’ Fiction, Non Fiction and Picture Book List, from Danny Baror and Heather Baror-Shapiro at Baror International.  The duology will be a super lead title for First Ink and will launch with a significant multi-channel communications campaign including national media, influencer and fan events [HBS1] and multimedia advertising.

IN FIRE FORETOLD sees the launch of a brand new world and set of entirely new characters for Clare. The story centres on a young woman who must learn to control her dangerous magical abilities in order to save her kingdom, all while finding herself torn between two brothers - the kingdom's princes - born to a cursed royal bloodline.

Cassandra Clare says about IN FIRE FORETOLD: “I’m so excited to be publishing IN FIRE FORETOLD with First Ink. This story contains so many things I love- it’s a portal fantasy that swings between worlds, where the gritty LA streets exist alongside a dangerous magical world filled with deadly monsters - and a uniquely tough heroine who’s ready to do battle on all sides. Not to mention some gorgeous princes with shady pasts. I know how much Pan Macmillan loves fantasy and how well they publish it so I’m thrilled for this partnership."

Samantha Smith, Publisher at First Ink, says: “Cassandra Clare is a phenomenon author who has delighted and surprised her millions of readers across the world for decades now. As a huge fan of both her YA Mortal Instruments series and latest adult fantasy Sword Catcher, I cannot wait for her to turn her formidable pen to a new, heart-stopping series in In the Fire Foretold and could not be more excited to welcome her onto the First Ink list”

Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, Managing Director at Macmillan Children’s Books, says: “ Welcoming Cassandra Clare to First Ink with a brand new fantasy world is very exciting - both for us and her fans.  Her storytelling is second to none and her new duology on our list is the perfect partner series to her brilliant publishing that sits on our Tor list at Pan Macmillan.”

About Walker Books

Home to books for all ages, Walker Books publishes many award-winning authors, illustrators, and literary franchisesincluding Anthony Horowitz, Angie Thomas, Cassandra Clare, Lucy Cousins, Anthony Browne, Patrick Ness, Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, and Where’s Wally? by Martin Handford. Walker Books is part of the vibrant international Walker Books Group that includes Walker Books Australia; Candlewick Press and Walker Books US in America and Walker Productions.

About Pan Macmillan

At Pan Macmillan we publish a broad and vibrant range of books for audiences of all ages, from dazzling bestsellers to influential prize-winners; books to inspire lifelong readers and listeners to enduring classics for generations to come. The fourth largest UK publisher, we pride ourselves on publishing successfully and sustainably and are committed to working together to positively impact culture and society at large.

[halcyone-of-the-sea]

Ravishing Allure Masterlist

SOULMATE COLORBLINDNESS AU || NAVIGATION || TAGLIST

PAIRING: Nikto x F!Reader

OVERALL WARNINGS: Stalking, intense gore, smut, dark themes such as: obsession, paranoia, and misogyny, beauty standards in the modeling (reader's) career, violence, weapons, mental illness, etc. (More specific warnings in every chapter)(18+).

DISCLAIMERS: All images found on Pinterest.

*I do not give others permission to translate and/or re-publish my works on this or any other platform*

"You met the man your mother hired for you two mornings after the death of your last security detail, shrouded in so much black that you wondered if he might create a void of energy around him—a cloud of gruff and grueling seriousness stuck at his head. A crown of brutal commitment.

Nikto, you learned he was called. Employed under some PMC group called KorTac. Former Russian Spetsnaz.

Nikto. 

Yes, you quite liked how that rolled off the tongue."

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER I : Cake for a Dead Man

CHAPTER II : Flowers for the Sick and Gone

CHAPTER III : A Noose To Hang Onto

CHAPTER IV : My Three Dead, Little Doves

CHAPTER V : As Tainted and as Flawed as You

CHAPTER VI : Nobody's Son, Nobody's Daughter

CHAPTER VII : Tower of Babel

CHAPTER VIII : All the Things We Said We Wouldn't Do

CHAPTER IX : Little Deaths

CHAPTER X : The Sound of Silent Graves

CHAPTER XI : Icarus

CHAPTER XII : Her Blackthorn Tree

CHAPTER XIII : Doth Its Rugged Jaws Expand

CHAPTER XIV : Baying Hounds; Pale Fangs

CHAPTER XV : For The Snakes And Who They Bite

CHAPTER XVI : The Color of Their Souls

CHAPTER XVII : Craftsmanship of Bones

CHAPTER XVIII : Talk With The Devil

CHAPTER XIX : Speaking Through Forked Tongues

CHAPTER XX : Consequences

CHAPTER XXI : The Love We Choose

FANART:

Nikto & Seraph

Nikto w. Cat

Nikto Portrait

[tomoleary]

Moebius (Jean Giraud) Strength of Man Portfolio Illustration Original Art (Blackthorne Publishing, 1986) Source

Firmly planted to the horizon and his eyes closed, he’s ready for anything. Sword, food, chalice, stick, are archetypes. His mind contains the wonder of the work. His heart, the light. He’s black on white. His thoughts violate the rigid, though diminishing lines. At rest, he’s alive.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - June 13, 2023

1. U.S. judge blocks Florida ban on care for trans minors in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’

A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, ruling Tuesday that the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment.

Transgender medical treatment for minors is increasingly under attack in many states and has been subject to restrictions or outright bans. But it has been available in the United States for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations.

2. Eagle Who Thought Rock Was an Egg Finally Gets to Be a Dad

A week after their introduction the cage where the little eaglet was put, was removed so the two could interact more closely. When they were given food, a whole fish for Murphy and bite-sized pieces for his young charge, rather than each eating their separate dish, Murphy took his portion and ripped it up to feed to the baby.

3. Little penguins to reclaim Tasmanian car park as city-based population thrives

Not far from the centre of Tasmania's fourth largest city, a colony of the world's smallest penguins has been thriving, and their habitat is about to expand into an existing car park.

The bright lights and loud noises of Burnie have not been a deterrent for hundreds of penguins who set up home on the foreshore in the north-west Tasmanian city.

4. Latest population survey yields good news for endangered vaquita porpoise

The resilient little vaquita marina appears determined to survive the illegal fishing that has brought it dangerously close to extinction, according to the latest population survey. Despite an estimated annual decline of 45% in 2018, the endangered porpoise appears to be holding steady over the last five years, according to a report published Wednesday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

5. 'Extinct' butterfly species reappears in UK

The species, previously described as extinct in Britain for nearly 100 years, has suddenly appeared in countryside on the edge of London. Small numbers of black-veined whites have been spotted flying in fields and hedgerows in south-east London. First listed as a British species during the reign of King Charles II, they officially became extinct in Britain in 1925.

This month they have mysteriously appeared among their favourite habitat: hawthorn and blackthorn trees on the edge of London, where I and other naturalists watched them flitting between hedgerows.

6. Colombian is a hero in Peru: he rescued 25 puppies that were about to die in a fire

During a structural fire that occurred in a residential area of ​​Lima in Peru, a young Colombian became a hero. The Colombian, identified as Sebastián Arias, climbed onto the roof where the puppies were and threw them towards the community, that was waiting for them with sheets and mattresses. "I love them, dogs fascinate me," said the young man.

7. World-first trial for pediatric brain cancer

Researchers in Australia are conducting a world-first clinical trial for children diagnosed with ependymoma, a rare and devastating brain cancer. The trial aims to test a new drug called Deflexifol, which combines chemotherapy drugs 5-FU and leucovorin, offering potentially less toxic and more effective treatment compared to current options.

Ependymoma is the third most common brain tumor in children, and current treatments often lead to relapses, with a high fatality rate for those affected. The trial, led by researcher David Ziegler at the Kids Cancer Centre, has received support from the Kids with Cancer Foundation and the Cancer Institute NSW. The goal is to find a cure for every child diagnosed with ependymoma.

----

That's it for this week :)

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[cryptocollectibles]

Merlin Realm in 3D #1 (October 1985) by Blackthorne Publishing

Written by Mark Wayne Harris, drawn by Nicholas Koenig, cover by George Baker.

[bookishjules]

Some kinda crazy publishing news for Cassie Clare fans??

"Melanie Nolan at Knopf has acquired Cassandra Clare's The Wicked Powers trilogy, the final installment of Clare's 23-book YA fantasy series, The Shadowhunter Chronicle[s], which follows Kit Herondale, Ty Blackthorn, and Drusilla Blackthorn from The Dark Artifices series as they are drawn into the final conflict between the demons;"

[source: Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf]

Did you catch the crazy part? For the past seventeen (17) years, TSC has been published under McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. And now, the final trilogy, which, as you may remember, we have been waiting years for it to be picked up, is going to be published by Knopf, an imprint of Random House (the same house that published Sword Catcher btw).

What does this mean? A different editorial team. A different marketing team. A different design team. Etc. etc. etc. Its honestly the last of these that scares me the most, but I feel like with such an established series as TSC, they would be dumb not to finish it out with the same font and cover styles etc. that have been characteristic of it for years.

What caused the switch? Great question. We can speculate all we want, but all I know is it just makes me that much more intrigued to find out what The Wicked Powers has in store.

[rinadragomir]

Cassie's publishing plans + things you can do while waiting for TWP (under the video)

The Wicked Powers - 2025👸🏼🔫(but read my thoughts below pls)

Sword Catcher - October 10

Secrets Of Blackthorn Hall (kickstarter), which is gonna include "other Shadowhunter material" (new short stories and something "mysterious" else) - 2024

Eldest Curses - unknown, but it will come out at some point during The Wicked Powers, please don't die while waiting🫶

So TWP comes out in 2 years. Listen🖐️I know how it sounds, but heeey it's not actually too long if you think of it. She hasn't even started writing and we were waiting for the Chain of Thorns around the same amount of time✊ focus on the fact that these two years will be full of different kind of new content!

We can read Sword Catcher, it looks and sounds like something exciting

We'll get lots of new arts for TWP and maybe something else for TLH

In a year we'll be able to hold a physical copy of SOBH and get !new! short stories✨

We'll probably get extra ChoT content, maybe explicit scenes or sth

Snippets💅🏻

[libraryofmoths]

Moth of the Week

Peppered Moth

Biston betularia

The peppered moth is a part of the family geometridae. It was first described in 1758 by Charles Linnaeus. This moth gains its name from its speckled coloration, which has been studied as an example of natural selection and population evolution.

Description This species has a short body with narrow forewings. The body and wings are the same white base peppered with black dots and irregular black lines. This speckled pattern may vary with some moths having very few spots and others having so many that they look as if they are black with white spots as opposed to white with black. In rare cases, the black on the wings and body is replaced with gray or brown and in even rarer cases the spots are a combination of brown and black/gray. These spots help the moth camouflage against lichen on trees.

The evolution of this moth had been studied extensively during the last two hundred years, which created the term “industrial melanism.” During the Industrial Revolution, air pollution killed off lichen and covered trees in soot. This caused moths with a black spots on white base (typica) coloration to lose their camouflage and die off due to predators. This caused a spike in population for moths with a darker coloration (carbonaria) because they had the camouflage advantage. Once environmental conditions improved, the lighter colored moths once again became the dominant coloration.

The male’s antennae are bipectinate, meaning it has two rows of rami going down either side of a singular flagellum.

Wingspan Range: 45 - 62 mm (≈1.77 - 2.44 in)

Diet and Habitat The caterpillar of this moth eats many trees, shrubs, and small plants such as Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Downy (Betula pubescens) and Silver Birch (Betula pendula), limes, sallows, poplars, oaks, Sweet Chestnut (Castanae sativa), Beech (Fagus sylvatica), Bramble (Rubus fruiticosus), Broom (Cytisus scoparius), Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) and Hop (Humulus lupulus).

They have a wide range, being found in China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet), Russia, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Europe and North America. They prefer habitats of woodland, scrub, hedgerows, parks and gardens.

Mating Depending on its location, this moth can have one or two generations per year. In Great Britain and Ireland, the peppered moth has one generation per year, whilst in south-eastern North America it has two generations per year. They emerge from the pupea in late May to August.

The females attract males with pheromones, which are carried by the wind. Males follow the concentration gradient to find the female. The male guards the female from other males until she lays the eggs. The female lays about 2,000 pale-green ovoid eggs about 1 mm in length into crevices in bark with her ovipositor.

Predators This species is a night-flying moth, making the vulnerable to bats. The males in particular fly every night to search for a female while females fly only the first night.

To protect themselves from birds during the day, this species rests on lichen covered trees to camouflage themselves.

The day time resting positions of this moth have been recorded and studied. This study shows that the peppered moth prefers resting spots that are covered such as below where the trunk and a branch meet, the underside of branches, and leafy twigs.

Additionally, the study found peppered moths with a lighter coloration (typica) blend in better against crustose lichens rather than foliose lichens because birds can see ultraviolet light. The peppered moth reflects UV light while crustose lichens don’t, making them easier to pick out.

Fun Fact The caterpillars of the peppered moth resemble things in both color and size. An experiment published in 2019 done on the caterpillars of the peppered moth showed that the larva (even when blindfolded) could sense the color of the tree they live on and change their body color to match and/or would move to a different twig that was closest in color to their own body.

(Source: Wikipedia, Butterfly Conservation, Max Planck Institute)

[monstersandmaw]

Laces for a Lady - 18th century, poly, shifters x human romance - Chapter Five (sfw)

Disclaimer which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me. 

Here's chapter five! I've been blown away by your reaction and love for this story so far, and the fact that I've got two lots of fan art out of it as well has just totally humbled me. Thank you! You can find them here and here, by the way, as well as my own doodles of Locryn and Ned.

Anyway, here we have the Harvest Festival Dance, where all bets are off, and there's some angst and a sprinkling of drama for some *spice*...

Wordcount: 4203

Part One (sfw), Part Two (sfw), Part Three (sfw), Part Four (sfw)

The night of the Lammas Festival dance ticked around in no time, and even though the focus of the festivities was the great barn and the yard outside, the whole of Heath Top House itself came alive.

The staff spent the entire day scouring the stone floor of the barn and setting out the long tables in the barn and preparing the feast, while Winnie and Nel tried not to get in their way while weaving and hanging decorative wreaths and festoons along the walls, and tying ribbons in bows on the huge doors.

As promised, Aggie had come to the house a few days before to teach the two ladies how to weave the traditional corn dollies, or Nests as they were called in these parts, much to Nel’s confusion. Her own hadn’t turned out too bad, despite her lack of skill with an embroidery needle, while Winnie’s was decidedly lumpy and misshapen. Still, they laughed and hung them in pride of place in the drawing room window, and Aggie had even managed a kind word about their efforts while gossipping about everyone in the village.

“Little Betsie Carne is going to get a proposal from Arthur, you can count on that, and Meg has been leading poor Jack on something dreadful. If he can get a word out without turning red as an autumn apple to ask her to dance on Lammas night, I’ll eat this whole Neck with gravy and turnips!” she cackled, waving her own intricate corn dolly at them like a cook with a wooden spoon while they all laughed.

Nel refrained from asking about whether Edmund Nancarrow or Locryn Trevethan would be seen with anyone, though she was curious if the older woman had noticed their seemingly obvious adoration for one another. Perhaps it was one of those things that everyone knew about and simply didn’t mention in case it brought unwanted attention down on them, much like the smuggling and Free Trade in the area. Nel was not one to rock the proverbial boat, and kept her focus on the plaited strand of corn in her fingers, all the while remembering the way Locryn had crowded close to Edmund on the quayside and the sound of his smouldering voice as he’d growled soft endearments at him under his breath.

On the night of the dance itself, the trestle tables in the barn stretched all the way down its length, and were flanked by long benches for seating, and the stall doors of the stables along the edges of the barn each sported a different wreath and a coloured ribbon.

Blackthorn immediately ate the enormous sunflower that had been at the top of her wreath with great relish, and Nel fell about laughing while the black mare blithely scattered yellow petals all over the floor while Winnie looked honestly heartbroken. The stable hand nearby chuckled too, and Nel moved the remainder of the wreath to a spot where Blackthorn’s pincer teeth couldn't reach.

As dusk fell and the lanterns were lit around the yard and in the barn, Nel continued to help the staff where she could until Winnie emerged and called her name into the dying afternoon. It was so unlike her that Nel nearly dropped the basket of hazelnuts she’d been carrying. Liddy, a kitchen servant, gently took it from her and chirped, “Best see what she wants, Miss Nel.”

The slight glow of affection that she felt whenever the household called her ‘Miss Nel’ instead of ‘Miss Bywater’ or even ‘Miss Eleanor’ hadn’t faded since she’d first heard them start it up, and she offered Liddy a quick smile and her thanks as she handed the basket over and scuttled over to Winnie on the threshold of the manor house.

Winnie laughed and dragged her by the wrist through the house as though they were both barely fourteen, not twenty-five and thirty. “Come on! The guests will start arriving any minute and you’re still wearing that horrible brown dress! And it’ll take me at least an hour to style your hair properly…”

In the end, her hair only took twenty minutes, though that was more because Nel’s wild tresses refused to be properly curled and even Winnie simply gave up, but it was a good couple of hours before they were both fully dressed and ready, and dusk had well and truly fallen outside.

Winnie led her arm-in-arm across the hallway to the front door of the hall, where her father and mother in law were standing and smiling. “You both look beautiful,” Lady Mary said, speaking first to Winnie but surprising Nel by including the young woman in her gaze too.

“Shall we go?” Lady Mary asked her husband, who nodded and a servant opened the door for them.

Nel’s breath caught when she saw how the staff had finished off the decorations, with lamps settled on the ground all around the courtyard, candles glinting within them, and festoons of foliage and flowers around the edges of the open space. The shrill piping of a tin whistle and the steady, heartbeat rhythm of a drum kept a leaping fiddle carefully in time as the music rose above the chatter and laughter in the barn beyond, and she walked with Winnie towards the celebrations that were already kicking off by the sound of things.

Nel recognised many of the faces from the farm and estate workers, as well as a few from the village, and she caught Agatha’s eye as the old woman beamed at her while laughing with the man beside her. Nel grinned at her and slipped away from Winnie to hug the woman.

“Dearie, you look right lovely,” Agatha said as she released her and gazed up and down at her embroidered green dress. “Doesn’t she, Martin?” she asked, and her husband nodded enthusiastically.

They glanced around the great barn and smiled at the sight of all the horses poking their noses over their stall doors, clearly wondering what the fuss was all about. Blackthorn had a piece of hay in her dark forelock, and Nel had just thought about going over to pick it out for her when Lord Penrose cleared his throat and tapped a knife against the edge of his glass, calling for silence.

Although he wasn’t as popular with the local folk as Winnie herself was, people fell silent quickly to listen to him. Just as he opened his mouth to begin, however, one of the carthorses near the back of the barn broke wind and let rip an enormous noise that made everyone go completely still and then burst out laughing. Once one person started, the cacophony rose and people slapped the table and guffawed, and even Blackthorn joined in with a shrill neigh of her own before things eventually sputtered back to quiet.

Nel covered her mouth with her hand and turned her face into Agatha’s shoulder, still shaking with silent laughter, but just as she shut her eyes, she saw Edmund Nancarrow standing nearby, biting his own lips together to keep from laughing. When their gaze met, it was all over for Nel and she whickered out a shuddering breath that was just the right side of decent to escape Lord Penrose’s attention as everyone else gained control of themselves.

“Yes, well… quite,” the older man chirped around a tight smile of his own. “Well, after such a crude reminder from Old Flint there for me to keep things brief, I would just like to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication this year. I believe this was a record harvest for us, and I hope you know how valued you all are as my tenants. None of this would be possible without your daily hard work. Providing a feast like this is a truly inadequate way of thanking you, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. Please…”

And with a gesture and a wordless toast, he raised his glass and everyone cheered.

Nel glanced back at Edmund, who was then looking in the other direction and speaking to a young woman in a dark blue dress, so Nel used the brief opportunity to take in the slender lines of his body in the wine red coat he wore. Angular and handsome, he was quick to laugh, and he ducked his head shyly as he ushered his companion forward ahead of him to the trestle table to help herself before him.

The motion left him standing alone, and Nel slipped free of Agatha to join him.

He watched her approach and bowed his head as she joined him. “Miss Bywater,” he said in his quiet tenor.

“Mr. Nancarrow,” she said. “Old Flint got things off to a good start,” she giggled, and Edmund snickered like a schoolboy again.

 She could see an endless well of mirth in the depths of his brown eyes and didn’t trust herself not to laugh along with him if he started up again in earnest.

“And here I thought it was going to be my dear Blackthorn causing all the trouble,” she went on, nodding at the black mare as she popped her head curiously over her stable and sniffed curiously at the tankard of cider someone was holding in their hand while talking and facing in the opposite direction. “She’s a bit of a menace, but she’s a sweetheart too.”

Edmund looked very much as though he wanted to talk, to say something in response, but perhaps his innate shyness got in the way and he just swallowed thickly and he smiled one of those devastating, dimpled smiles instead.

“No Locryn tonight?” she asked quietly, and he smiled to show he wasn’t anxious about the topic.

“He said he might come later,” he said. “He doesn’t tend to have much to do with the village, even at big events like this one.” He finished the statement with another bashful smile that lit him up from the inside out, and she fought down a wave of selfish jealousy; she would have been lying if she’d said she didn’t want someone to smile like that at the thought of her.

“Can’t say I imagine him being overly comfortable at a gathering like this,” she ventured, and Edmund snorted.

“No. It’s a shame though,” he added with a glance at the musicians near the back of the barn. “He loves music.”

“Let’s hope he shows up then,” she said. “I’ve been to my fair share of gatherings and balls in London, but this is already ten times more fun.”

A hand at her elbow made her start and she looked round just as Winnie giggled and squeezed her arm. “There you are,” she said, and then her eyes fell on Edmund and her smile grew. “Oh.”

She clearly recognised him, but didn’t know his name, so Nel turned and said, “Winnie, this is Mr. Edmund Nancarrow. He is assistant to Mr. Fordyce.”

“Oh, a tailor!” she beamed, with a rosy flush in her cheeks. “How talented! You must never, ever be allowed to see my embroidery, Mr. Nancarrow,” she said with the perfect sincerity of the very tipsy. “Nel’s isn’t much better though. Dreadful, actually, but you didn't hear it from me.”

Nel gave a laugh through her nose and began to steer Winnie towards the table, and towards a glass of water. With a look back over her shoulder, she said to Edmund, “Will you excuse us before Winnie drops any more embarrassing truths about my shortcomings? Give her another glass of Mr. Meddlar’s cider, and she’ll be telling everyone how bad I am at the fortepiano too. At least I can speak French to a passable degree. Come on, Winnie…”

Edmund was smiling again as if she’d told him the world’s funniest secret, and when the young woman who’d been with him earlier joined and immediately led him away by the elbow with the air of a close friend who needs to know every detail of recent events, he shook his head fondly and indulged her.

Nel lost track of him after that. She and Winnie sat down together near the head of the table to enjoy the glorious roast beef and pork pie and boiled vegetables that had been prepared for the feast.

“Who was that young man you were talking to?” Winnie asked about an hour into the festivities, having soaked up a little of the cider with some supper. “He was rather handsome…”

Shaking her head, Nel reached for her own wine glass and sipped from it. “His name is Edmund Nancarrow. He’s Mr. Fordyce’s assistant.”

“You told me that,” Winnie said flatly. “That wasn’t what I meant. You seemed…”

“Don’t,” she sighed, and whatever bitter, sad undertone carried in the single word, Winnie caught it and let the matter lie.

Instead, the young widow closed her hand around Nel’s forearm and leaned in close. “Make sure you dance with whomever you like tonight, mmm? There are no rules at the Harvest Dance, and no one will think anything of whatever happens tonight.”

She didn’t reply, but she mulled her friend’s words over while they ate dessert, and when the merry drone of the bagpipes started up outside in the courtyard and the people began to line up, Nel followed Winnie and tried to take part as best she could. Nel had never danced most of the country dances they all seemed to know there though, and after embarrassing herself by stumbling through a few sets under Winnie’s rather chaotic directions on the fly, she slipped away and strolled along the barn towards Blackthorn’s stall, snagging an apple from the table on the way.

The horse whickered, low and warm when she opened the door and slipped inside the dark stall, and while the heat of the dancing faded a little from her cheeks, she stroked the mare’s velvet nose and fed her chunks of apple until it was all gone.

The mare’s ears pricked forwards suddenly and Nel turned to see Edmund slowly sinking down onto one of the long, empty benches outside the stall.

He had a tight expression of pain on his face and he seemed to be breathing carefully through the sharp discomfort in his leg with the practised pattern of someone who deals with chronic pain on a daily basis.

Aware that she was intruding on his privacy, she had just begun to turn back to the mare when she heard Edmund laugh quietly and she glanced over her shoulder again to see Locryn’s massive form sliding onto the bench beside him.

He wore an undyed linen shirt that was open a little at the neck, and simple brown trousers and boots, but somehow he had the presence of a lord in a great hall, and she found herself transfixed. He pulled Edmund against his side for a moment and then, from what she could see from her limited angle, he appeared to lay his big hand quietly on Edmund’s painful hip. After a few long, measured breaths, Edmund simply melted into his supportive touch, allowing the bulk of the bigger man to buttress him up entirely, and he half closed his eyes in the relative privacy of the shadowed barn.

The noises of dancing and merriment drifted down the empty table, over the abandoned plates and tankards, and for a time, everything stayed perfectly, timelessly still.

Nel hardly dared breathe, let alone turn around, in case her skirts dragged on the straw and disturbed the couple by alerting them to her presence.

Blackthorn scraped her hoof along the stall floor a few moments later, shattering the silence with the jarring sound, and she nudged at Nel’s hand for more apple. Using the shuffling of the horse to mask her own movements, she turned her back on the two men to breathe in the scent of the mare’s glossy coat.

She rubbed her cheek against the silky hair on Blackthorn’s neck and slowly buried her fingers in the dense, dark coat that was starting to grow as the year turned colder. Tears prickled hot around her eyes as she was struck starkly by the force of her loneliness, despite her friendship with Winnie. The sting of knowing she would probably never curl up with a man in bed, never feel his hand resting on her hip, never hear him sigh with pleasure or feel his lips brush over her neck, suddenly seemed all the sharper with the knowledge that just outside the stable were two people who meant the world to each other.

With a huge sigh, she pressed a kiss to Blackthorn’s neck and prepared to walk out with her head held at a dignified angle, politely ignoring Edmund and Locryn as she left and went back to the manor house for the night.

Instead, she turned around and found Locryn leaning his huge, bare forearms on the stable door immediately behind her, and nearly leapt out of her skin. How on earth he’d moved so silently, she couldn’t fathom.

He offered her a lopsided grin and opened the door for her as she approached. “Not hiding in there, are you, Miss?” he asked as he stepped back, and, comically, both Nel and the mare made to leave the stall together.

Nel turned around and glared pointedly at the horse, who tossed her head, snorted, and then promptly turned her quarters around and stuck her nose in the hay trough on the back wall without so much as a farewell nicker for the apple.  

“No?” Nel grimaced at Locryn, nodding her thanks as he secured the door behind her. “Truth be told, I got fed up with tripping over my own feet in dances I don’t really know, and I wanted to make sure Blackthorn didn’t feel too left out. You’re not dancing either, I take it?”

“Me?” he laughed, the oddly delighted sound carrying easily over the deserted table and echoing around the otherwise empty barn. “You think anyone wants to partner up with me?”

“Why ever wouldn't they?” she asked with a frown, stopping abruptly and staring up at him. He was nearly a foot taller than her, and so broad and muscular in the confines of the dimly-lit barn that he seemed almost like a giant out of a fairytale.

“You saying you would?” he countered, one thick, steel-grey eyebrow rising.

“I —” her gaze flickered to Edmund, who was sitting on the bench and watching the exchange with a wry twist to his lips that made his dark eyes glitter. “If I were halfway decent at dancing, and if you asked me, I might,” she told Locryn archly. “But I didn’t think you liked anyone else here enough to want to dance with them, let alone me.”

At that, a little of the playful laughter faded from his green eyes and he took half a step back. “Now why would you think I don’t like you, Miss?” he asked, arms folding across his chest. The movement pulled the fabric of his undyed shirt across his shoulders and accentuated the enormous muscles of his arms and chest, and she looked down at the ground before answering him. Some of the heat from her earlier dancing returned to her cheeks and refused to leave a second time.

“Well,” she mumbled, “For starters… you glowered at me something fierce the first time I came to Polgarrack, and you nearly knocked me flying off the cliff when you brought Mr. Nancarrow up from the sands. You didn't even check to see if you’d toppled me over the edge in your haste.”

“Forgive me for caring about —” he hissed and stopped himself from saying what Edmund truly meant to him and ground his teeth. “You weren’t in any danger,” he said with a clenched jaw.

“Perhaps not,” she conceded, “And you did redeem yourself somewhat by helping me onto Blackthorn afterwards.” The way his huge hand had lingered around her ankle joint had lived far longer in her mind than it had any right to. “Fine. Are you saying you would genuinely dance with me?”

“You saying you want to? Thought you weren’t enjoying the dancing… Two left feet and all…”

She rolled her eyes and flapped her hands a little in frustration. “Oh, you’re impossible. Forget the whole thing. I was going to call it a night anyway.” She looked over at Edmund, who was just barely holding back a laugh at his lover’s antics. “Mr. Nancarrow, I wish you good night. I hope you and Locryn enjoy the music. God knows, I think I’ve had quite enough of all of it.” Her cheeks were stinging and it had nothing to do with the exertion after dancing.

With that, she turned and walked briskly towards the open doors of the barn, her chest churning with the strange and unsettling feeling that she’d either been flirted with or made a fool of, and she couldn’t tell which it was. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

“Wait!” Locryn's bass voice was soft, and she almost missed it over the shrill piping and rapid-fire scraping of the fiddler outside, but she stopped all the same.

Slowly, she turned and found him walking towards her with a completely new expression on his face. With his green eyes wide and dark, he looked contrite and abashed, and behind him she could just make out Edmund, leaning his elbow against the table while he drank deeply from a wine goblet as if to hide a smile.

“If I asked you, would you dance with me?” Locryn asked in a low rumble.

A little suspicious, she frowned and jutted her chin back towards Edmund. “What about…?” she asked carefully.

Locryn shook his head. “He asked me to ask you. He knows I like dancing, and it’s not something he’s comfortable doing.”

“You like dancing?”

The mountain of a man just nodded.

“And you’re not making fun of me?” she asked.

“No,” he breathed. “I’m sorry if I made you think I was just now. I was just having a laugh with you. You give as good as you get, and I like that.”

She smiled and held out her hand, palm down. “Alright then. One dance. And if I tread on your feet or trip over, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I won’t let you trip over,” he said with a smile that showed his thick canines and made his eyes glint. Despite all that, she trusted him, and let him lead her out of the barn and towards the dancing.

A few people looked at them as they joined the end of the line for the next set, but true to his word, Locryn neither embarrassed her nor let her embarrass herself. His big, rough hands were gentle as he turned her under his arm, and he moved with surprising lightness of foot for someone his size. And he really did enjoy the music. She saw it in the way his eyes lit up and his lips curved into an attractive, heartfelt smile. He picked her up by the hips and floated her down to the ground again in a turn that left her dizzy, with two points of heat searing into her skin where his hands had been, if only for a second or two.

The set passed in a blur of lines weaving in and out of each other; of steel grey hair and dark green eyes and wolfish smiles that lit her up inside. From time to time, since they were on the end of the line, she caught glimpses of Edmund’s pale face watching from the shadows of the barn, and each time she saw him, he was smiling.

And then it was over almost before she’d even realised it.

They stared in breathless silence at each other for several pounding heartbeats while the rest of the dancers cheered and applauded the musicians, but Nel couldn’t tear her eyes from his. They were as green as the sea on a summer evening, and there was an otherworldly glow about him that drew her in like the promise of soothing waves after a long and thirsty day in the sun.

For some reason she could almost taste saltwater on her tongue.

There was a pounding in her ears like the thunder of distant surf and she couldn’t catch her breath.

Locryn leaned down and she watched the very tip of his tongue move to wet his upper lip. For a wild, wonderful moment, she thought he was going to kiss her.

Someone bumped into her from behind, sending her lurching a step towards him and he steadied her where he still held her hands in his rough, rope-callused fingers.

The moment vanished like sea foam and she swallowed, looking up at him. He looked as stunned as she did.

“No wonder he’s so in love with you,” she whispered, blinking back tears. She bobbed a tiny, stiff curtsy. “I thank you for the dance, Mr. Trevethan.”

Without waiting long enough for him to react, she turned and walked as quickly as she dared back to the house.

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