Threaded, p.1
Threaded, page 1
Copyright © 2023 by Tay Rose.
Cover Art by Maria Spada.
Chapter Header Art by Momo: @momosbookss (Instagram)
Editing by Brittney Corley of This Bitch Reads Media.
Proofreading by Taylor Robinson of Taylored Text, LLC.
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Any relation to any person or place is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Please direct inquiries to tayrosebooks@gmail.com.
Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9876709-1-0
E-Book ISBN: 979-8-9876709-0-3
CONTENTS
Author’s Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Acknowledgments
About the Author
For those whose life took a path they did not anticipate, but have learned to find beauty in the unknown.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Threaded is an adult fantasy romance containing content which may not be suitable or appropriate for all readers, including sexual content, adult language, violence, depictions of childhood trauma, and mentions of sexual abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
This is book one in a series and ends on a cliffhanger.
PROLOGUE
Two sisters stood together in an ethereal plane, in a world that existed beyond the comprehension of mortal minds.
One was older, but only just. Long ago, her younger sister was taken from her, hidden away in the darkest of the realms by one who believed possession and control could remedy a broken heart.
The elder didn’t know how much time had passed since she’d last seen her sister. That concept—time—did not exist to her. All she knew was her balance, her scale, the other side of her same coin, had been gone.
But now she was back.
The sisters embraced once more, both feeling complete to be reunited again. As if all was set right.
If only that were true.
The younger sister released the elder, stepping out from her embrace.
He will come for me. You know he will. She spoke with the whispers of the night wind through the stars.
Her older sister frowned. I would like to see him try to take you from me again. Her words burned through the infinite expanse like a spark of warmth in a mortal’s chest.
The younger smiled sadly. You are strong, lifted up by many who hold your presence in their hearts and minds. It seems that with my time … away … I have not been so lucky.
You are not weak—
I am, my sister. At least, I am right now. Wildfire flashed in the younger sister’s eyes. Yes. Only for now.
Then we have time. For you to grow your strength. The elder’s voice was strong and sure.
You know we do not. Once he discovers I am gone—which he likely already has—he will come for me. He will not waste time. I spent five thousand years with him, sister. He will come, and he will draw me away from you by taking this fight somewhere you can not go.
The elder’s strong expression faltered, just slightly. I made the decision to save that world. Have I doomed it?
The younger grabbed her sister’s hand. No. I will not let him take that world from you—from us. That world is ours, and its people are our children.
The elder regarded her sister. You have a proposal. Tell me.
The younger pulled all her immortal grace to her before meeting the elder’s gaze. If we join, then together, our power in that world might be enough to stop him.
The elder blinked, and then scoffed. Impossible. If we join, in these forms, then we would doom not just that world but all the realms.
I don’t mean in these forms, nor in any form on this plane, my sister.
The elder snapped her gaze back to her sister. Comprehension spread across her face. She thought for a moment; the possibilities playing through her mind on an endless, eternal loop.
This … this could work.
We would have one chance. I have no more grace to give, and you can only give yours once. And even then … we would not survive it. Not as we are now.
I know. It is the only way. The younger’s voice was stoic and assured. She’d thought about this for five millennia while trapped in that endless darkness devoid of starlight. She knew this was their only hope.
The elder looked away from her, gazing out across the violet expanse of their endless realm. She had long ago doomed herself to spend the remainder of eternity there, unable to visit the beautiful world with stars and seas and life she’d helped to create. She had no desire for her sister to do the same.
But there was one thing she loved more than her sister. One thing she loved more than the single, sparkling north star that grounded her in ways her sister could not. She would gladly give away her entire, immortal being to save that world.
She looked back to her younger sister.
Who?
Just as the word spilled into the void between them, the two sisters felt a soul flash into existence. A soul that ached for freedom, that longed to be filled with the power and might of not just the world she’d been born into, but all the realms stretching across the eternal time and space separating her from those two sisters, so far away but also so very close.
Her, the younger sister breathed.
Yes, agreed the elder. Her.
Far across those same realms, in a golden palace nestled between ancient mountains and a glimmering ocean, a queen shot awake in her bed.
Her heart pounded. The pools of her magic deep in her gut rolled like a maelstrom through the seas. The taste of ash lingered on her tongue.
And she knew.
Her consort grumbled sleepily beside her as she wrapped a silk robe around her body. She strode from her bedchambers, into her living quarters, and out onto an expansive balcony facing the mountains. The night was clear, the stars twinkling, and above her the twin moons glowed as matching crescents in the sky—one gold, one silver. As the queen watched, the gold moon began to pulse, like a heartbeat, its rhythm matching the beat of her own in her chest.
Lifting a shaky hand, she watched a single droplet of liquid gold push its way through her skin and onto the pad of her finger. It lingered there for a moment, as if saying farewell, before shooting into the sky like a soul ascending to the realm of the gods. The droplet arched through the sky, and the queen watched its path until it winked out of her sight.
My time is over, she thought.
Thus begins our twenty-one-year wait.
CHAPTER 1
Mariah Salis had always found it easier to tumble head-first into chaos than to sit comfortably still in peace.
Chaos didn’t fit in a quiet, antiquated place like Andburgh. Wildness didn’t belong in a woman; not when everyone around her stared her down like she was a beast in need of taming.
For that was all she was. A cornered animal, snapping at her chains, itching for the day when she could finally be set free.
“Focus, Mariah. Again.”
Her father’s deep voice cut through the darkness of her thoughts. She grunted a response before hauling herself up from where she’d landed in the dirt. Dusting herself off, Mariah picked up the worn handle of the training sword, the dulled blade rusted and cracked along its edges. She turned and mounted the fallen birch tree again, the trunk just thick enough to stand on with one foot in front of the other, and just smooth enough that one wrong step could send her careening off into the hard, packed earth below.
Of course, on the day when Mariah had wanted nothing more than to embrace the chaos lurking beneath her skin, her father had chosen to give a lesson on balance.
But Mariah had no interest in feeling balanced. Especially not today, not when her birthday loome d in the distance, both a beacon of hope and an omen of unwanted servitude. She wouldn’t let the latter come to fruition, however—no, she would be sure to hide herself far beyond the distant shores of the Mirrored Sea before she let that happen.
Birthdays weren’t good for much, but at least this one, her twenty-first, she would finally have the excuse she’d waited for to leave this place.
After all, it wasn’t unusual for a woman to disappear from Andburgh shortly after turning twenty-one. In fact, it was pretty common.
Mariah just had to figure out how.
“Take a breath. Gather your balance. Then start again.” Her father folded his arms across his chest, his gold-hazel stare shining with encouragement. Wex Salis was the sort of man who got along with everyone, his easy-going nature allowing the other shrew-nosed residents of their town to forgive the peculiarity in which he raised his daughter.
Mariah loved him for that glowing positivity.
Right now, however, it annoyed her.
She inhaled a steadying breath before refocusing her gaze on the log beneath her, on the sword in her hands, on the emerald of the leaves of the Ivory Forest around her. She grounded herself on the otherwise unsteady surface under her feet and then began again. Her steps moved across the log, her body turning with each step, her arms lifting that dulled blade and swinging it in a smooth progression: left slice, high parry, right slice, low parry, right jab. She felt herself flowing across the log, imagining herself like a dancing leaf caught on a breeze, ready to carry her far, far away.
She loved these lessons with her father, and not just because they gave her the skills necessary to wield sword and dagger and arrow. Mariah loved them because they gave her the tools to one day float away from Andburgh, just like that leaf on the wind. Her family was her world, but she’d grown tired of the small scope of what surrounded her. She craved adventure and passion and all the things she could never find here in this town on the crossroads.
She especially thirsted for a chance to swing her sword and have it be met with the clash of real steel.
It was that last thought that had her next step coming down too forcefully, had her arms hauling her blade through the air too quickly. The slight loss of control sent her balance tipping, the soles of her boots slipping down the smooth bark of the trunk. Her hands released the smooth leather pommel of the training sword as she fell, crashing into the packed earth below.
Again.
Her breath whooshed from her lungs, her ears ringing from the impact. Distantly, Mariah could hear the sound of soft snickering, followed by a thump and a grumble. She clenched her teeth and forced her eyes open, turning her head to cast a dark glare at her brother. He lingered against a solid oak tree, his face twisted into a pout as he rubbed his upper arm. Her father stood beside him, smiling patiently down at Mariah.
“You lost your focus again.”
She pushed herself up until she knelt on the hard dirt, wiping dust from her sweaty brow. “No shit,” she grumbled, before tilting her head up to meet his gaze. “Can we just say this lesson was a raging success and never speak of this day again?”
Wex chuckled. “I’m not sure about the ‘raging success’ part, but if you’re asking if we can be done for the day, then yes.” He shot a glance at the clear sky above, the crisp air of early autumn still warm on their skin. “Why don’t you head inside and clean up. Your mother should be finishing up her shift at the clinic soon. Bring her lunch and ride with her home.”
Mariah blanched as she met her father’s hazel gold stare. “But—”
“Just do this for her, Mariah. One last time.” Wex’s voice was calm even as he interrupted her. “And then tomorrow, you can disappear off to wherever you want to go. But give your mother this one final day.”
That silenced Mariah quickly. Her family knew her plans, knew what she wanted. She wasn’t sure how she would make it happen, not yet. All she knew was once she was twenty-one, once this society of theirs considered her a full adult, she would leave this place and never come back.
She knew it would break her family’s—her mother’s—hearts. But she didn’t care.
She didn’t belong here, and they all knew it.
Caged beast. Chains. She needed freedom as much as she needed the air she breathed.
“Fine,” she said finally, her voice tight. “I’ll go.” She pushed up to her feet with a soft grunt, wiping even more dirt from her black leggings.
Gods, she really was disgusting.
“I’m going to take a shower first.” She glanced over at her brother, noticing he’d now inched his way closer to the racks of bows and arrows at the edge of the training clearing. Mariah favored the short sword—something nimble that allowed her to draw her sparring partner in close before she struck with a wicked grin on her face.
Ellan, however, preferred the bow. Soft hearts called to softer weapons, it seemed.
“I’m sure Father would appreciate the help in moving this log out of the clearing, Ellan. Why don’t you help him?” Mariah’s voice dripped with sugared sweetness as her brother whipped his head back to her, his dark hair brushing around the face that looked so much like her own. The two of them could’ve been twins, truthfully. Mariah was two years older, but the differences between them were small. They both had the same full lips, the same high cheekbones, the same almond-shaped eyes. But where Ellan’s hair was a dark auburn, Mariah’s was near-black, and where Ellan’s eyes were soft green-gold, Mariah’s were sharp forest green.
And where Mariah was all wild, untamed mountain lion, Ellan was a gentle, sensitive fawn.
But that certainly didn’t stop him from glowering back at her as their father smiled brilliantly at Mariah’s words.
“What a wonderful idea, Mariah! Come, Ellan—while your sister is showering, you can help me hitch up my horse and move this log out of the clearing. We could even chop it up and use it for a bonfire tonight!”
A grin spread across Mariah’s face at her brother’s dejected expression. She quickly turned away, sprinting towards their small cottage nestled in the woods before she, too, could be pulled into chopping firewood.
Heading into town might be a terrible prospect, but at least it was better than that.
Mariah washed down the bite of her roast turkey sandwich with a swig of water, the liquid cool on her tongue under the warm autumn sun.
She’d met her mother just as Lisabel Salis was leaving the clinic, her mother’s eyes tired as she led her gray mare into the quiet side street. Together, they’d ridden back into the main square of Andburgh, tying their horses at a post before finding seats at one of the many picnic tables in the bustling town circle. It was really just a ring of buildings with faded wooden facades surrounding an open expanse of cobblestone, but for some reason Mariah couldn’t fathom, it was considered the most desirable place to spend time in their crossroad city.
It smelled like horseshit.
Mariah’s gaze continued to wander as she took another bite from her sandwich, the flavors exploding in her mouth. Gods, she would miss her father’s cooking when she left. That was a guarantee.
In her idle staring, she took in the various shops and boutiques that made up the square. Nothing of particular note; clothes could be fun, sure, but to Mariah it was such a waste to spend so much on something it would only be acceptable for her to wear once. But nestled between those bright shops filled with prints of floral and lace were the taverns, their dark-tinted windows hiding what she knew were rooms dimly lit by weak allume lamps and occupied by patrons who’d helped her find a little bit of the escape she’d always so desperately craved.
