And besides, while all three of us have the ability to change and alter the fates of mortals, I have always been best at weaving. It’s the only way I’ve ever had any chance of reweaving what my sisters have woven. They would never be able to do the same with my tapestries. They’ve always perceived this difference in skill as bestowed on me especially by our father, deeming me his favorite.
And though I cannot speak to whether it comes more naturally to me or to them, I do know that despite being the youngest, I have spent countless more hours at the loom than either of them combined.
They also don’t particularly like when I steal their tapestries and reweave them. But it’s been years since I’ve let them make me feel guilty for that.
“What sort of tea would you like?” I ask.
“Black,” says the Middle Sister.
“Something flowery,” says my Eldest Sister.
I turn around to brew the tea. If I were a mortal, I would have done this to avoid them seeing me roll my eyes. But my Sisters and I are used to a different sort of body language, the way our shadows move telling the story of what’s inside.
It’s been so long since I’ve received a visit from either of my Sisters, I suppose I am out of practice interpreting such things. Perhaps that is why I do not see it coming when, around my neck, loops a coil of adamant.
I wheeze as it contracts—feel my breath constrict, unable to reach my lungs. Shadows I may be, but my organs have a proper function to them. I’m not so much a fool to ask what they are doing.
Instead, I whip around, summoning my shadows. But as I do, my Eldest Sister wraps shackles around my wrists—these of adamant as well—securing my power within me.
My Middle Sister, who holds the collar on my neck, asks, “Aw, look how disappointed she is.” She says it with a smile in the curve of her shadows. “I always forget—you never did get used to punishment, did you?”
I stare my Sister down.“If you want the tapestry back, you can take it. I wasn’t able to save her, anyway. Not after all the madness you’d already set in motion,” I say, glaring at my Eldest Sister with this last part.
“Our Middle Sister has no use for a tapestry which she cannot read,” says the Eldest.
“Yes, I believe you are the one who placed that curse upon her, were you not?” I say, looking back and forth between them.“What has since united your causes? Are we due for a family reunion?”
Panic is welling up within me, but I try not to show it. My Sisters are predictable only in that they are capable of deeper cruelty than I can imagine.
“After you stole that tapestry from my abode,” says my Eldest Sister, “my Sister and I decided it was time for a talk. We are tired of you putting your nose in our business. In fact, we have grown quite weary of it.”
“It shouldn’t bother you, should it?” I say to my Middle Sister. “Like she said, you can’t read the tapestry, anyway.”
“It’s not that,” she says, “but I can’t help but notice that of the tapestries you steal, it’s always those Descendants I struggle to find.”
“Yes, well, that’s more of our Eldest Sister’s doing than mine,” I say, though I can’t honestly say that I have nothing to do with it. If I can manage it, I try to weave those poor souls’ fates so that they never have to encounter either of my Sisters.
“You do make your home so quaint,” says my Eldest Sister.
My Middle Sister scoffs.
“She never did appreciate being one of us. Never did identify as a Fate. That’s why she never creates her own tapestries.”
“I dislike meddling in the lives of mortals,” I say. “It’s not a power I wish to exert.”
“You didn’t mind exerting your power when you showed off your tapestry-weaving skills in front of our father,” says one of my Sisters.
“I was a child,” I explain. “It is what children do. They show off to their parents.”
“Always so eager to please,” says my other Sister. “Well, except for us. You never did care about pleasing either of us.”
I am growing impatient, but I will not ask them what their plan is. I will not dignify them with that question. I can see itin the way they skirt around revealing it to me. They want me to beg, want me to be intrigued, curious about what they have planned.
I keep my mouth shut.
“Oh, you are no fun,” says my Middle Sister. “Tell her, Eldest, what we’ve decided.”
“I shan’t,” says my Eldest Sister. “You see, as our father never did feel the need to discipline you, unfortunately that task falls on the two of us. We should have done it earlier. Shouldn’t have let you run amok as you do now. But alas, we cannot go back and change the past. What we can do is teach you a lesson. Keep you from interfering.”
