by Ithielwen
She fits the shape they gave her. Cervi. Guardian. Bound to die if the girl she protects dies first. The courts called it service. Minnow called it living. A devil lives in her neck now. It talks. It has already made a friend of theirs pick up a blade. The house has decided two days is long enough. They will pull it out. They will give her back to silence and call that kindness. Gideon keeps finding her at windows. Close enough to reach. Not close enough to keep. She has been useful her entire life. She is running out of reasons to stay that way.
| # | Title | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Shape She Fits | — |
| 2 | What Remains of the Old Life | — |
| 3 | The Extraction | — |
| 4 | The Silence | — |
| 5 | What the Laws Still Claim | — |
| 6 |
| The Direction of the Step |
| — |
| 7 | What She Cannot Give Him | — |
| 8 | The Shape of an Offer | — |
| 9 | What She Begins to Set Down | — |
| 10 | The Button | — |
| 11 | The First Distance Made Real | — |
| 12 | Cleanly | — |
| 13 | The Ground Under Her | — |
| 14 | The Shape of Ordinary Days | — |
| 15 | Contingent | — |
| 16 | When Carrying It Alone Fails | — |
| 17 | What He Brings Back | — |
| 18 | The Longer Problem | — |
| 19 | What the Body Requires | — |
| 20 | The Questions She Is Ready to Ask | — |
| 21 | A Place That Can Hold Still | — |
| 22 | The Width of the Blank | — |
| 23 | The First Draw | — |
| 24 | The First Long Stillness | — |
| 25 | The Interval | — |
| 26 | The Last Major Working | — |
| 27 | The Long Recovery | — |
| 28 | Residual Threads | — |
| 29 | Preparation | — |
