Summary

The last story is a novella titled “Tangleroot Palace.” In Chapter 1, Sally learns that she has “been sold in marriage” (182). Sally remembers talking to the gardener, an old woman and the gardener telling Sally there were ravens in her dream. The king, Sally’s father, sends for Sally. Sally meets her father, and the king explains that when Sally’s mother was still alive, she arranged an alliance with a friend of hers that gave birth to a son. The king tells Sally that the son is the Warlord “who leads a barbarian horde of nomadic horsemen” (185). The king shows Sally a likeness of the Warlord, and Sally says “he looks like a dirty fingerprint” (186). The king tells Sally that she is to wed the Warlord. Sally resists because she does not want to “give up her freedom” (187). The king tells Sally that...