Forty steps. One fewer every night.
The thaw has come to Mallowmere, and a curious thing waits on Wren Halberd's bench: a little folding stair, carved on its side with a number that grows smaller each morning. It isn't broken. It's counting - and the whole village seems to know toward what, even as no one will say it plainly.
As the number falls, Wren must help old Sorrel, and herself, face a truth that has nothing to do with grief and everything to do with grace: that some things aren't lost when we set them down. Among her tools sits an unfinished hand-mirror her own teacher never got to mend - a quiet reminder that every craft is handed on.
For readers who love slow, heartfelt fantasy, cottagecore comfort reads, and gentle stories about change, legacy, and letting go.
Book 3 of The Mallowmere Workshop - a cozy fantasy series you can read in any order.