“Silver in the Wood” by Emily Tesh

This was another free ebook that I got from Tor.com! It was a quick read, I think the whole thing is about 50 pages, but it was fun.

The story follows Tobias, a sort of otherworldly groundsman for a forest as he meets and falls for his employer. His employer, Silver, studies folklore and heard of a Wild Man that lived in the woods which prompted him to meet Tobias. However, Silver doesn’t know that the Lord of the Summer is coming and he accidentally comes into the woods the night that the Lord of the Summer is coming. He ends up being taken away, and Tobias reveals that he used to be in a relationship with the Lord, before they both became creatures of the wood. Silver’s mom then comes looking for her son, and decided that the way to do this is to take down the big oak that Tobias and the Lord’s lives are bound to. They succeed in bringing the tree down but are unable to find Silver. As a result of this though, the Lord of the Summer is killed and Tobias becomes a mortal man once more. A year after this happens though, Tobias enters the wood and runs into Silver, who has now taken his place as a wild man of the wood. They kiss and reconcile before leaving to see Silver’s mom.

So the story is really cute, it’s evident from the beginning that the two characters are flirting with each other and despite the fact that it’s so short their relationship doesn’t feel rushed. It’s nice to see how it develops and how their relationship reflects Tobias’ feelings about mortals as he warms up to them once more and emerges from the wood.

Additionally it is a neat take on stories about Fairy Kings and things like that. The Lord of the Summer is explicitly said to not be a Fairy King, but he sure functions like one. There’s also dryads which are spirits linked to trees and other mythical creatures. The story doesn’t go into much detail on them, but their presence brings a forest-y mystery to the whole tale.

Short and sweet, this is a story that’s well written and worth the read!