Liza Tarvie is an apprentice weaver, but when her weaving mistress dies she must find a job until she can secure a new apprenticeship. Work in the city of Graybury is hard to come by, though. Discouraged, Liza visits the temple of the wolf-headed god Sikivis, known as "Eraser of Worries," where she meets a monk who suggests she look for work as a spinner. That afternoon Liza finds a job at Grayson's Spinsters.
She enjoys the work, but begins to be troubled by dreams of spinning black thread--dreams coupled with a sense of urgency and despair that seems to be connected to Sikivis. And after she rescues an apprentice necromancer from a ghost, her dreams become more frightening. Liza suspects that Sikivis needs her help--and for more than the task he sets her, to spin and weave three newly-shorn black fleeces into a shroud.
The apprentice necromancer, Johan, thinks she may be haunted. But when Johan's master summons the ghost and captures it, Liza's relief is short-lived. The ghost is actually a god--one of Sikivis' two brothers who stole the bulk of his powers and trapped him in a hiding place long ago.
Liza searches Graybury's temples to find out the truth about Sikivis and his brothers, but what she discovers disturbs her more than she expected. Sikivis is a god of death--something Sikivis's monks have failed to mention to her. And she's not the first weaver Sikivis has asked for help.
If Liza's going to help Sikivis retrieve his powers, she'll have to draw on all her skills as a spinner and weaver. She'll need the help of her friends even more: Johan, the monk Kim, and Zack, the baker's boy Liza may be falling in love with. But the hardest part is deciding whether to help Sikivis at all.
Liza Tarvie is an apprentice weaver, but when her weaving mistress dies she must find a job until she can secure a new apprenticeship. Work in the city of Graybury is hard to come by, though. Discouraged, Liza visits the temple of the wolf-headed god Sikivis, known as "Eraser of Worries," where she meets a monk who suggests she look for work as a spinner. That afternoon Liza finds a job at Grayson's Spinsters.
She enjoys the work, but begins to be troubled by dreams of spinning black thread--dreams coupled with a sense of urgency and despair that seems to be connected to Sikivis. And after she rescues an apprentice necromancer from a ghost, her dreams become more frightening. Liza suspects that Sikivis needs her help--and for more than the task he sets her, to spin and weave three newly-shorn black fleeces into a shroud.
The apprentice necromancer, Johan, thinks she may be haunted. But when Johan's master summons the ghost and captures it, Liza's relief is short-lived. The ghost is actually a god--one of Sikivis' two brothers who stole the bulk of his powers and trapped him in a hiding place long ago.
Liza searches Graybury's temples to find out the truth about Sikivis and his brothers, but what she discovers disturbs her more than she expected. Sikivis is a god of death--something Sikivis's monks have failed to mention to her. And she's not the first weaver Sikivis has asked for help.
If Liza's going to help Sikivis retrieve his powers, she'll have to draw on all her skills as a spinner and weaver. She'll need the help of her friends even more: Johan, the monk Kim, and Zack, the baker's boy Liza may be falling in love with. But the hardest part is deciding whether to help Sikivis at all.