The Witch in the Woods

Liz von Althuis has been sent by her mother to negotiate with Tsar Koschei, King of the Fairies. If she fails, her family's life (as well as the lives of all Humans in America) is at risk. To make matters worse, Liz has done the unthinkable. She's fallen in love.

Will she be able to navigate her mother's will, her new feelings, and the King of Fairies, or will she lose herself and her sanity to the woods?

CW: Arranged, forced & coerced marriage, emotional abuse (psychological manipulation), depression, postpartum depression, PTSD, suicide & attempted suicide (implied), death of an infant (off-screen, never directly shown), grief & loss depiction

NOTE: I spell the city of Kyiv as Kiev on a few occasions. Because Liz is an American from 1994 and this is a period piece, she would only know the Russian spelling of the word. I have all Ukrainian characters (and eventually Liz) spell it as Kyiv.

ONC2026 Prompt: 16. And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. (Quote by John Muir)