A curious halfling who wandered into a moonlit orchard and found a tea party that hadn’t started yet. Its host, Lady Thimbledew of the Steeping Court, offered her starlit tea and asked only for “a small promise.” Panicking, June promised to help people “when she could” and sealed a bargain she didn’t understand. She woke with a brass teapot charm on her neck that steams when she lies, and worse, her promise became a standing invitation: Thimbledew can “redeem” it whenever someone asks for help in the right way. At first it’s small kindnesses, then dangerous choices, mercy bargains, and truth forced out at the worst moments. June leaves home to adventure, partly to do good, partly to find loopholes in old fairy contracts and sever the deal. She suspects Thimbledew isn’t collecting favors, she’s collecting a story, and June intends to steal back the ending. Follow her story here: https://mythmachinemoonlight.substack.com/p/chamomile-and-consequences ↗️