Mask of Spring

Item from acotar-thorns-and-roses by

An enchanted mask forced upon Tamlin and his court by Amarantha's curse, hiding their true faces beneath a perpetual expression of revelry.

The Mask of Spring is a cursed artifact, a physical emblem of Amarantha's dominion over the Spring Court. It forces its wearer to appear eternally merry, their genuine anguish or fury locked away behind a porcelain lie. The mask is both a prison and a mockery, a constant reminder that the High Lord and his court are puppets dancing to a tune they cannot escape.

Appearance

Crafted from pale, luminous porcelain that seems to glow with a faint inner light, the mask is shaped into a perfect, serene smile that never falters. Delicate silver filigree traces the edges like frozen vines, and the eyeholes are rimmed with tiny, glittering gems that catch the light but reveal nothing of the wearer's true gaze. It fits seamlessly against the skin, as if grown there, and no amount of touching or clawing can find its seam.

Also known as: Spring Court Mask, Amarantha's Gift, The Reveler's Mask, The Porcelain Lie

What They Know

• The mask was forged Under the Mountain by Amarantha's dark magic, woven from stolen power and contempt.
• Once donned, the mask cannot be removed by any force within the Spring Court—not by High Lord's command, not by lesser fae's craft, not by iron or ash.
• The mask displays a fixed, joyful expression regardless of the wearer's true emotion, so that Tamlin and his courtiers appear to be locked in eternal revelry even as their lands wither.
• The masks are directly linked to the blight that consumes Spring's fields and forests; as long as they remain, the land cannot heal.
• Each mask is keyed to its wearer's life—if the wearer were to die, the mask would remain, a ghastly relic of their bondage.

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