3 mins read

The Weight He Chose

…just like Finn looks now. Bjorn’s voice dropped so low it was almost only breath. “His name was Aric,” he said. “He was my brother. Not by blood. By oath.” Finn’s small fingers tightened around the iron. “We raided a steading on the south shore. I was nineteen. Stupid. Drunk on what I thought was […]

3 mins read

The Reed That Knew Her Name

…..the great scarred head lowered until the leviathan’s amber eye was level with Maren’s own. She did not move. The water between them went glass-still. Up on the high platform, Harbormaster Vell’s raised arm faltered. His mouth opened. No sound came out. The crowd, four hundred strong on the wet stone steps, stood like people […]

3 mins read

A Cup of Water for the Sentenced

The switch never landed. A low, ragged growl rose from somewhere near Mira’s knees, and the old brindle dog the market had fed scraps to for as long as anyone could remember stepped out from beneath the cart and planted itself between her and the guard. Hackles up. Teeth bared. Not moving. The guard’s arm […]

3 mins read

Songs for the Frost-Beast

The first notes wobbled out of the pipe, thin and crooked, almost laughable in that great frozen bowl of ice. It was not a song for a hero. It was a song for a child being coaxed to bed — three notes up, two notes down, a little hiccup of a melody that meant nothing […]

3 mins read

The Four Notes

The medal swung once, twice, and came to rest against her wrist. It was no larger than a thumbnail. Tin. Chipped along one edge where a man’s teeth had once closed on it, years ago, the night before a march north. General Aldric Vane crossed the firelight without speaking. The soldiers parted for him without […]