3 mins read

Three Empty Hands

The jaws opened — and stopped. Not on her hands. Beside them. The great scarred head pressed flat into Mira’s open palms, the way a starving dog leans into the first warmth it has felt in years. A low sound rolled out of the creature’s chest. Not a growl. Something closer to grief. Mira’s breath […]

4 mins read

The Beast Who Knelt

The Beast-Master did not sit down. His hand stayed at his mouth. His eyes did not leave the girl’s wrist. Governor Calliantes turned in his seat, the gold signet tapping once against the marble rail. “Verrun. Sit.” Verrun did not look at him. “Verrun.” “He knows her,” Verrun said. His voice was not loud. It […]

4 mins read

The Daisy Knot

The huntsman’s lips parted. The word did not come out clean. “Princess —” It was barely a word. More breath than sound. But the page boy by the arrow basket heard it, and his head came up like a deer’s. The girl heard it too. Her fingers stopped on the daisy knot. She lifted her […]

3 mins read

The Last Loaf of Aldenmar

She did not finish the word. The wyvern closed its golden eye, slowly, the way a person closes their eyes when they have been waiting a long time to be allowed to rest. “How,” Ysolde whispered. “How do you know that.” “Eat the bread, Ysolde.” “How do you—” “Eat the bread. Please.” She had never […]

3 mins read

A Servant’s Bow

Wren stood with the jug in her hands and waited. The baron’s ring-hand hovered over the cup he had set down. His eyes had not left the pendant at her throat. Around the long table, the hush moved outward in slow rings — first the guests nearest him, then the middle benches, then even the […]