BlackRoseSuki

23 Any Fool Breakfast was a usual buffet of traditional foodstuffs. Blood sausage, rice pudding, golden applesauce, golden apple slices, bread, roasted and spiced miniature pumpkin seeds, eggs and milk and honey. Sam’hael, back in possession of his cloak, loaded his plate with sausage, eggs and pumpkin seeds. He was rather sick of golden apples and bread. Bria, however, selected a large slice of salted pretzel bread from the bread basket and poured herself a glass of nectar. She gave him a look. Safe? The look said. Of course: she had never drunk nectar, only sweet water and truth water. He nodded calmly and continued eating. She

22   Legends Have Teeth The next morning, Bria woke up before dawn. It was an alien sky that she had fallen asleep to, with not one single familiar constellation in the sky and two moons faintly glowing violet in the black velvet of the night. It was a familiar face she woke up to this morning, one with a messy auburn braid and dark brown tattoos on his tan features. She smiled in relief. She had been dreaming about her home and it was a great relief to wake up here again. She was slowly coming to the realization that she did not want to leave and she didn’t know if those feelings should scare her or reassure her. Bria hesitated, th

21   Steel Bria had to forcefully convince Sam’hael to take his sword lessons from Maru. “It’s not as if you know how to use it,” she had told him, “and I don’t have any idea, either.” Bria could hardly lift his sword. Sam’hael couldn’t even imagine her wielding a weapon. Liv gave Bria two small daggers that fit nicely around her hips. They were ceremonial athames in the hands of any of the Fey, even the smaller Clans. On Bria they looked like rapiers. One had a scarlet hilt, the other green. These have already seen blood in self-defense, Liv told her. They will protect you. Their name

20 Usefulness As you know, Liv told them, politics were stretching to an unmanageable point. Everybody finally gave up and the war ensued. It was brief, it was bloody, and the Queen and her consort were both slaughtered. “What were they fighting over?” Bria asked Liv. This may seem pointless to you now, as there are so few of us left, but it was an imbalance. There was a severe imbalance of magical Fey in Tir na Nog and non-magical. Some races are not magical by nature such as ogres and goblins. Yet others, such as nixies and Peri, are all magical by nature. “Sounds reasonable,” Bria hedged. “I wouldn’

19   A Crown of Blue Roses Bria woke up knowing something wasn’t right. She sat up in the attic, looking at the setting sun, and felt her stomach growl. A plate of golden apples and bread was beside the large, fresh pallet; Bria was glad to see that the squeaking pallets were gone from the room. She ate slowly, wiping the golden juice on her sleeves, causing them to glisten in the sunset. She found a stale loaf of bread in her pack, still wrapped in its cloth, and ate the remainder of that. And then she remembered and she nearly choked. She had kissed Sam’hael. Her face flushed a shade of dark tomato. How could she? To a per

18 Desertions One bite of a poisoned apple would kill anybody. Today was Lady Meadrith’s father’s birthday, and he loved golden apple and fig pie. She had instructed two of her guards to take him a pie made with the largest golden apples in her husband’s grove from last year’s harvest and the freshest figs from the desert regions. The last ingredient: the juice of one poisoned apple, to sweeten the sauce. Claudette had thought it harsh, to kill a man on such a happy day, but she had taken on children before and they only had their magic to fight back. Byron was the one who had suggested the test. After all, they h

17 Illusions Dusk fell on the Brooke Manor as chaos ensued in the front hallway, disturbing the Baroness’s contemplations of victory. “My lady!” Meadrith turned as her scouts ran into the room, two of them panting heavily. “I’m sorry, lady, we tried to stop him, but –” “My lady, I’ve found the Taliesin!” Meadrith froze in shock. Then she looked down at her guards, one of which shook his head wearily. What has happened, Landam? she asked. “Kirth went to Farnes to see if the Taliesin was there. Rumors had been spreading, ma’am, since mid-morning.” Where are C

[This is a TEASER because A) I am tired and I have my thirteenth shift in a row tomorrow (but I am very grateful to be employed) and B) I've only got this half done. I'll upload the entire product tomorrow or Friday. Meanwhile, enjoy this week's teaser Bio - Sam'hael.] Name: Sam'hael Status: Fugitive Slave Age: Between 25 and 27 (he thinks) Clan: Fire Height: Just past 7'3". Shorter than average for Fire Clan - poor nutrients in the slave market stunted his growth. Weight: Lean: however, because of magic mass always flowing and redistributing, and the ever-fire in their bodies, they cannot accurately be weighed by any scale. Fun fact.

16 Souls Touching Y’Valle was on Sam’hael’s way to Farnes, so he stopped there in vain, looking with hope that Bria had understood “small farming community” and had come here instead of Farnes. He was disappointed but not surprised. Only when he began to hear stories of a Taliesin that afternoon, hiding in the forest from Meadrith’s guards, did he begin to dread for Bria’s fate. The two guards were talking. “A Taliesin?” one asked. “We don’t even remember what music must have sounded like. How can a Taliesin come into our world now?” He threw a golden apple at the oth

15   Procedure Glennie Johnson waited outside in the hallway. A new gold band, studded with a plain sapphire, adorned her ring finger. Next to her, William Johnson squeezed her hand. “Just answer their questions honestly,” he said, quiet. “They just want to go over my original police statement,” Glennie repeated firmly. “Of course,” William told her. “There’s no problem.” There was a long pause. Glennie burst into tears and William heaved a sigh, checking his watch. “I could have been standing next to her!” she hiccupped. “What happened? Where did she go? Is she dea