FANTASY AUTHOR
The storm took them by surprise. It beat their ship for three days and three nights, throwing them off course and hurling them, finally, onto a shore they didn’t know. The beach was rocky, the bare roots of the mountain that towered above. In the moonlight, they could just see the outline of a great... Continue Reading →
Princess Jessalyn was running out of time. If she heard one more person ask her about the future, she thought she might burn this whole place to the ground. They all wanted the same things for her: marriage. Babies. And for her to eventually become queen. Jessalyn didn’t want any of that. Her parents wouldn’t... Continue Reading →
"You will go on a journey," the fortune-teller said. She turned over another card. "Two." Hoo, echoed the owl on her shoulder. "Find a ship," the woman said. "That will start your first journey." "And the second?" the girl asked. "The second you'll find in the eye of the storm." The girl looked down at... Continue Reading →
The masked minstrel was putting away his lute when the request came. "Play the one about the boy from the castle!" someone called. "I don't think I know that one," the minstrel said, after a pause to think. "What? But it happened just here. I thought everyone knew that story." "Why don't you tell it... Continue Reading →
At the base of the tower was a door. At the base of the door was a question. No one knew what lay beyond it, nor even how to open it to find out. The question sat quietly, waiting, until the prince was born. They said he was mad, and hid him away. He laughed... Continue Reading →
Lisnel ran through the forest, a huge book clutched tight to her chest. It was bound with straps and locked. She'd found it while going through a dusty chest in her father's attic. She'd asked him for the key. He'd stared at her for a long time, then barked a laugh with no humor in... Continue Reading →
The queen swallowed her disgusted expression as the hut's door swung open. An old woman stood there with a face like a dried apple, one huge, dark mole under her left eye. "Yes?" the old woman asked. "I need your services," the queen said, sweeping off her hood with a dramatic flair. She entered the... Continue Reading →
The demon grinned. “Anything’s possible,” it said. “For the right price. What do you want?” The man told him: there was a woman he desired, but she hid from him. He wanted to see her, the woman who set him aflame. The demon nodded. “I can help,” it said. “And the price?” the man asked.... Continue Reading →
The princess waited to hear her guard snoring before she lowered herself from the tower. Thank goodness they didn’t know anything about embroidery, she thought. They’d just brought her all the supplies they’d asked for. They assumed she’d chosen to make the best of her captivity. She’d chosen to make rope. It was slim, but... Continue Reading →
Last night, Matthew and I watched Memoirs of a Geisha right before I went to bed. It definitely worked itself into my dreams. In my dream, I had a handkerchief and a black folder of sheet music. The handkerchief was a large rectangle, about the size of a piece of legal paper, and was a... Continue Reading →
Leila A. M. Martin 