Month: January 2016

The Faerie Thief: The Ruby Queen’s Garden 015

The Ruby Queen's Garden (Episode One)Gwyn landed with a bone rattling thump next to a manicured rose tree cut into the shape of a heart.

She only had enough time to get her bearings—and slip her gloves back on—before something small, reddish-brown, and spiky zoomed past her, missing her nose by the narrowest of margins.

Though it was foolish, she lay in place for a moment to catch her breath and reorient herself to a world dulled by gloves until it had gone barren of all magic.

All magic, of course, but the—

“What are you doing?” the Ruby Queen shrilled, mincing toward her with the grace of a poppy and the teeth of a venus fly trap. She had one of the servants propped up against her shoulder like a parasol and her crown pushed slightly back from her forehead.

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The Curious Leaf: Voyage to the Sea 002

TCL#2 CoverKya watched with horror. Her wings were soaked, and even if she could fly, they would become little more than tatters of color streaming out from her back in a storm such as this.

She reached out as a streak of silver went tumbling past her, and managed to catch hold of it before Hearthorne fell away. She cradled the bowl to her chest and looked desperately for a place to wait out the storm. Now that she wasn’t holding on to anything, she fell and tumbled with the motions of the ship and the storm until Kya wasn’t sure which way was up or down.

Eventually, she made it to the small hatch on the deck. The door had come open, and was straining at its hinges as it flapped in the wind. Clutching Hearthorne, Kya half fell, half climbed her way down the ladder.

Water boiled up to her calves when she splashed to the bottom, and she wrinkled her nose against the stench of the saltwater.

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Mira Morganstein: The Pink Lemonade Club 014

The Pink Lemonade Club (Episode One)A smile crept into the corners of Mira’s lips. Did this mean that she only had one more year to go with the Pink Lemonade Brigade? In general, she had nothing against the elderly, but there had always been something different—off—with the old ladies in the Pink Lemonade Brigade. Something that belied the way they looked and hinted at mystery.

Secrets.

Their eyes were too bright, too knowing, and they never came all at once. Instead, they seemed to prefer to visit one at a time over the course of a week or so every year. Most of them had long hair they twisted up into intricate knots that were often hidden by the ridiculously large floppy hats with flowers stuck round the bands they always wore.Read More


The Faerie Thief: The Ruby Queen’s Garden 014

The Ruby Queen's Garden (Episode One)Gwyn wasn’t ready to leave the Otherwhere quite yet, she never was, but the binding pulling her back to the garden was getting stronger now. She rubbed her hand against her ribs where it pinched her. “I guess.”

She reached forward to dive into her window, but Lyra put a hand out to stop her.

“Before you ever go through a door you’ve made, you need to be sure that it can bear you. Put your hands along the edges,” Lyra positioned her hands for her, “and strengthen it first. That’s important.”

“Strengthen it how?” Along with the delight and wonder came a spark of impatience. She’d lived in the garden her whole life, had paid strict attention to everything her parents did when they visited, and she’d witnessed enough of Robin’s pranks to know that magic should be easier than this.

“The same way you created it. Focus. Think. Believe.”Read More


The Curious Leaf: Voyage to the Sea 001

TCL#2 CoverKya stood at the helm of The Curious Leaf, her face drawn and pensive as she stared out into a sea of charcoal clouds.

“You’re afraid,” Hearthorne said from her silver pot.

“I don’t like the look of these clouds,” Kya said. As if to underscore her words, a strand of lightning flashed in the distance. The clouds grumbled peevishly among themselves, ready and mutinous.

“Have a little faith. It would take more than a mere storm to sink a faerie vessel.” Hearthorne gazed out at the sky with open appreciation. She had always loved the moments leading up to a good storm—when the air fizzed with the magic of the sylphs and storm sprites. “But I wasn’t talking about the storm.”

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