Author
Mari Ness
Verisya
The planet, located as it is on the edge of a small, unpopular irregular galaxy, itself on the edge of a slowly separating cluster of galaxies with limited appeal to travelers, receives few visitors, and even less attention. Its sentient inhabitants do not, for the most part,…
The Apples
It takes the servants several days to make their way to the storerooms. They blame it on the tragedy (not that the servants regard it as entirely a tragedy, but they know better than to say that out loud) and the resulting chaos: after all, they cannot enter the storerooms…
The Messenger
He knows he did the right thing. Knows it. The queen has told him. The king has told him. One look at the child--sobbing at first, but later playing with his toys--tells him that. The little man--hardly a man, really, some sort of demon--deserved it, after all he had done, and…
And the Tale Unchanging
This is the tale, as it has been every year. The flowers, red and dark as blood and stinking of earth, swell up from the ground, trembling against the wind. I caress them, or seize them, or bend down to sniff the earth as the petals reach up for my face. At that touch, he…
So You Want to Reach the Witch at the Edge of the Void
1. No, you don't. 2. Trust us on this. 3. Personal experience. 4. You're really going to insist on this? 5. Well, first, prepare to spend a lot of credits. And we do mean a lot of credits. "Enough money to buy a medium rank planet," was what we heard, and that turned out to be…
Stepsister
She finds a husband for me within the month. Not a prince, of course. One such misalliance is bad enough; two would be unthinkable. But a baron--more than I might have been expected to wed on my own. A moneyed baron, I am assured, even if at this court the word moneyed is so…
The Cracks in the Sphere
It was cold, beyond cold, and dark, beyond dark, between the galaxies. They did not notice. Only one place inside the sphere even had or ever had lights: the large glowing room that grew the cyanobacteria and a few plants, and only the keepers and a few curious children ever…
Choices
"Choose," she says, her beauty breathtaking in the starlight. "Say that I shall be beautiful in the day, and all shall envy you for the loveliness of your wife, and a monster in the night. A monster--" her voice trembles--"that you may not even be able to touch. Or hear yourself…
The Shifting Cafe
Once again, she paused before opening the door. She'd had worse jobs, Lisa reminded herself. Much worse jobs. She'd worked fifteen years in retail, after all, and five years in fast food places before that. Though in those jobs, she'd at least usually known where things--things…
Wings
The angel did not want his wings. He had, after all, a place in Paradise. He had harps to polish, and music to sing, and the occasional soul to comfort. And if he could not rise to the heavens during the angelic choruses --well. From where he stood, the music of angels…
Transformation, Afterwards
Afterwards, matters are—awkward. Partly because they'd both had so little choice. Azman—claiming to be a prince—in her room, mostly naked? While she had nothing on but her nightdress—a nightdress half torn off her shoulder? And he had not had a weapon. Her door had been locked,…
The Wolf
She would not smile, of course, for an ordinary wolf. But this is a wolf who leans upright against a tree, examining his paws, a wolf who runs a long tongue against his teeth as he glances up at her. For this wolf, she smiles. He runs a tongue along his teeth again. "And what…
Breaking the Enchantment
"So," the prince said. "To break your enchantment, you need a kiss from your true love." "Yes," said the princess, unable to keep the note of irritation from her voice. "And naturally, I get you." The prince sighed. "Awkward, I know. Still." He tapped his finger on his lips. "I…
Feather Ties
Five years later, and the remaining six were almost--almost--accustomed to it. To the point where the third girl had almost--almost--convinced herself that it was not all that bad. Yes, the ceaseless parades for ambassadors, or great feasts, or simply when the king felt the…
Mercy
In the end, they did not shut the princess up alone. It had been discussed. But a few of the advisors of the king's court had seen prisoners dragged from cells after years of speaking to no one but their guards, if that. Prisoners who had not seen the sun. The princess was…
Memories of Monsters
I could have stayed. Instead, I left with the knight. He didn't have a castle, the knight, nor much of anything beyond his armor, his sword, and two horses--one to carry him, the other to carry a few blankets and food and waterskins, as well as embroidered tunics for special…
The Sword
He makes a ritual of it, summoning the servants and the guards as he places a two-edged sword in the center of his bed before lifting her hand to his lips. "Until I return," he says, and she curtsies, saying nothing. He smiles, pulling down his helmet, not touching her, not…
Pipers Piping
If you follow the sound of the pipes on a very certain Monday morning, you might see them. The partridge first, in the little pear tree. The turtledoves next, and then hens. By this time, you might be laughing, or groaning, at someone obsessed enough with a silly carol to be…
Stealing Tales
The robber girl tries to make a game of it. How many girls will struggle through the snow this year, searching for loved ones taken by bears or snow? How many will turn back? How many will swear, on their lifeblood, that they had not married bears, but men? That the boys they…
We Need To Talk About the Unicorn in Your Back Yard
Warm greetings from the Oak Hills Homeowners Association! The many Neighborhood Watch signs decorating our windows and doors notwithstanding, we really don't want to come across as if we're spying on our neighbors or anything, even if the Neighborhood Watch takes considerable…
The Lion
The lion never speaks about his past. This has led, naturally, to considerable gossip. The lion, many insist, is not really a lion--after all, real lions can't talk. No, he must be a transformed prince, in love with a princess. Or--given the way the lion watches the prince, a…
Hundreds
The ghosts of dead princes hover around her bed. Sometimes they argue about this. Some of them suggest that they might be disturbing her rest. Others think, under the circumstances, that disturbing her rest is just fine, thanks; indeed, her rest could use a little more…
Souls
The human poet says that we of the sea have no souls. That all we are is air and salt, water and wind, cold and dark. That souls belong only to those who sing and dance on land. That when we die we turn into sea foam, to drift upon the waves, and perhaps one day land on human…
The Cat Signal
Vigilante Turned Supervillain Disputes Guilty Verdict - Normal City, Arizona It's been three days since a jury found her guilty of three of the seven charges against her. Three days since she was transferred to a top prison built specifically to hold supervillains. That doesn't…
Nine Songs
1. The first song is forgettable. Even though you can't stop dreaming about it. 2. The second song is some sort of calypso number. It reminds you of some of the songs in The Little Mermaid, only instead of the sea, it's about walls, and stars, and holes, and dancing. You think.…
Dragonbone
The dreams had become no less difficult to weave, no less painful. Her hands were already raw and sore each morning, burnt in places, sometimes still oozing a bit of blood, well before she reached for a strand of dream. By the time she stopped, she could hardly bear to move her…
The Forge
The blacksmith has several objections. For one, he does not make shoes. Oh, horseshoes, definitely, but that is an entirely different matter, and something that he does with a local farrier, quite an expert, if the prince is in any need. Human shoes, however, are an entirely…
The Petals
Other people, it must be said, did not see a child, but rather rose petals delicately stitched together with what looked and felt like spider silk, soft and fragile to the touch. Yellow petals, for the most part, though where the child's face should have been the petals were…
The Dollmaker's Rage
The dollmaker needs a year at least for each doll. Sometimes two. They are all handcrafted, of course, and the time needed to make the skin feel exactly like human flesh and settle on the bones, you understand-- The stranger is not interested in understanding. "Two months."…
The Fox Bride
He carried the squirming animal to his--no, their, he had to remember that now, their--bedroom, struggling to avoid her sharp teeth. The oversized ring he had given her glimmered on her left front leg; she had spent most of the evening biting and licking at it, when she had not…
Beans and Lies
Later she changes the tale, calling her husband a giant who liked to crunch on human bones, the intruder a fool willing to trade a cow for beans. She builds up everything: their manor becomes a castle, the hill a cloud, the earthen walls thick bulwarks of marble and granite, the…
Coffin
The village is not in any guidebook or on any map. Even satellite photos somehow miss it, always by some unexplained chance looking at the area only when it is covered with clouds or fog, or during some blip in the satellite's programming. You will also not find it named on any…
Toads
"Stop speaking," he tells his wife. "I'm sorry," she says, flinching. Another glittering diamond and a gleaming pearl drop from her mouth; she grabs a fine napkin, pressing it against her bleeding mouth. He looks away. He should not have been so harsh, he knows. And yet. Five…
The Dragon and the Bond
She married the dragon when she was only twenty. She kept her hand on his head throughout the ceremonies, holding it absolutely still in fear that his sharp scales would cut through her skin. A human priest, then a dragon officiant--did dragons have priests? She would have to…
The Gifts: Part Three
I told many lies. The angel feeding me after I lost my hands, for instance. I'd never seen one. Still haven't, for that matter, unless the carvings and paintings in churches and chapels count. But people assumed that the only way I could have survived was with the help of an…
The Gifts: Part Two
He stared at the silver hands resting on the pillow, all three draped with a single piece of fine red and gold silk, stained with tears. The silk had been the idea of one of his advisors, who had pointed out that anything else would be difficult for the poor child--that is, the…
The Gifts: Part One
He has never seen anything so magnificent. Even he, knowing little of art, can tell that the carvings are those of a master: dancing princesses and princesses surrounded by musicians, the metal and gold work so fine that he can almost make out their individual toes through thin…
Seaweed
She wakes to find seaweed in her bed. Never the same, this tangled weave of salt and slime and leaves: sometimes glistening red, sometimes dark green, sometimes dank brown. But always, always, there, entangling her feet, her hands, sometimes even sliding across her mouth, so…
The Princess and Her Tale
He still believes I will turn into my mother. Understand this: everything you have been told about my beauty is a lie. I am beautiful only as a princess is beautiful, glittering in silk and gems in the smoky candlelight. In the day, stripped of jewels and silks, I am as any…
Shattered Amber
She gave me the amber right after I had kissed her for the first time, right after I started to confess, well, everything. Nothing. The sort of things you say, or don't say, right after you have just kissed her for the first time, and you are convinced this means something. "So…
Nameless
They stole my name when I was quite small, too young to understand the loss. For a time, no one even noticed. Such is the way of childhood, where I could be called the baby, or the girl, or the child, or handed to an aunt or uncle who needed no names to know how to feed and…
A Different Rain
Mary had spent her entire life on the dropships. This was only her second rainstorm, and it was as terrifying and wonderful as the first has been. So much water, and so loud. She had seen them on the vids, of course, and she and Ronald had even sometimes stood in the shower and…
Sparks
He had replaced his hands with wands, one tipped with amethyst and lined in silver, the other dotted with emeralds and lined with gold, spraying a continuous fountain of golden sparks. When the wands came together, carelessly or deliberately, the resulting clash of colors and…