Tag: sidhe

Stolen Goods – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Color had always had meaning, especially among the fae. Blue and its dance of hues was for weddings. It wasn’t often seen in formal ceremonies. The fae didn’t habitually marry, because vows came with weighted strings. Green celebrated birth, no matter how or who. Even little calves and ducks would parade around with their modest, soft weed wreathes until they were finally broken up and eaten. Purest white was for mourning. Etienne watched the waning sunlight move across the wide stone windowsill, holding still for the royal dresser to wrap yet another layer of white, embroidered spider silk about his Read More …

Kissing – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Cian loved these early mornings with Winter, when the house was quiet, and it was just the two of them, the scent of rising bread, and the constant warmth of the English stove taking the chill off the predawn air. They would talk about the day, sometimes work on replenishing Winter’s stocks, and inevitably practice Cian’s favorite new skill, kissing Winter. Soon the house would wake—Etienne heading out to the forge, Noel needing to be fed and changed, Jessie getting ready for school, and Alerich and Fitz possibly pouring themselves into bed, still buzzed, from a long night talking literature Read More …

Some Assembly Required – A Books of Binding Short Story

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Aodhán balled up the fragile booklet and threw it to the carpet by his knee. So many nonsensical pictures, so few words, most of which made no sense in any of the languages that he’d picked up over the centuries. Some made sense singularly, but in groups it was a lost cause. Setting it on fire was looking better and better each time he glared at it. Stacks of flat boxes surrounded him, sitting where they’d been delivered that morning, seeming to loom over him where he sat cross-legged on the bare floor. All he had to defend himself was Read More …

Knitting for Pixies – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Knit one, purl two. It was a simple pattern, as patterns went. Knit one, purl two. Knit one, purl two. Etienne could have done something more elaborate, of course, but that would mean more delicate knitting needles. More attention to the details. He was only knitting blankets for pixies, and pixies didn’t care about elaborate patterns. They liked color and they liked being warm in the January nights. That suited Etienne just fine. He could just let his hands go and let his mind wander as he knitted in front of the fireplace. Bess had been the one to teach Read More …

Special Delivery – A Books of Binding Short Story

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Cian woke in the dark to an urgent rapping on his bedroom door. Winter’s low voice carried through the wood. “Cian, we’re on.” Cian sat up in bed, trying to parse that. On? On what? English wasn’t his first language and sometimes idioms — he hoped it was an idiom — tripped him up. He pulled his jeans on and made his groggy way across the spacious room to find Winter on the other side of his door, dressed in her usual loose dress and cardigan, her purple bag over her shoulder and her surgical bag heavy in her hand. Read More …

5-Star Review of Nectar and Ambrosia by E. M. Hamill

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Until a few weeks ago, Callie was a student studying Classical Studies and Anthropology, but she left behind her studies and her adoptive family to flee from a banshee that has hunted her across the country. Following visions that make her have seizures, Callie has stumbled her way to a bar in downtown Kansas City where she discovers that the patrons are not at all the usual midwestern flair. Settling into her new home and new job, Callie’s visions become more dire as she is caught up in a plot that could destroy the world. This book was fantastic. It Read More …

Social Climbing – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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Jessie set two overly full fountain drinks on the small table and flopped down into the empty chair. “Rock climbing is thirsty work.” Cat Chen, her new friend from Seahaven Academy of the Arts, smiled around her straw and took a long drink as she adjusted her harness. “Fun though.” Jessie took several long swallows and nodded. “I’m glad we did this today. It’s been a rough month, and like half my house is in mourning. I feel bad for them and everything, it’s just…” “A little much sometimes?” “Yeah, a lot much sometimes. It’s good to get out of Read More …

A Midwinter Night’s Reading – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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A warm glow peeked out from under the Mulcahy Library doors and Cian smiled. Rick must be up late again. He had only been here at Mulcahy House a couple of weeks, but already it felt like he belonged in the Library. The House felt happier with him in there. Cian backtracked through the dining room and butler’s pantry into the kitchen and heated milk for cocoa. Rick had a sweet tooth, Cian had discovered, and would surely welcome a warm, sugary drink on this chilly January night. Though it wasn’t nearly as cold as last January had been in Read More …

Recoil – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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“Spread your feet to shoulder width. Right foot back. No, not that far. Your shoulders are too thin.” Etienne narrowed his eyes. “When was the last time you ate?” Winter gave the faerie knight at her side a wry expression. “This morning, with you and Cian. Remember?” The November wind whispered over the water and blew loose tendrils of hair across her face. She was grateful for the warm felt coat she wore. “Then you need a snack or something. You’re still sickly.” His voice was gruff. She sighed softly. He was only trying to take care of her. She Read More …

Daughter – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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“What is wrong with you?” Aodhán surged into the room, fae energy roiling out in front of him like an approaching firestorm.  The Eldest Himiko, the Jómon, settled a paper onto a neat stack on her desk and looked up, calm. “Good morning to you too.” “No, it’s not a good morning,” he growled, throwing his customary caution to the wind. “I thought you had gotten this out of your system.” Himiko gave him a bland look, the warning in her dark phoenix eyes still subtle, and smoothed a tiny wrinkle in her silk kimono. “To what are you referring?” Read More …

Things Fall Apart – A Books of Binding Flash Fiction

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He sniffed the air. The scent of burnt bones and under it—blood. A lot of it. And the outhouse smell of violent death. He walked the utility area carefully, reconstructing the deadly dance from a lifetime lived among its devotees. The spatters of brown flecks. The dust-free smears where a body had been dragged, struggling. A broken fingernail caught in the chain-link. The cloying smell of burning hair and garbage, and just a hint of cucumber. Acetone. At least they had destroyed the body, but it meant the attackers were not human. A human gang might have doused the body Read More …