"“Princess Lily's Wedding” by Robert J. Santa (Originally published in Blood, Blade & Thruster.) "I love him, Daddy!" King Frederick breathed deeply. It had been a very long conversation with his youngest child, punctuated by...

"“By Appointment to the Throne” by Alter S. Reiss (Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #155.) Getting up early enough to open a kitchen hurts. Leaving a warm bed before second watch makes your head ache, and you can feel the chill go...

"“Phoenix for the Amateur Chef” by Scott Huggins (Originally published in Sword and Sorceress 30.) The phoenix fell. Its sobbing death cry silenced by a coat of ravening flame, it corkscrewed to earth, bleeding dirty white fire across the...

"“The Sickness” by Valjeanne Jeffers (Originally published in Griots: Sisters of the Spear.) The Bini warriors crouched in the high grass of the savanna. They'd passed the Fula borders a mile back, and now were a hundred yards from the Adob...

"“The Centaur's Daughter” by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Originally published in A cappella Zoo.) As a little girl I never understood my father’s night self. It’s hard to be a kid whose father is two people. He changed every day with the sky. I ...

"“Spirit Dance” by Douglas Smith (Originally published in Tesseracts 6, this work is the prequel story to Douglas's novel The Wolf at the End of the World.) In the beginning of things, men were as animals and animals as men. -- Cree legend ...

"“Bones of a Righteous Man” by Michael Ezell (Originally published in Fantasy for Good.) -- Has the life of a righteous man been taken? -- We find that it has, Excellency. -- And what shall become of the killer? -- He shall carry the bones of...

"Flash Fiction: “Never Leave Me” by Michelle Ann King (Originally published at Daily Science Fiction.) Katrine grew up with the stories, she knew them as well as her own name. First there was true love's kiss, then the fair maiden became th...

"Flash Fiction: “Mysterious Ways” by David Steffen (Originally published in Uncle John's Flush Fiction Anthology.) The afterlife was arbitrary, Sam Fichtner decided. There was no Heaven or Hell, only one place. He'd had plenty of time ...

"Flash Fiction: “Mysterious Ways” by David Steffen (Originally published in Uncle John's Flush Fiction Anthology.) The afterlife was arbitrary, Sam Fichtner decided. There was no Heaven or Hell, only one place. He'd had plenty of time ...