Osa s hope was that the memory contained some piece of information about the country and its dukes. If it did, she would offer that memory to the Queen. She had liked Holal, but if Holal had stolen this memory, she could not forgive that violation of her mind, and she would not hesitate to use the memory against them. And she loved the way Queen Madella smiled when she was given information, the quickness with which she wrapped her mind around every detail and chose how to use it.
Well, this is going to suck, Mika thought as she began to search for the soul. She touched this thread or that and saw the people lost in here. She felt a tug of temptation to not be so alone, but she clung to the promise of the payout at the end of this job. Burt, on the other hand, leafed through the stacks of large pages before him with a sense of emptiness. He was pleased they were looking for a soul of a person. It rubbed him wrong when they went into a Colossus to steal back the soul of a work of art or a beloved pet.
I wait for her dreams to coalesce into something I can read. Her images on the projection fabric are dull, convoluted: a long, empty road flanked by plants I don’t recognize. A piece of lace undulating in the wind. A handful of bay leaves, burning in a clay pot. What does it mean? Yes, or no? Or something else?
I ache to tell Akasma, my ship, this, as I have always told her everything that comes to mind, but instead, I pull the burnt-tongue caw of the Witch’s name from the back of my throat and settle it on my tongue. Its weight will not let me forget.
A second special double-issue for BCS Science-Fantasy Month 7, featuring two bonus stories and science-fantasy cover art “Relic” by Elias Stern. Tell the King by Natalia Theodoridou. A Black Spot Among the Chaos by A.T. Greenblatt. Twice-Marked, Wild Against City by R.Z. Held. Do Not Waver, My Heart by Shanna Germain. BCS 327: Tell the King by Natalia Theodoridou.