"Here."

Se'ala took the small vial, peering at the label. The instructions were scrawled in crude pictograms--one drop in water, once a day. She looked up, meeting the Forsaken apothecary's gaze with her own. "What be da side effects?"

"Side effects? Oh, no." He grinned, dead grey lips peeling back to reveal cracked, dry gums and a set of pearly ( Read more... )

There was another mouse on her pillow, neatly wrapped in strong, heavy strands of silk. The little cocoon twitched when she prodded at it with a finger--still alive. Se'ala smiled as she sat down on the hammock, knotted ropes creaking. The little spiderling wasn't quite so little any more. She had molted twice already and was now the size of a ( Read more... )

She was an unattractive child from the start. Even as an infant her eyes were too large, her forehead too pronounced, and her ears stuck out like handles. "It is a good thing," her aunt, her father's sister, said as she peered down at the small, wailing bundle. "It will keep the evil spirits away." And perhaps it did, for she grew strong and ( Read more... )

Se's fingers danced through her sister's hair, tugging and twisting and weaving the bright green strands together. Reaching down to the small basket beside her, she selected a few beads and a tiny bell by feel, then threaded them onto the end of the braid and looped it around. She ran a hand over the half-finished design for a moment before ( Read more... )

Se lay on her stomach on the hard-packed earth by the cooking fire, prodding and poking at the spiderling with a stick. She'd found it that morning, creeping along over the blanket she shared with her two younger sisters. It was fuzzy and greyish, and something told her to keep it a secret. Her wild, bushy mane of red hair served well in ( Read more... )