Tuesday's Short - The Queen's Game

This week’s short story takes us from the adventures of a space pilot lost in the warp to an urban fantasy setting where elven politics have a brutal impact on a troll-hunter's life. Welcome to The Queen's Game.

Never get involved with the Otherworld Fey. Take my word for it. I saved the Queen of Summer, and was betrothed to a lord of Winter by way of thanks—and then the human underworld got involved. So what do I do, when every choice is bad? What would you choose: death by troll, or the mercy of an elf?

The Queen's Game (Excerpt)

There were twenty-one rosellas in the tree outside my window. Twenty-one. All blue and red and green and squawky. They arrived in a chattering flock and a rush of wings, stealing fruit, eating buds, and taking out the contents of the seed boxes hanging in the tree.

“Good morning, boys,” I said, looking up from my desk.

“Well, good morning, yourself,” said a voice behind me, and I pushed my chair back.

At least, I tried to push my chair back. The sound of two, no, three, big steps and the smell of leather and petrol was behind me, catching the chair and jamming it back under the desk, with me still in it. I was trapped, more so when he leant over my desk, putting a hand on either side of me, and resting his chin on my head.

“You weren’t going anywhere, were you?”

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The Queen's Game is available as a stand-alone short story at the following links: books2read.com/u/bxqAYd.

You can also find Kristine Kathryn Rusch's latest free short story over on her blog: kriswrites.com. Why don't you go and check it out?