Leila turned back into the shop to find it all but empty of customers, and Bianca watching her with a raised brow. Her breath caught. Had she overstepped herself? She should have left Mistress Gilder to Bianca’s practiced attentions. “For such a quiet, shy little thing, you have quite the silver tongue.” Leila swallowed and …
A little extra from Thrushbeard of Anaria telling the children in the village a story The children settled as Anaria took a seat at the front of the new school room. She arranged her skirts then looked over the eager faces and smiled. "Have you heard the legend of the Crown of Aragonia?" Eyes rounded …
Jenna paused on the side of the street and tried to pat the sweat off her face. Did she really think she would be able to find him, one man, in the largest city in the world? When she had set out from Troven with the idea of tracking down Dar, she hadn’t understood the …
“I walk the floor, I watch the door and in between I drink … black coooffeee” Anna leaned back in her chair, one hand keeping contact with her wine glass on the table, and let the jazz wash through her. She was a regular here and the staff knew she came for the music, so …
A 'diary' entry from playing the solo RPG One Day at a Thyme. It seemed the heatwave was a portent of something more. We had an unscheduled solar eclipse today. Really, that’s all I need. People are running around in a complete flap, trying to decide what disaster is about to hit and completely ignoring …
Leila was up early the next day. She washed and slipped into her brown dress, this time with the cream bodice beneath. It would help her fade into the background a little, what with the shop's wood panelling within and cream paint without.Juanita was already in the kitchen, lighting the stove and pulling food for …
The vivid, intense blues of Sydney Harbour, reflecting the delicately cloud-dotted sky above it, looked like someone had applied some Photoshop filter to real life. The sun danced off the waves, refracting diamonds across kilometres of water. Ferrys, yachts and kayaks skittered across its surface, while gentle waves lapped at the white-gold sand of the …
Jenna pulled into the driveway of her new home, killed the engine and sat for a minute, looking at the deceptively peaceful house in front of her. She still had no idea why she’d bought it, other than it being so insanely cheap she’d been able to buy it outright and still have savings left …
Jenna followed the deputy head down the echoing, locker-lined corridor of yet another new school. Her parents said they were likely to be here for a while, so she needed to make a bit of an effort to fit in. Like that was easy. The woman in front of her opened a door and looked …
She dropped by the bakery on her way back, making her way to the counter, where Marya smiled and chatted and took orders and payments. Leila thought she looked like she'd been working there for years, rather than a day or so. When she reached the counter, another girl gave her a vague smile. "What …
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