To the moon AliceShe was leaving it all behind. Her life, such as it had become, was of no use to her. Alice tossed aside the rubbish of her 9 to 5 office temp life and her human refuse of husband and walked out of the city with her head held high, free of the heavy smell of the past that stained her old clothes. No turning back, she thought, no regrets. I hope Phil remembers to feed Buster. As telephone wires slipped pas...

Chaim Finkel - just Finkel to those few who knew him - was a thoughtful man. He pondered life's mysteries while he went about his everyday business. He was around middle aged, tall and with pronounced, and not very flattering, features. His black hair was good and thick though here and there a little grey. Each day, as he walked to work along the banks of the Vistula River, he would throw bread to the ducks and swans and...

INTRODUCTIONThe Unseelie Court ruled the world a long time ago before my time. Once we owned the land and all who wandered on it. We were a strong race full of pride. We lived, loved and laughed. Now, we were hidden in the shadows fearing for our lives. Every year we became less and less. Soon, very soon we would disappear from the world.It is our own fault our days are numbered. Desiring to live forever as the masters of...

The White Pawn IXMadam Fiona was entertaining a couple of patrons when William found her. It took some effort to pull her away, and the men were not too pleased with it either. But after seeing the look on William's face, they backed down and moved on. He turned his attention to Madam Fiona.She was a shorter woman with light brown skin and long dark curls of hair. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head in annoy...

The White Pawn VIIIThe wine cellar was so dimly lit that William could hardly see a few feet in front of his face; let alone the six men aside him. Derren had his eight best and most trusted men with him that night. Five of them were down there with him, and the other three were keeping an eye out on the entrance to the cellar door upstairs, to make sure no one but Gem and Lewis entered. They had to trust that Madam Fiona...

The White Pawn VIIWilliam found Derren sitting on the steps to the Gods Temple waiting for him. He had asked Derren to wait after he saw him to the white Sages, but he only half expected him to do so. Especially after getting stitched up for hours by the sages, his stab wound to the side was the worst. He was lucky the blade missed his kidney by a hair width, or so the sages told him. They gave him a cane to help him walk...

The White Pawn VIThe next morning William finished his letter and sent it off with a courier before seeking out Captain Lewis. His search quickly led him to discover Captain Lewis Gren worked night patrols, he should have known that. He had a long boring day of patrolling Bulwark Street. Soon enough he pulled out the bronze Rook he had found placed next to Albert's corpse, and started fiddling around with it. When that go...

The White Pawn VAlbert's family was another dead end. It was time for him to start interrogating the guards now. It would be troublesome at the least. A good amount of the men were of his own regiment, he was disappointed in them, but they could be rounded up easy enough. The rest were men following under other captains, they might not listen to him as Percil was technically named acting lord commander. He needed another...

The White Pawn IVNiels tavern was packed, more so then William had ever before seen it. All of the customers were men of the City Watch too. Neil was holding a special memorial for Albert there, with the drinks at half price. Of course, Neil neither knew nor cared the slightest about Albert, but Will had to hand it to him; he knew how to make the best of a bad situation. William was peeved but didn't blame Neil, he had a...

The full moon was not high enough to illuminate the narrow back street lane of the town of Bliss. The unkempt condition of the boarded sidewalk was an indication of the populace. There are few good reasons for people to tread into rough portions of the town.A door opened, allowing a small slice of dim light to cut through the dark. The light was momentarily blocked by the body of a huge individual whose broad shoulders ba...

The White Pawn IIIThe Sky Cloaks were back to their routine duties when William returned to Bulwark Street. It was good to see them active, even if it was in such a groggy state as theirs. Whatever the hell compelled them to drink so much? He wondered.Back at the barracks, William found the avenue was open to all, Albert's body was gone, and the blood was being washed and scrubbed out from the cobblestone. He approached C...

The White Pawn IILord Street: where the cobblestone ends and the marble walkway begins. To be sure there were always guards patrolling here. Did they see anything last night? William wondered.No, they were paid too well to notice anything outside this street. If a lady cried for help outside this district not a one of these guards would help. But if a poor looking man, or woman, walked through here half the patrolmen woul...

The White Pawn ICaptain William Royce woke with a drum beating in his head. He found himself sprawled out on of the benches inside the, now empty, tavern. Save for the dim light from the oil lantern on the table before him, the place was dark: it was still night. From the looks of the tavern now there was no sign of a party that led to a violent brawl earlier. As a city guard, it was his job to keep the peace. But William...

Chapter 10Thomas took Luke's hand awkwardly and shook. "Hi," he managed to say"We were going to go to the dance but decided against it, we didn't feel like dressing up. So we stayed in and put on some Netflix. How was the dance?""It was..." He was having trouble finding words. He felt sick; he needed to get out of there fast. "I-I uhh. Tell you later. Gotta get home, curfew, dad, kill me." He turned briskly walked away af...

I can’t settle. My mind’s muddled. Images swirl inside my brain, Merging in a flurry of confusion; Memories, dreams, desires…I can’t focus. Nothing’s clear. My head’s awash with fantasies And I’m sick of them.I need you, Real you, in the flesh.I want physical contact, Something tangible to grasp Instead of insubstantial words Dispatched across the void.I need to hold you close, Rest my head against your shoulder And breat...