“Centuries of Kings”

I have killed kings, lured emperors to their doom; destroyed courts, brought countries to war; for thousands of years I have brought chaos with me wherever I go, death not enough to stop me, and I regret none of it.

And now the hunters pursue me through the wood.

Written originally for a class whose only redeeming feature was that I got to write a story for my final paper, thist story is based on a combination of Chinese and Japanese folktales. My mood music, while I wrote it, was a CD of Japanese koto music. This reaffirmed for me why I have so many strange CDs I don’t often listen to; I might need them for a story someday!

It appeared in the charity anthology Neverland’s Library, half of whose proceeds went to First Book. The table of contents is listed on the right! It has also been reprinted in my collection A Breviary of Fire.

Cover Gallery

cover art for Neverland's Library