Once when I was a boy I rode out in the general direction of the Twiceborn King, with some fantasy of burying my stolen sword up to the hilt in undead flesh. I had only a vague idea of where I was going, and no idea of what I’d do once I got there. I made my way from village to hamlet, but before I got to see any battles or castles or magic – before I’d even crossed the river – my father caught up with me and wrestled me home. I’m glad he did. Farm work had made me more than strong enough to swing the sword around, but in my hands it was just a club. I had no coin. No plan. I’d just have been another rotting body in the Twiceborn army by the time the Protagonist arrived to destroy it.
Read my short story, ‘Marginalia’, published in the first issue of Beyond Worlds magazine, here.