Issue #27 RRP $8.95 Rory Douglas Abel Aliette ... - Upgrade Systems

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The Fairy Wife fingers to feel the pack of stapled papers that had materialized beside me. Written in silver ink and stamped across the top were the words Contract of Marriage. The papers ruffled themselves and then stopped as the third paragraph on page five began to glow. Physical harm…inflicted by magic…Guinevere…human. A few of the words caught my eye before the entire document flashed once and then lit itself on fire. The magical flames lasted only a second and then they, along with the papers, were gone. “What was that?” Sylvan said. I stood up carefully, hearing the tinkling of glass under my feet. A framed photo from our wedding lay on the floor, its glass shattered. “Our marriage is over,” I said quietly. “You broke the terms.” “What?” Sylvan struggled to his feet. “What do you mean?” “Don’t you remember? While you were making sure the police could use truth spells on me if you died before I did, I wanted to make sure you’d never hurt me. My lawyer got it in at the last minute. If you didn’t trust me enough to know I wouldn’t kill you, why should I have trusted you not to hurt me?” “But the rest of the pre-nup…” he said. “You can’t get a divorce. Our marriage is until one of us dies.” “Maybe,” I said. “But the clause I put in means I can leave if you hurt me. We might be married, but it doesn’t matter much if you can’t find me.” “I don’t believe you,” he said, but faintly. “Check with the lawyers,” I said. “They’ll still have a copy of the contract. You agreed to everything when you signed it, including that.” I picked Hyacinth up from where he lay on his back. He blinked solemnly at me as I hefted the diaper bag as well. “Where are you going?” Sylvan asked. For the first time, I thought, he didn’t sound like an Elf. The pain in his voice was too raw, too human. “Away. You don’t need to know where.” “Don’t go,” he said. “I love—” “Not me,” I said. “The idea of me. You just love a human girl, as well as any of the Folk can. But don’t worry. There are plenty of humans around and I won’t live forever. You’ll find someone else to marry you.” With that, I gathered up my baby and left my life behind me. It didn’t turn out all that badly. I caught a bus and kept riding until one day, when it stopped, I got off to stretch my legs and realized we were home. A place we could make home, anyway. When the money from my private bank account came through — by anonymous Pixie Air Mail, of course — I bought a little house on the edge of town. It’s quiet here. The town’s mostly human. The Folk that do live here tend to be the reclusive kind — Brown Men, Silvani, and the like — and don’t have much to do with us. Not the kind to let Sylvan know where we are if he wanted to find us. Quite frankly, I think he probably pulled some strings at city hall to get me declared dead and is already remarried. I wish him luck of it. 45
46 Eilis Arwen O'Neal I’m writing this all down so that later, when you’re older, you’ll know about everything that happened. I’m going to buy a time capsule charm in town tomorrow and set it so that you’ll get this on your eighteenth birthday, even if something were to happen to me. Then you can decide what you want to do. I think it’s important that you know, but I’m selfish enough to want to keep you just mine as long as I can. You’ve started walking recently. Generally in my flower beds. I planted your namesake all around the house in pink and blue and white and violet. You seem to step on them with magical regularity. Of course, I planted some other things too. You can’t be too careful, after all. There’s gentian, meadowsweet, rosemary, mulberry. All plants to invoke the same things I named you for: love and protection and happiness. For both of us.
Page 1 and 2: Issue #27 RRP $8.95 ORIGINAL FICTIO
Page 4 and 5: ANDROMEDA SPACEWAYS Inflight Magazi
Page 6 and 7: The Return of the Queen Tolkien fel
Page 8 and 9: The Return of the Queen The evening
Page 10: The Return of the Queen Warnie was
Page 13 and 14: 12 Rory Douglas Abel officers. But
Page 15 and 16: 14 Rory Douglas Abel I search the c
Page 17 and 18: 16 Rory Douglas Abel “Yes, but yo
Page 19 and 20: 18 Rory Douglas Abel enough to dodg
Page 21 and 22: The Case of the Overdressed Man …
Page 23 and 24: 22 Mike Lewis “There was some unp
Page 25 and 26: 24 Mike Lewis The doctor’s carria
Page 27 and 28: 26 Mike Lewis Although it was now m
Page 29 and 30: 28 Mike Lewis “Wait here.” Nick
Page 31 and 32: 30 Mike Lewis The mannequin looked
Page 33 and 34: 32 Mike Lewis “If that is the cas
Page 36 and 37: The Fairy Wife …Eilis Arwen O’N
Page 38 and 39: The Fairy Wife This does leave one
Page 40 and 41: The Fairy Wife drinks. He never not
Page 42 and 43: The Fairy Wife “You didn’t reco
Page 44 and 45: The Fairy Wife Not everything felt
Page 48 and 49: Slag Fairmont — Psychic Zone Rang
Page 64 and 65: Of radiance and shadows angels were
Page 66 and 67: Calling the Unicorn “Never fret,
Page 68: Calling the Unicorn I call. Come hi
Page 71 and 72: 70 Hayley Griffin “How so, Prince
Page 73 and 74: 72 Hayley Griffin yell anymore, pro
Page 75 and 76: Speedbumps on the Road to Recovery
Page 77 and 78: 76 Timothy Mulcahy Then the woman w
Page 79 and 80: 78 Timothy Mulcahy “Daddy, I—
Page 81 and 82: 80 Timothy Mulcahy “Damn,” Arni
Page 84 and 85: Demons of Fear …Jennifer Fallon P
Page 86 and 87: Demons of Fear I could do with a co
Page 88 and 89: Demons of Fear We could have compla
Page 90 and 91: I Don’t Believe in Anita Blake An
Page 92 and 93: I Don’t Believe in Anita Blake An
Page 94 and 95: I find I have a harpy heart, half-f
Page 96 and 97:
About the Authors Kate Forsyth is t
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