Foxhunt Read online

  It was the first free time she’d been able to carve out to play it. Orfeus played each string carefully, thoughtfully. No courses, just a single string, not two tuned in harmony together. The sound was different. She’d have to get used to it.

  She would.

  Orfeus played the notes, tried out chords, fingering. She hummed one of her older songs, to the past with sorrow, to the future with hope, then began a piece that had been hovering in her head lately. It was fragmented, no crowd pleaser.

  Sitting there cross-legged with her regalia draped over the bed and hung on the wall, Orfeus played a song just for her. Slowly it wandered away from the melody she’d wanted, but she knew the mechanics underpinning her art. If she just kept going, she would find her way.

  * * *

  END

  About the Author

  Rem Wigmore is a speculative fiction writer based in Wellington, New Zealand. Their novella Riverwitch, a 2021 Sir Julius Vogel Award Finalist for Best Novella, was released in 2020, their first novel The Wind City was published in 2013, and their short fiction appears in several places including the Capricious Gender Diverse Pronouns Issue, Baffling Magazine, and the second Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction & Fantasy anthology. Rem’s probably a changeling, but you’re stuck with them now. The coffee here is just too good. Rem can be found on twitter as @faewriter.

  For more information:

  @faewriter

  https://queenofswordspress.com/authors/rem-wigmore/

  [email protected]

  About Queen of Swords Press

  Queen of Swords is an independent small press, specializing in swashbuckling tales of derring-do, bold new adventures in time and space, mysterious stories of the occult and arcane and fantastical tales of people and lands far and near. Visit us online at www.queenofswordspress.com and sign up for our mailing list to get notified about upcoming releases and offers. Or follow us on Facebook at the Queen of Swords Press page so you don’t miss any press news.

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