* Author : Wendy Nikel * Narrator : Veronica Giguere * Host : Ace Ratcliff * Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh * Artist : Yuumei * Discuss on Forums PodCastle 565, ARTEMIS RISING: I Am Fire; I Am Tears is a PodCastle original. PG, for dragon-sisters and bones picked clean. Ulykke crouched in the darkness, just beyond the sunray’s reach. Before her, along the forest path, an entourage of huntresses passed on horseback, armed with arrows and blades of finest silver and armor too strong for even Ulykke’s teeth to pierce. Among them, on a dappled-gray mare, rode the princess Dania herself: beloved ruler of Crowwell. Maiden most fair. Usurper of the throne. The princess’s horse was ill at ease, its nostrils flaring and its eyes darting into the forest where Ulykke followed, just out of sight. It kept to the furthest edge of the path, so that holly-fern and moonwort and dwarf birch brushed the princess’s boots and snagged the hem of her riding skirts. Ulykke had been creeping along at a distance since they’d left Crowwell and deserted the somber, lonely castle there. She’d peered through the ancient, frosted windows to see the heirloom furnishings draped with white cloth and the furnaces empty of flame, the whole place looking as cold and bleak as that cursed winter day so many years ago — a day of blood and tears and screams and the crying of a babe, and finally, the slamming of a door. Earlier, the guards had engaged in lighthearted chatter and singing, assuring the princess that her decision was wise. Crowwell needed an heir, and the prince of Sedgen needed a bride. The arrangement would be mutually beneficial, even if the groom was a stranger. He had not been the only prince to answer the call, but as the closest neighbor, it made sense to unite their kingdoms. Yet as they descended along the garnet-lined path through the misty forest toward Sedgen, the travelers grew more silent and ill at ease, their shoulders tense and lips pursed. More and more frequently, their eyes flickered toward where Ulykke hid, till she was certain they must have caught sight of her vitreous eyes and iridescent scales. A branch crumpled beneath her clawed feet, and the captain of the guard drew her sword. “Fly, my Lady! Fly!” The princess didn’t need to be told twice; everyone knew of the nightmarish creatures that dwelled in these forests: horrid beasts, vicious abominations, beings who’d once been human but fell to some curse or sorcerer’s whim. Never a season went by without a brave warrior organizing a hunt to rid the forest of them. Never a hunt went by without the death of many of those same men. Dania leaned forward across her horse’s neck and raced away through the forest, leaving nothing but a plume of dust behind her. A low snarl rose from Ulykke’s throat, but she did not pursue the princess. She could have caught her easily, for her muscular limbs were twice as strong as a horse’s and even the vast tangle of bramble and vines would be no deterrent for her claws and teeth, but though her hatred boiled like a cauldron within her, she did not wish to kill the princess. No, that would make her no better than the mother whose greed brought this curse upon her in the first place, no better than the father who tossed her out to the forest to die. Though she despised the princess for being all that she herself wasn’t,