the forest
Issue 3 ✷ August 2020
In the Woods Somewhere
“In the Woods Somewhere” is the featured artwork for our August issue of 2020, “The Forest.”
Lady Lionheart
Maid Marian walks a delicate balance between what is expected and what she craves, and the arrival of her childhood friend, Robin, Lady Huntington, does nothing to simplify matters. Marian must decide where her loyalties lie—to the absent king, to the one who sits the throne in the King’s place, to the husband who has been chosen for her, or to the woods, and to freedom, and to the dreams she’d almost forgotten. And all the while, bandits haunt the woods around Nottingham, and Marian suspects that their leader is closer to her than anyone might suspect.
Not Unchanged
I am the Keeper of the Gate. For this world, at least. “The Gate is open,” I say to the young souls, eager to seize their destiny; to the old, begging to change it. “Go. Remember, it is easy to stay. It is difficult to leave. But when it appears again, you must walk through. This world will remain unchanged, but you will not.”
Root, Bark, Bone
In a world of red earth and bone born from the salt and sand, the last dendrochronologist meets a man preserving something out of myth. A tree.
I’m On The Outside (Don’t Know How to Get to You)
Aithne lived on the edge of the wood, near where the Veil separated the Fae realm from the human one, carving out a new life for herself far from the home she once knew. When Sebastian stumbled through the Veil as summer faded into fall, Aithne took him into her home until she could find a way for him to get back. Fate, her heart and Aithne’s sister all had other plans for the two of them.
Stellar Motions
George Whitmore—ne’er-do-well, younger son of the Earl of Kendal—tries to find his place in the world and goes off to the ‘war to end all war’ in an attempt to do his patriotic duty. Kathleen Dunbar, lady’s maid to George’s little sister, becomes his lifeline through the letters they exchange. First as acquaintances, then as friends, then as something more, Kathleen’s letters bring him hope. He had been carefree when they first met. Intelligent and thoughtful, through his letters. What kind of man will he be, once he returns?
The Fence
All the concrete has failed. Wood is the only building material that matters. Anjali’s mother is missing. And there are strange sounds coming from the birch trees.
The Wild and the Wicked
Unable to pass up the chance at a mountain of gold and the freedom it offers, Meri found herself standing at the edge of a forest that townsfolk swear steals people, planning to go kill a witch and rescue a kidnapped princess. Apparently, she’d decided her freedom was worth dying for.