Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #13 April 2015 | Page 75

that, too.
Not the justice part. Hell no. Not the truth, not the
honour. She knows she can pervert those pure things
just like she perverted my father and so many others. Yet she ran from Sam’s father decreeing that she
should be hanged.
I wonder, just how long has she been slicking through
kingdoms like this, and playing mercy for a fool with
her repent and redeem act?
I aimed for her head and she started singing like a
skinny black canary. I have to give her mercy, I’m the
princess of light and song and goodness. I have to help
her overcome her evil so that she can atone for her
evil deeds and so her true beauty will be a beacon and
joy to all good hearted people.
So that’s how you do it, I sneered. I fired like I was caressing the sweetest kitten in the world, and watched
her head explode. The sun shone into the throne room
just then, and every bit of her started to rot like it

should have ages ago. I went and opened the window
and wished for a square.
Couldn’t have been a minute later and Sam hands me
one and lights it for me off a torch. Yeah. I can live
with this lug. He’s got it all going on the way a good
man should.
He said the guys are out there preaching social reform
to the people, and I said let ‘em, the people deserve it
after all this crap. Then I dragged Sam down for a kiss.
Tasted like blood, tobacco and triumph, but it was
close enough to love’s first for him.
So now we got the kingdom cleaned up and running
smoothly. My guys do most of the administrating
and I give the word. Married Sam after we signed
off on prenups, and right now I’m waiting for him
to get Fluffy fired up and running. Seems some fairy
godmother with a fucking bug up her ass laid a curse
down on my cousin, Briar Rose.
That shit don’t fly. Me and Sam make sure it don’t.

Deanna Smith
Sometime in the late 1980s, Deanna’s stepdad and Mom gave Deanna their old Mac Plus computer, and
trees all over the world heaved a sigh of relief. Because Deanna writes. About everything. Anywhere. All
the time.
Writing, drawing, and reading were her passions for years, stumbling cheerfully genre to genre, discovering the fascination of history and music along the way, and then bellyflopped into 3D art.
Drama happened, of course, but the upshot is that Deanna now lives in San Bernardino, a home health
care worker and caretaker for her younger son and husband, with an older son who consults often with
mom on matters of snark.
An avid collector of old books – thank goodness for the Internet Archive – always fascinated with history
as recorded by people in that time. A lover of fantasy and humor, mystery, science fiction and fact. Steam
punk goth. Singer and song writer. Reasonably sane.
She also still owns and maintains that Mac Plus.

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