Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 6

visitor. For a moment, he didn't recognize her. Her eyes were swollen, mouth trembling as she desperately begged him for forgiveness. It took a few minutes for him to calm her down enough that he could understand what she said.
    "For the part I played in Prince Minh's deception. You were nice to me, and I am the reason that you are hurting." She looked down toward the wound and Chien self-consciously tightened his robe around himself.
    The doctor believed he'd been lucky. Her blade had been clean and sharp. But it ached even now since Chien had refused the drugs that would have rid him of the ache for the price of sending him into sweet oblivion. "I am fine. And it is not your fault; you did not know what would come of it."
    "He promised to leave my sister alone if I listened to him, if I did this one thing." Tears leaked from her eyes, but she stood, head high and back stiff, "I am glad that he is dead."
    "I am as well." He'd known Bao was not behind it. He had known nothing of the poison Minh had given him after all, but the servant's confession made him feel all the more foolish. If only he could rewind to a few weeks before and tell his past self to appreciate the time he'd had a bit more. For one startling moment he'd known what it meant not to be alone.
    He might have considered it the cruelest punishment of all, but he could only imagine what might have happened had he never found what it felt like. Perhaps he might have turned into Mai after all. With a sigh, he resigned himself to staring out at his garden, studying the browned leaves of the trees.
    "That is a very full sigh for such a busy man. Perhaps you need more work to sustain you."
    Chien thought at first that he had conjured Bao as some feverish, depressed fantasy. But there was no way it was possible. Bao was there, taking up the whole of the room with his presence. Chien moved forward, not truly sure what he was attempting to accomplish, but the sharp pain of his stomach reminded him to stay put.
    It didn't matter, because Bao moved closer, taking a seat beside him after a pause. "The doctor says you would be doing better if you took his advice."
    "I am fine."
    "I see." Bao looked amused and it was at once so familiar that Chien wanted to take hold of him and order him to never leave again. "Would you like to know how your Empire fares?"
    It was to be business then. Fair enough. "Of course."
    Bao talked and Chien was happy to let the familiarity of his voice pull him closer and closer to an easy sleep, something that had been eluding him since the night he had awoken to hear that his general had left him. "Have you fallen asleep?"
    Chien's eyes popped open, denial already on his lips as he looked toward the window and noticed that the sun had begun to set. "Perhaps."
    "If you are tired, Emperor, I can return another time." Bao made to stand.
    "Why do you choose now to call me by a title? You never did before."
    "I did. Near the end." Bao's hand drifted closer to his, "I would hate to be accused of being too familiar with our emperor."
    Chien moved that last little distance between their hands, grasping Bao's hand tightly, "Stay."
    "For how long? The sun has nearly set."
    "There is an Empire to be run. A famine to end. Traitors to weed out." His hand tightened on Bao's, "Forever may be long enough."
    THE END
    Author bio: Isabella has been torturing her players for years with character breaking plot twists and loving reminders of suffering to come. Now that she had retired from her illustrious career as a GM, she's turned to making her characters suffer just as much. The time she isn't writing she spends at her job as a computer technician wishing she was right back at home, writing.
    Despite this, Isabella continues to be a self-proclaimed romantic. A childhood of Disney movies has taught her that there is no ending as satisfying as a happily ever after.
    Available titles:
    The Wrong Note
    Something Happened On The Way To Heaven
    Contact info:
    Email
    Twitter
    ****

MAGICK'S CUCUMBER
    by H.A. Caine

    His lover always loved to experiment in the kitchen, but that latest recipe must have gone wrong, or why else would it have turned him into a baby? And now, on top of it all, his mother is calling and demanding to speak to him.
    ~ Jassanja

    genre: paranormal
    tags: contemporary; family drama; mage/sorcerer; non-explicit; established couple; humorous; magic
    word count: 3,324
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    MAGICK'S CUCUMBER
    by H.A. Caine
    BOOM!
    Alex