kalloway @kalloway@fedibird.com

"Ciro," the king said as he regarded his most dear and decorated knight in a quiet inner garden. "You've been at my side since I was young. You've seen my sons grow into men, you comforted me when my wife departed, you serve without complaint...

"And when I ask what you'd like, be it land or gold or anything else I can grant, you dodge the question like it is a spear at your head."

Ciro was quiet. There was no escape. Until finally-

"Anything, Your Majesty?"

"Anything, Ciro."

Ciro smiled. He was already kneeling.

"If you would have me..."

#wss366

Whoops, supposed to be @stevencudahy

-time for more caffeine.

Janis heard the lock click open and glanced back from her notes to see Sanny grinning at the small chest on his lap.

They'd found it in an unmarked cave just off their usual route.

"Let's see what we got," he said as he carefully opened the lid.

Janis was barely on her feet when she heard Sanny groan.

"Is it another copy of The Unfinished Epic?" she asked. They'd now found multiple copies of the old, cheaply printed, pulpy 'epic', all in chests in caves.

"Yes," Sanny grumbled.

At least they always sold.

But it still felt like the joke was on them.

"It's going to rain," Kiara's mother said as she glanced out the window. "Who made the weather god cross?"

"Wasn't me," Kiara's younger brother replied.

"Wasn't me," Kiara echoed as she put on her shoes. Rain was good, anyway. It watered the fields and filled the rivers and felt nice on the sort of hot late-spring day it was otherwise shaping up to be.

But she didn't say that to her mother.

She'd just be sure to visit the shrine later and offer a few copper coins.

If a god could be cross, he could be bought. And Kiara would have her answer.

#wss366

@stevencudahy

It wasn't the same as what I remembered from my youth, but I wasn't about to say that to Bobby. He had me by the hand and was towing me from exhibit to exhibit with the energy that only eight-year-olds have.

We saw the penguins and polar bears and lions and elephants and kangaroos, all doing the things they should be doing.

But the bird enclosure was closed due to a network failure, the gazelles were visibly glitching, and the giraffes looked too green.

Bobby didn't seem to mind. It was the zoo we had on Mars and it was enough for him.