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Fantasy fiction & folklore!
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Icy is a folklore blogger and host of the Fabulous Folklore podcast. She is based in the north east of England, where she was born and raised amid the folk tales and legends of Tyneside and Northumberland. Icy is fascinated by history, cinema, art, and the occult, and griffins will always be her favourite mythical beast. She also writes dark fantasy novellas, Gothic short stories and the occasional weird Western, and she holds a PhD in Film Studies!
mazzz_in_Leeds says
He’s gone and agreed the 10 hour school days hasn’t he?!
Nice play on Shadow Cabinet 🙂
And a great last line
Stephen says
Agreed. A great last line. Too many politicians try to wash their hands of things—”Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”— but the stains remain. A good story, Icy.
deannaschrayer says
I must echo that – the last line is perfect. Indeed, the whole story is perfect. You must give us the “next chapter” Icy (for this is a great set up to a much longer story).
ganymeder says
Dark and clever, as always! I wonder if its real blood?
Larry Kollar says
Beautiful. I think the end tells Etherington what the price truly is.
I don’t suppose they meet in the historic Star Chamber, do they? 🙂
David G. Shrock says
Frightful deal. Excellent ending with the residue/blood on his hand.
Janet Lingel Aldrich says
Chilling, Icy … I like what Stephen King calls “The Hitchcock Ending” where you really don’t know for sure what happens, but you know enough — and it’s NOT happily ever after.
John Wiswell says
Haha, the Shadow Cabinet! That’s grand and punny and diabolical. I’m relieved my president can’t have one of these. He can’t, right?
Steve Green says
All the way through I was dying to know the details of what this grave situation were.
The ending was brilliant, as Janet commented, you just know that it’s not going to be ‘Happily ever after’.
Katherine Hajer says
Great take on “shadow cabinet”! I wonder who they answer to — the Star Chamber?
Icy Sedgwick says
Our Shadow Cabinet, in the UK, is just the cabinet formed by the party in opposition to the party who are in power. Which is what makes them far duller than the name would suggest!