A Chain of Beads
By M. Arbon
()
About this ebook
In the middle of the hall there’s this kid standing. In one hand he’s got a knife—the kind all the students keep to sharpen their nibs and carve their names wherever it’s the most pain in the ass to sand them out—but that’s not what’s got everybody frozen, because in his other hand the poor mad kid is holding all his beads.
Goodman Stone fled tragedy at home to build a new life doing odd jobs at a school in Frael. When one of the students does something unthinkable, Stone comes to his aid. He is helped by schoolmaster Caerel, and as the relationship between the two men deepens, Stone contemplates a decision that will once again reshape the life he's strung together.
This 7,800-word story was previously published in Shousetsu Bang*Bang.
M. Arbon
M. Arbon writes stories, mostly queer, often sexy, about people who try hard not to be jerks. M. lives and works in Toronto, Canada. M.'s stories have appeared in the anthologies His Seed and Best Gay Stories 2017, as well as being published as stand-alone volumes.
Read more from M. Arbon
The New Kitchen Boy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProgramming Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCup of Tea Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRun For Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Am the One Who Has You Now Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Unexpected Stay In Highbridge Town Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnother Pair of Hands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Beginner's Guide to Stealing Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Chain of Beads
Related ebooks
A Beginner's Guide to Stealing Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChinese Knotting: An Illustrated Guide of 100+ Projects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJewelry Lovers' Secrets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrafty Girl: Accessories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hidden Hearts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCopper Work A Text Book for Teachers and Students in the Manual Arts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Make Hammered Wire Jewellery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apples & Gin: Wedding Cake: Apples & Gin, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Agate Hunter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConquering The Creative Marketplace: Between the Fickleness of Business And the Pursuit of Design Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings1000 Jewelry Inspirations: Beads, Baubles, Dangles, and Chains Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Earring Making Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmbroidery and Fancy Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBody Bizarre, Body Beautiful Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWire-Wrapped Jewelry for Beginners: Step-by-Step Illustrated Techniques, Tools, and Inspiration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Metalwork Jewelry: 35 step-by-step projects inspired by steampunk Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5How to Make Jewellery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreative Crafting Summer 2011: Features & Best Bits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Royal Guide to Wax Flower Modelling Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTea and Tea Drinking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStringing Beads: Musings of a Romance Writer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo You Want To Be A Jewelry Designer: Merging Your Voice With Form Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst Time Jewelry Making: The Absolute Beginner's Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Make a Statement: 25 Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessory Projects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMake Your Own Silver Jewellery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Accidental Baker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Useless Knowledge about Crafts: Curious facts and amazing details about old and new crafts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCocktails for the Holidays: Festive Drinks to Celebrate the Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy Romance For You
Pleasure Planet Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Unmasked (Box Set) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fill Me Up! Double the Pleasure: MFM Threesomes Romance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just Stab Me Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: by V.E. Schwab - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Siren: Rise of the Drakens, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once Upon a Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Entreat Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mane Event Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pleasure and Purpose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sweet Ruin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radiance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between Ink and Shadows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master of Crows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Alien Seduction: Outing the Flames of Passion Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Shadow and Ice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dancing at Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wish Out of Water Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Broken Blade Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Golden Curse: A Free Fantasy Romance: Fantasy and Fairytales, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Depravity: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lassiter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Savior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lonen’s War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for A Chain of Beads
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Chain of Beads - M. Arbon
A Chain of Beads
M. Arbon
Thirteen Flowers Press
A Chain of Beads
So it's one of them crystal mornings of early summer, and the sunlight coming in through the clerestory like it was poured from a pitcher. And I'm sort of thinking what to do about that one drainpipe on the eastern students’ dormitory that keeps coming loose at the same damn spot, but mostly I'm thinking that Frael is a beautiful country but you’d be hard-pressed the long and the wide of it to find someone don’t make a cup of tea tastes like they waved the leaves over the pot and put them away again for later.
I miss the commotion of him running in, but then there’s Master Caerel breathless at my elbow, saying, Goodman Stone, I don’t mean to interrupt your breakfast, but there is a situation in the entry hall in which we could use the assistance of someone like yourself.
Right off I figure it’s the damn cistern cracked again and they’re ankle-deep in water like happened at Midwinter. But his eyes are kind of wide, and it ain’t that far from the entry hall to the refectory so he must of really galloped to be out of breath. And when I stand up he takes off in a hurry, his master’s robes flapping out like festival day flags because he never tied them shut yet this morning, so as I run I’m still thinking something big broken or maybe somebody hurt bad, but if the second, why’s he come for me?
The entry hall’s meant to show how much they all know, if their knowing was made out of Rastary marble. It’s bigger than most of the lecture halls, and the floor’s all these little bits of stone making patterns, and there’s coloured glass, and the place echoes like some of the corners were built just to throw voices back. Right now it’s got to have thirty people in it, and so help me they’re all still as the statue of Sheela of the Library that you got to creep past to get to the stairs. And they all got their eyes on the floor, and the big doors, and all that pretty glass, and everywhere but the middle of the hall. And I guess I lived here too long