Ten Days of Harmony: Tales of Unification, #10

By Meyari McFarland

Harmony takes work, especially when you don't fit anywhere.

 

Giang stared at the werewolf pack's huge Victorian house. Xe shouldn't be nervous. The pack wasn't likely to chase a dryad like Giang off, but xe couldn't help but worry about how xe would be received.

 

Xyr relatives always scolded Giang for influencing others with xyr powers.

 

But the pack didn't seem upset about it. Giang really, truly hoped that xe was able to control xemself because, between the beautiful land full of trees and the pack members themselves, xe didn't want to leave. Ever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meyari McFarland
• Release date: Sep 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201589028

Meyari McFarland

Meyari McFarland has been telling stories since she was a small child. Her stories range from SF and Fantasy adventures to Romances but they always feature strong characters who do what they think is right no matter what gets in their way. Her series range from Space Opera Romance in the Drath series to Epic Fantasy in the Mages of Tindiere world. Other series include Matriarchies of Muirin, the Clockwork Rift Steampunk mysteries, and the Tales of Unification urban fantasy stories, plus many more. You can find all of her work on MDR Publishing's website at www.MDR-Publishing.com.

Book preview

Ten Days of Harmony

Ten Days of Harmony

A Tales of Unification Novella

Meyari McFarland

MDR Publishing

Special Offer

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From contemporary romances like The Shores of Twilight Bay to dark fantasy like A Lone Red Tree and out to SF futures in Child of Spring, Iridescent covers the gamut of time, space and genre.

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Meyari McFarland shows her mastery in this first omnibus collection of her short fiction. Twenty-five amazing stories, all with queer characters going on adventures, solving mysteries, and falling in love are here in the first Rainbow Collection.

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And now you can get this massive collection of short queer fiction, all of it with the happy endings you love, for free!

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Sign up here for your free copy of Iridescent now!

Contents

Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

Author's Note

1. Hemlock

2. Maple

3. Lilac

4. Cedar

5. Blackberry

Author's Note: Crumbling of the Soul

1. Tadpoles into Butterflies

2. Foundations in Antiquity

3. Nightmares of Time

Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

Afterword

Author Bio

Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

Day Hunt on the Final Oblivion

Day of Joy

Immortal Sky

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A New Path

Following the Trail

Crafting Home

Finding a Way

Go Between

Like Arrows of Fate

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Out of Disaster

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The Shores of Twilight Bay

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Coming Together

Following the Beacon

The Solace of Her Clan

You can find these and many other books at www.MDR-Publishing.com. We are a small independent publisher focusing on LGBT content. Please sign up for our mailing list to get regular updates on the latest preorders and new releases and a free ebook!

Copyright ©2019, 2021 by Mary Raichle

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Print ISBN: 978-1-64309-117-4

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Cover image

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Photo 125681923 © Subbotina | Dreamstime.com

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be emailed to [e-mail].

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This book is also available in TPB format from all major retailers.

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This collection is dedicated to Megan Derr and Nicole Field.

Author's Note

This story was originally published in the anthology Happiness in Numbers. If you can track down a copy of it, I highly recommend it. All the stories in the collection were amazing and I'm absolutely delighted and honored to have been accepted into it.

Unfortunately, tracking down a copy will be difficult as the publisher, Less Than Three Press, has since gone out of business.

I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to work with LT3 and thus I waited to republish this novella until after the original contract exclusivity date. I know I didn't have to, but it felt important to me to do so.

So.

Here is my first professional sale, indie published on its own for you all to enjoy.

1. Hemlock

Giang Nunes sat in xyr car, staring at the pack's home and wanting to fuss with xyr appearance. Somewhat. There was no way to change xyr mix of human and dryad features before meeting with the werewolves. The dryad side of xyr heritage showed clearly in the shifting colors of xyr hair, eyes and skin while the human side showed in xyr features, fingers, hands and limbs, all of which were as human as human could be.

Xyr boss had always said that they should present themselves as attractively as possible when meeting with the public. But Giang struggled with that. Xyr hair was growing into spring greens after the white of winter. At least xyr eyes had made the switch fully. Instead of the spooky ice-blue that always startled xem during January and February, xyr eyes were the green-gold of new aspen leaves with sunshine through them, bright and happy and… nervous.

Very nervous. Xyr powers always made things so difficult. Giang couldn't risk affecting others by deliberately projecting an aura; both professionally and personally that was inappropriate. Xyr family had told xem so many times that xe was influencing everyone around xem, even when Giang was certain xe wasn't.

Giang couldn't take the risk. So xe would have to face the pack's house with nothing more than xyr snub nose, motley hair and the proposal xe had been sent out to work on. And xe certainly wasn't going to portray xemself as either male or female given that dryads had no determinate gender whatsoever.

It was huge, one of the big old Victorian houses that'd survived the Opening. Mostly. Xe could see that the entire back half of the house had been replaced with more modern building materials but the front half maintained the old clapboard and graceful trim. Big tower with a bunch of windows and a porch that looked like it was halfway through being torn out and rebuilt.

The pack house sat at the very end of the cul-de-sac. While the old Victorian had survived the fire, transformation and death of the Opening, the other houses on the cul-de-sac clearly hadn't. To the left were two rebuilt ramblers. The first had been built with sculpted stone. The second with cob and straw bale, topped with a living roof that had sprouted vivid yellow flowers that were starting to fade. On the right were three Baba Yaga Huts, quietly scratching at the ground as they huddled together in the clearing they'd created since moving there.

A quiet neighborhood. Giang almost wished xe could live here but there was no way for xem to do that, not with the werewolf pack controlling the majority of the open land in this area. Xe didn't earn enough to afford even a tiny parcel of land and there was no way xe'd ever live in a Baba Yaga hut. Xe certainly couldn't wait long enough for one of their eggs to hatch and grow big enough for habitation, even if that was the best way to get a Baba Yaga hut that got along