Queen of the Crossroads: Road's Beloved

By Erica Anoe

Piper is a Road's Beloved, an eternal traveler who has been given power and destiny by the Road itself. The tangle of birthmarks that cover her skin represent the gifts of every road she has ever walked or will ever walk. They are the source of her magic, and they define her place in the world. 

 

When Piper arrives at Worldsbridge to claim a message from its ruler, she expects a simple encounter. Instead, she finds herself threatened by a bitter king who holds secret grudges against her kind. 

 

To survive, Piper must uncover the true nature of Worldsbridge and learn what the Road expects of those it loves.

 

"Queen of the Crossroads" is a Road's Beloved short story set in the legendary city of Worldsbridge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lonely Robot Press
• Release date: Feb 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201321734

Book preview

Queen of the Crossroads

QUEEN OF THE CROSSROADS

A WORLDSBRIDGE ROAD’S BELOVED STORY

ERICA ANOE

Lonely Robot Press

Copyright © 2022 by Erica Anoe

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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For Elizabeth, who read it first and believed in it.

I learn by going where I have to go.

THEODORE ROETHKE

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Erica Anoe

1

Entering a city resembled emerging from underwater. Passing through a city gate into streets that local residents saw as teeming with life was to set foot in an emptier, lonelier place. Sometimes Piper found it a relief – the thick and constant contact of magic along the Road took its toll – but it amused her that these cosmopolitans knew so little of what a full world really looked and felt like.

She unwound protective layers of cloth, slowly revealing her face, throat and arms. She watched the city guards around her react to the tangle of birthmarks on her uncovered skin, a personal map that recorded the gifts of every Road she’d ever walked and would ever walk. You act like you’ve never seen a Road’s Beloved. She laughed. Surely, the city of Worldsbridge has sent and received messengers on more than one occasion.

Still, they shrank away, until one woman braved a reply. We’ve never seen one so… covered.

"Ah, well if you saw me uncovered,