The golden pomander around his royal neck disguised the nauseating stench of the king’s wounded leg.
Undeterred, the unicorn gently laid its curved, pure white horn against the swollen, oozing flesh. Red and gangrenous became pink, healthy flesh. The unicorn transformed into a beautiful maiden and the delighted king grabbed her, kissing and fondling.
She struggled. “Let me go! Give me my reward.”
“To be my courtesan and most valued possession.”
Her soft human skin shifted back to glossy unicorn hide. The king stumbled back, lacerated by sharp hooves. The last thing he saw, a twisted horn of deepest black.
Author bio: Liz Tuckwell is a British science fiction and fantasy writer, living in London. She has had one short science fiction story, The Boom Show, published recently in BFS Horizons, a British Fantasy Society periodical. A short fantasy story, The Mysterious Mr. Fox, will be included in the forthcoming BFS anthology Emerging Horizons, showcasing new writers, to be published in 2018.
Twisted is part of 101 Fiction issue 18.
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