| THE LORELEI SIGNAL |
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| Written by Elizabeth Barrette / Artwork by Holly Eddy |
| The Political Courtesan Strikes Back |
Marlinia raised a glass of vintage port and toasted her lover. "Congratulations on regaining your throne, Your
Majesty."
Erwen grinned. "I could never have done it without you, sweetling. Now let's celebrate." He reached for her
wine glass.
Marlinia curled her fingers possessively around the stem. "Erwen, don't be ridiculous. This wine is two hundred
years old! It came in the gifts from the elven delegates. Show some respect." She took an appreciative sip.
Baffled, Erwen retreated to his end of the divan. "Is something wrong?" he asked, fiddling with a tassel on the
blanket.
"Not really," Marlinia said. "I've just decided to retire."
"You...what?"
"I'm rich now, Erwen. That was rather the whole point," Marlinia said. "I'm going to take the money and
leave." She gazed up at the mosaic ceiling. "I think I'll become a perfumer. I am so tired of being a whore, but
I've seen how the idle rich live and it would bore me to death. I want to do something interesting for a
change."
"Marlinia, sweetling, I'll buy you a perfumery if that's what you want," Erwen said. "Just don't leave--I couldn't
run this kingdom without you!"
"That's all right; I'm moving to Alleria," Marlinia said.
"Don't you even care if our country dissolves back into chaos?" said Erwen.
"No. I hate politics."
"But–-but I love you!" Erwen wailed, throwing himself into her lap.
Marlinia raised her wine glass safely out of danger. "I don't love you," she said. "Also, I am a lesbian."
With that, Marlinia disengaged herself from the helplessly sputtering King, collected her money and
belongings, and left. She moved to a nice little town in Alleria. There she met a retired masseuse, and they
both lived happily ever after.
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Elizabeth Barrette writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in the fields of speculative
fiction, gender studies, and alternative spirituality. Previous credits include the short
stories "Goldenthread" in Dead Souls and “Peacock Hour” in Triangulations: Taking
Flight; the articles “Appreciating Speculative Poetry” in Internet Review of Science
Fiction and “Cyberfunded Creativity” in EMG-zine; the book Composing Magic:
How to Write Rituals, Spells, and Magical Poetry; and the poems “How the Aztecs
Conquered Cortéz” in Vampyr Verse and “The Mummy Child” in Star*Line. She is
an active contributor and canon board member in the shared-world project Torn
World (http://www.tornworld.net). She hosts a monthly Poetry Fishbowl on her
blog, The Wordsmith’s Forge (http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com), writing
poems based on prompts from her audience. She also reviews books and music on
Reviews from Hypatia’s Hoard (http://reviewarchive.iblog.my/). At science fiction
conventions and other events, she presents panels on various topics. She enjoys
suspension-of-disbelief bungee-jumping and spelunking in other people’s reality
tunnels.
fiction, gender studies, and alternative spirituality. Previous credits include the short
stories "Goldenthread" in Dead Souls and “Peacock Hour” in Triangulations: Taking
Flight; the articles “Appreciating Speculative Poetry” in Internet Review of Science
Fiction and “Cyberfunded Creativity” in EMG-zine; the book Composing Magic:
How to Write Rituals, Spells, and Magical Poetry; and the poems “How the Aztecs
Conquered Cortéz” in Vampyr Verse and “The Mummy Child” in Star*Line. She is
an active contributor and canon board member in the shared-world project Torn
World (http://www.tornworld.net). She hosts a monthly Poetry Fishbowl on her
blog, The Wordsmith’s Forge (http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com), writing
poems based on prompts from her audience. She also reviews books and music on
Reviews from Hypatia’s Hoard (http://reviewarchive.iblog.my/). At science fiction
conventions and other events, she presents panels on various topics. She enjoys
suspension-of-disbelief bungee-jumping and spelunking in other people’s reality
tunnels.
