Welcome to Stories from Among the Stars.

If you've been following along this season,

you've likely just finished listening to Nettelin Bone by T. Kingfisher.

Loved what you heard?

Today we have an excerpt from T. Kingfisher's latest fairy tale retelling,

Hemlock and Silver.

Chapter 1

I had just taken poison when the king arrived to inform me that he had murdered his wife.

The poison was a distillate of chy matter venom, which burned my sinuses when I took it off my wrist the way some people take snuff. The king

was a tired man of medium height with sandy hair and deep grooves worn into the sides of his face.

I hadn't recognized him at first when he stepped through the door of the still room.

Well, why would I?

The king was someone that I had seen far off at the head of a long table or perched on a throne.

Without context, he was simply a well-dressed man who had come in without even knocking.

Still, he had looked naggingly familiar, and I thought perhaps he was one of my father's friends,

so I simply said, wait a moment, please, and turn back to stripping rosemary leaves off thin wooden stems. I always process

rosemary after snorting at her venom. The fragrance of the rosemary helps to clear out the

awful burnt smell of the venom. Then the little voice in my head whispered, one moment, please,

Your Majesty, and the recognition crashed over me like cold water.

I spun back toward the man in the doorway.

He wasn't standing in profile,

so I couldn't see if his face was the same one that was stamped on coins,

...