PC596-597: The Satyr of Brandenburg

[Ocicat]

PodCastle 596: The Satyr of Brandenburg — Part 1

Author: Charlotte Ashley
Narrator: Setsu Uzume
Host: Matt Dovey
Audio Producer: Peter Behravesh

Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March-April 2018.

---

Show Notes
Rated PG-13.


By the inebriated light of dawn, October the 23rd, 1700, a swarthy figure skulked in the rosebushes lining the Villa del Sulcis, outside the Sardinian town of Soleminis. The lurker clambered onto the tavern’s windowsill muttering badly hushed curses, then clumsily mounted the trellises. After a noisy minute of climbing, the figure leaped for the nearest second-story balcony, catching it by the fingertips.

Only the most carefree of slumbering inhabitants could have ignored such a racket. Draperies parted, hinting at drawn pistols and blades at the ready as several sets of wary eyes sought the cause of the disturbance. After a short investigation, a tall woman with hair the color of moldy straw threw aside her thick curtain and leaned out over the railing of her window.

“Alex?” she demanded, holstering a pistol. “What in the hells are you doing?”

“Shit,” the climber grunted, getting hold of the balcony’s iron bars and struggling to lift her foot over her head. “Héron, help me up. I think I’ve got a thorn in my thumb.”

The tall woman stood straight, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re drunk.”


Listen to this week's PodCastle.
Follow us on YouTube and Spotify!