PC601: A Thousand Tongues of Silver

[Ocicat]

PodCastle 601: A Thousand Tongues of Silver

Author: Kate Heartfield
Narrator: Alyson Grauer
Host: Setsu Uzume
Audio Producer: Peter Behravesh

Originally published in Lackington’s.

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Show Notes
Rated PG-13.


I am a book. My pages are purple.

This is how they made me. First, they flayed the calves, stretched and scraped their wet skins. Then they mixed lichen and leaves, rotted in human urine, to mimic the purple that comes of torturing sea snails to force the desperate spew of sedative. Soaked my pages in all that stink until they turned the colour of violence.

Then I was ready to receive the quill. Letters of suspended silver ink, with plenty of copper to prevent tarnish.

Why silver, you may ask?

Well, look how beautifully it shines against the purple. Isn’t that reason enough? It was reason enough for Amalasuintha. She didn’t question it.


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