Something That Has Never Touched the Ground
ShortStory 1,017 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"His Majesty plights his troth to the boy by the failing light of the waxing Luster Moon, an auspicious night for waterfowl, prayer, and paladins. Wrong, all of it. Child-groom Softwind Sunder is hellebore and winter sun, plantcraft and rage. When he spits on the holy grounds of Prophis, small tufts of rabbit-foot clover emerge from the dead soil."
Content warnings 3
child-deathdeathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Quasar links out; the story lives on BCS, where the author gets the click.