As you may already know, if you have been following my posts about my latest short story anthology, there are three stories contained with Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu that deal with the life of the Bard, and the lives of those who knew him. Josh Reynolds' A Tiger's Heart, A Player's Hide has already been teased so today it's the turn of a dark tale woven by another Black Library fan favourite, Guy Haley.
Guy's A Reckoning takes as its subject matter the mystery surrounding the murder of Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe, Shakespeare's friend and rival playwright.
So, let me set the scene...
A Rooming House in Deptford, 1593...
Eleanor Bull owned the house.
Small places full of vice and sin, with such houses Marlowe was well acquainted. Mistress Bull's was low-beamed and dark with smoke, a place where light did not penetrate easily on the brightest day, and on the darkest not at all.
Within three others awaited him, his death upon their right shoulders surely as ravens perch upon the gibbets of unrepentant men. Fellows so sick with a malignancy of the soul, from whom the caladrius would turn its snowy face without demur. All three his comrades once, some soon to be his enemies.
Still he must meet them, and so he responded favourably to the invitation to a feast. Red blood flowed in Marlowe's veins, not whey. Under a lintel borne down by sorrow's weight and desperation's call, Marlowe stooped, his hand upon his sword's pommel, a smile upon his lips.
A writer of science fiction and fantasy, Guy Haley is the author of Crash, Champion of Mars, the Richards and Klein series and others. He is also a prolific contributor to Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.
Previously a science fiction journalist and editor, Guy finds making his own strange worlds up even more fun than writing about those created by other people.
You can find hundreds of reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, free pieces of fiction and more on Guy's blog.
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