As a friend of the author, I was lucky enough to read this one before it was accepted and knew instantly that it would be. The branches of the titular Princess Tree are weighed down with seventeen tiny cages, each containing a single princess.

“Inside every cage is a furled flower, trembling with promise, blushing petals soft as the thought of a summer cloud. None of the cages have doors.”

This odd fruit apparently exists only to be plucked by a handsome, kind prince. These men appear from time to time to select the princess which suits them best, though the royals aren’t all handsome and they certainly aren’t all kind. Princess Seventeen’s carefully curated worldview begins to crumble in the face of reality; not all princesses are picked, and those who are face uncertain fates. Some wither on the vine. Some try to free themselves, while some are unable to even comprehend the idea of escape, even if it means their imminent death. Tyrtle takes a simple premise and wields it with devastating, poetic precision; rarely have I read a story which cut me to the bone quite so deeply.

First published in Apex Magazine, May 2022, and available to read here