Today and tomorrow only, author Shannon McDermott’s speculative novella The Beauty of the Lilies will be available for free download from Amazon.

Once upon a time, there lived a painter. He dreamed, he painted, and he was troubled by only one thing, the great interruption of his life – the vast Empire among the stars. For, you see, he was emperor. As emperor he did nothing, and as long as nothing happened, all was well.

And then, unexpectedly and all at once, something happened.