Part 8 Iron Writer Xmas Special + Submission rejection

Part 8/12 of the Iron Writer Xmas Quickie Special is up!
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-154/
And here's mine :-)

WQ 154 –image above, inadequacy, stubbornness, history

Part 8

Feyle's work finally made it to the royal court, and the Empress herself was impressed.
"Councillor," she commanded.
"Yes, your Majesty?" asked the Councillor of Arts.
"Find this man whose splendid works these are. Assess him for acceptance to court."
Much to his dislike, the Councillor searched for this talented vagabond and found him in a square on the edge of the city. A crowd had gathered to watch Feyle at work... it took only a moment for the nobleman to see that all was true about this beggar. His art was fantastic, something he had never seen before. It made all the artists in court look inadequate by comparison. He marveled at the drawings, paintings, joining the people amassed in quiet banter about how superb it all was.
But it was not to be. Accepting a man from the street into the royal court was unheard of. Throughout history, artists of all forms were found among the noble families or friends of such. And so, in his stubbornness, the Councillor for Arts rejected Feyle and his work. To make sure his decision could not be overturned, he sent an assassin to kill him.
Feyle, however, had not lost any of his old abilities. Though now armed with rudimentary drawing utensils, no man was his match. As soon as he heard the killer jump over the wall which separated Feyle's broken shack from the street behind, his fighting skills awoke once again and the assassin lay dead at Feyle's feet.


...4 more parts to go, I wonder where they will take Feyle...

And...I got a REJECTION from Daily Science Fiction for my little story I sent them (First Sight), a damn good short, too. The letter says...

"Thank you for submitting your story, "First Sight", to Daily Science Fiction. Unfortunately, we have decided not to publish it. To date, we have reviewed many strong stories that we did not take. Either the fit was wrong or we'd just taken tales with a similar theme or any of a half dozen other reasons.
Best success selling this story elsewhere.
 - Jonathan & Michele, Daily Science Fiction"

It was 'strong' but they've seen it before, or so they imply but don't actually say. So helpful. Only ONE publisher has bothered to tell me the problems, and I was able to fix them. TELL ME the problems and I'll fix them. I'll have another look at it, see if I can submit elsewhere...