Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 59- Devyn

weekend writing warriorsIt’s time for Weekend Writing Warriors! Every Sunday, a bunch of writers post 8-10-sentence snippets from their WIPs on their blogs. There’s a lot of reading, commenting and great writing. Click on the link to see the full list.

This week I’m posting from something different. I won’t say completely different, because it’s in the same universe, but it’s not from either one of my books. I’m working on a short story set in the world of my next planned series-a fantasy version of the English Civil War. Devyn and Stella are two of Kendryk and Gwynneth’s children, considered grown-up for the time (19 and 15, respectively), who’ve gone to help their beleaguered uncle, King Arryk of Norovaea. Those who’ve read Rise of the Storm might be able to guess who the other guy is, too. This is right before the first big battle of the war and Devyn has just conferred with the king and is returning to his position.

He cantered back to the right flank, where Count Kronek had deployed the king’s entire regiment of horse. Devyn took his place at the head with Kronek on his right and Stella on his left. “That’s a beautiful outfit, sis,” he said, grinning. Stella wore brand-new armor, bright silver still undented by musket-ball, a present from the king.

“Thank you,” she smiled back, and clapped down her visor, a grimacing death’s head. Her size wouldn’t intimidate, but her helmet might. So might her facility with a saber and accuracy with a pistol.

The enemy moved first, and it was hard to stand still as artillery hammered the ranks behind them. Devyn was a veteran, but hearing human and horse being pounded into bloody bits never got easier.

When the king moved forward, Devyn signaled his bugler, drew his saber and shouted “Charge!”

Stella might have been wearing something like this. Cute, isn’t it?

stellahelmet

Previous snippets are here.

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23 Comments on “Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 59- Devyn

    • Part of it was practice. They wore it most of the time while training so it became like another body part. By that point, cavalry wore the heaviest armor because they didn’t have to walk. Infantry usually confined themselves to breastplate and maybe a helmet.

      As firearms became more lethal over the next century, most armor became pretty well obsolete, until the present day at least.

  1. A friend of mine had a story included in the anthology “Chicks in Chain Mail” (all of which were written by women, BTW). The armor you describe and show is much more practical.

    • I’ve heard of that anthology! Unfortunately, a lot of female fantasy armor is pretty impractical. If your armor leaves your midriff bare and shows cleavage, it’s probably not protecting everything it should!

  2. Great tension throughout, really, bursting out at the end! Fun to read, you give us enough for a clear visual. Nice for you to explore other characters and places in a familiar universe, too.

    It’s been a bunch of years, but I read that plate armor was difficult to fight in because the fighter needed protective under-garments of some kind which added bulk — and the armor itself was heavy. But obviously people did use it in combat. I’d love to see an *accurate* reconstructed suit and watch somebody do fight moves in it. Ren Faires are usually too far out of town for me. *sigh*

    • Thank you! They tended to wear padded clothes under the armor, which made it even more cumbersome. At this point in history, most of the armor was worn by cavalry, where you didn’t need quite the mobility you needed on foot. Of course, if you fell off your horse you had a challenge ahead as many of my characters find out!

  3. LOL! Love the visual representation of Stella’s armor. So sexy. 😉 You have such a knack for describing these battle scenes. Wonderful job!

  4. Excellent snippet (as always) Christina. I love how much attention to detail you pay. It makes your pieces so authentic. I am sure the artillery is going to add a very different dimwnsion to the battles. Looking foward to watching this unfold.

  5. Wow, that visor is frightening indeed. Love these lines “Her size wouldn’t intimidate, but her helmet might. So might her facility with a saber and accuracy with a pistol.” It says a lot about Stella, I imagine her courage and determination would also intimidate.

  6. Intense moments and I was fascinated by the details of the armor. Now I’m worried about these two kids, although I’m sure they both have fighting skills that far exceed mine! Excellent excerpt…

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