Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 79- Teodora

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.

How is is April already? At least I’m feeling mostly better and am back at it. I’m nearly 10k words into  Winter of the Wolf, so Valley of the Shadow is feeling like ancient history now. I’ll probably only go a few more weeks before moving onto Hammer of the Gods. The next few snippets will focus on introducing some characters that will be important going forward.

Since Arryk’s big victory, liberating Birkenfels Castle, he’s been pretty unstoppable, gathering allies from all over before planning to challenge the empress herself. In desperation, Teodora has called on an old enemy to help her raise an army.

Teodora received her on her throne, with all the pomp of the empire. She told everyone she wanted to give Brynhild Mattila her due as a senior member of the loyal Moraltan nobility, and a potential savior of the realm. In reality, she wanted to make sure that Mattila understood who she was dealing with.

In contrast with her splendidly-robed entourage, all in fur-trimmed coats of dark velvet in the style of old Moralta, Mattila herself wore riding dress under a plain, somewhat battered suit of armor. It wasn’t fitting for an audience with the empress, but it made her look very warlike. She approached the throne with her brisk, long stride and went down on one knee, her lips brushing Teodora’s outstretched hand. Then she looked up, her gray eyes still hard and clear, though the rest of her looked quite faded.

“Your Highness, it has been many years.”

“It has.” Teodora forced a smile.

Previous snippets are here.

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46 Comments on “Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 79- Teodora

  1. I liked the backstory where Tedora wanted to make sure Matilla knew who she was dealing with. That gives us great insight into her character. And, as far as Matilla’s clothes, it sounds like she might have something to say about letting Tedora know who she is too. Great introductions, Christina.

  2. Oh my, talk about two Queen Be’s in one small space;). Can’t wait to see more of them. Great snippet.
    Congrats on making good progress and I’m glad you’re feeling better.

  3. These two are fun, you just know they’re both finding it very hard not to knock the stuffing out of each other! Am about 3/4 through Valley of the Shadow – pace sure picks up! There’s more than a dash of violence! You must have done a TON of research, the results are impressive. I don’t know how you keep all that military stuff straight 🙂

    • Ooh, yes. You’re getting to the good part. 😀 By the time I wrote that, I think I’d ready every book about that time period still in print. I tend to get obsessed with the military details and it’s hard not to want to include them all in the story.

  4. Looking like a cat fight waiting to happen. 🙂 Can’t wait to see the fur fly. Putting two strong women in a room together is just asking for fun. Great snippet!

  5. April, yes it does sneak up. Believe it or not, we had a good snowstorm in Chicagoland, not too much stuck, but it was warm enough to not wear a jacket today. (Now it’s cold again, lol) Anyhow, love the snippet and how Teodora greeted her. Very nice!

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