Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 105- Maryna

wewriwa2It’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.

It’s just occurred to me that I will probably have Winter of the Wolf ready for publication sometime in November. That’s next month! So I’d better start teasing y’all a little more, right?

If you’ve read Hammer of the Gods, you know that at the very end, Natalya Maxima took 13-year-old Maryna-Kendryk and Gwynneth’s oldest child- to visit her Uncle Arryk in Norovaea. Natalya believes Teodora is trying to overthrow King Arryk, and hopes to use Maryna as bait to flush out those conspiring with the empress. Maryna sets the deception in motion:

When they reached the corridor outside the throne room, elaborately liveried royal guards gathered around Maryna and someone opened the door. “They’re ready, Your Grace,” one of them said to her.

Maryna took a deep breath and stepped inside, remembering to hold her head high and keep her shoulders back. The room was packed with all of the most important people in Norovaea, but she had to pretend they weren’t here if she didn’t want to start shaking from nerves. She walked over to her uncle with measured steps, and he rose to meet her, taking her by the hand.

“I’ve called all of you here today because I’ve received shocking news,” he said, his voice deep and solemn. “The Empress Teodora, bound to us in good faith and by treaty, has betrayed me. She has murdered my sister and heir, Princess Gwynneth.” His voice quivered, and Maryna did her best to look sad. “By the grace of the gods,” the king went on, “her eldest child, the Duchess Maryna managed to escape and has come to us for refuge.”

Unfortunately, Arryk and Maryna have bitten off more than they can chew, as is often the case when dealing with Teodora.

Previous snippets are here.

I’m looking for a few beta readers for my next project, since all my regular ones are tied up on Winter of the Wolf. It’ll be a 65k prequel to the Desolate Empire Series and I’m looking for a 2-3 week turnaround. Last week’s snippet provides a small sample. It’s especially helpful to me if you haven’t read the main series, since I want to make sure I’m describing the world clearly enough. I’m happy to do a swap, too!

 

 

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34 Comments on “Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 105- Maryna

  1. Now that everything is set in motion, I hope it all goes as planned, though I have a feeling it won’t. Intriguing snippet!

  2. I was also struck by Maryna making an effort to look sad when her uncle announces her mother has been killed.

  3. Why do I have the feeling things will not go as planned? 🙂 Did she not like her family? Just wondering about the comment where she made the effort to look sad. I see others are asking too. lol

    • Things never go as planned. And she isn’t sad because her mother isn’t dead. She and her uncle are hoping to flush out a conspiracy by pretending she is. 😀

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