Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 110- Maryna
It’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.
From Winter of the Wolf: Kendryk and Gwynneth’s daughter Maryna has traveled to her uncle’s kingdom in an attempt to flush out Teodora’s plot against him. After being crowned heir to the kingdom, Maryna is attacked by an assassin who sneaks into her room late at night. For some reason, the guards outside her room can’t get in. Fortunately, Natalya gave Maryna a knife. Slightly edited from the published version.
Her guards were breaking down the door, and she prayed they’d be inside soon; in the meantime she had to stay alive.
Maryna saw a dark bundle on her bed, and launched herself onto it, knife first. She gritted her teeth as the short blade plunged into soft flesh, followed by a scream.
She yanked it out and plunged it into another spot, but the body under her reared up, throwing her onto the bed.
Now they sat on top of her, but Maryna still held her knife. She needed to kill this person before they killed her.
She gripped the knife and pulled back, hoping she could hit a soft spot. But then she felt something cold against her throat and a low voice in her ear. “Goodbye, Princess.”
Maryna screamed as the blade bit into her skin.
Coming November 18, though the paperback is already available!
When all hope is lost, who will raise the banner of light?
War grinds on, spreading its shadow over all the land. In the wake of his overwhelming victory, King Lennart marches on the Empress Teodora, helpless and undefended in her capital. Though battered, Teodora is far from defeated, setting in motion a new plot which threatens to annihilate all of Lennart’s allies.
Unaware of the peril about to overtake him, Kendryk is torn between duty to his family and to his cause. While he struggles to recover from his loss, Anton joins Kendryk in his quest, but will be sent down another, more dangerous path.
Gwynneth survived an attack by Teodora’s most unrelenting assassin, but she will soon face a test that threatens to destroy her.
Maryna, the heir to Terragand, travels to faraway lands hoping to provoke a confrontation with Teodora, but her journey takes an unexpectedly deadly turn.
Her ambitions magnified at the prospect of her mother’s downfall, Elektra must decide if she’s willing to pay the price needed to fulfill her destiny.
And even as Braeden triumphs over an enemy who has long threatened him, his next steps take him down a path that will lead to tragedy.
Faith and friendship are tested, alliances shattered, and a new generation rises in Winter of the Wolf, book four in the Desolate Empire series.
by 
NO!!
If it makes you feel better, this takes place early in the book, a little too soon to kill off a main character. 😉
Uh oh! I think she got the wrong person. I hope the guards can get in there in time. Or maybe she’s quick enough to react and get away. Intense snippet! 🙂
Nope, Maryna is very much the assassin’s target. Hence the guards- for all the good they’re doing right now.
Wow. Great choice of snippet! I’m wondering what kind of damage Maryna did when she struck at whoever was in the bed. Did she even hit a person? Of course, I’m also wondering what happens to Maryna next. Great hook.
It wasn’t enough damage to stop her attacker, but might have slowed them down enough to give the guards enough time.
Talk about a cliff hanger! Geez, Christina! Need to know what happened!
MAYBE you’ll find out next week. 😉
What a cliffhanger! But I’m betting Maryna’s resourceful enough to get out of this. She’s still got a knife and apparently knows how to use it. Great snip!
Thank you! Yes, she’s a lot tougher than she looks, like her mother.
You have perfected the cliffhanger snippet. No wonder I’m such a frazzled mess when I read your books!
Oh, that is a compliment by the way. I can’t tell you how many times I get bored during the big climactic scenes at the end of books. That never happens with yours.
Aw, thanks! It probably helps that I’m a frazzled mess too, so I aim to share that experience with my readers. 🙂 That being said, I’m worried that the big climactic scenes in this book happen in the middle, so keeping the tension high through the rest was a challenge.
I do cackle to myself quite a bit while writing some scenes. 🙂
Well that was dramatic and I admire her courage! Excellent excerpt…
Thank you! She’s only 13, but she’s already faced some tough challenges in her life, so she’s not going down without a fight.
Intense tease! Latches on and doesn’t let go.
Thank you!
Wow – a great cliffhanger!
Love that she’s just thirteen yet tough and ready to face the world. You write so well , the scene comes alive.
Thank you Charmaine! Her parents have made a lot of enemies, so she’s used to scary situations.
ACK!! A cliffhanger supreme!! Sure, I might figure she’ll have to survive, being the MC and all, but still I’m so anxious!! Excellent tension/action here.
I do have a tendency to kill MC’s, which makes readers anxious. 🙂
Great scene! And I agree, you left us on the cliff!
History Sleuth’s Mysteries
Wow! Talk about a tense moment! Plucky heroine? Damsel in distress? I’m intrigued.
She’s a little of both. 🙂
You know, I’ve always stumbled over her name when I was reading. Just how DO you say it?
Pronounced same as Marina (which I just realized was the name of my MC in my first novel, written at 15!) In my books, the “y” substitutes for the “ee” sound.
Good action and a very tense ending.
Thank you!
Good thing she had that knife. Lots of action. Great snippet. Nit-picky point: you use “they” to describe the attacker. More than 1 person? Just a bit confusing.
I used “they” because at this moment, the gender of the attacker is unclear. In the next few sentences it will turn out to be a she.
Sounds like she didn’t get the knife in an important enough place, too bad. Things are looking grim, but you never know…
Help is on the way- but they’d better hurry!
Oh! I just got past this yesterday! So good! I’m still paranoid… but now for someone else! *bites nails crazily* Such a great book! I’m loving it!
Glad you’re enjoying! My aim is to keep you paranoid throughout. 🙂
A very intense snippet, with lots of action. Great work.
Wow, no way does it sound like she’s getting out of this alive…which means, great hook!
Oh NOOOOO! That’s a bad cliffhanger!
I have this book now. No reading time until the first of the year. ~sigh~
See, now you have something fun to worry about for the next few weeks! 😀