Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 139- Devyn

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.

I’ll continue from last week’s snippet and the conversation Devyn is having with his older sister, Maryna. He’s just brought her a letter from their uncle, King Arrryk. Edited to fit with considerable abuse of punctuation.

Last week ended with: “I don’t kiss them,” Devyn protested. “Usually.” He continues:

“My heart belongs to—”

“Stop that,” Maryna’s voice sharpened, though her face remained sweet as ever, “you know that will never work out.”

Devyn swallowed down the anger rising in his chest, but he didn’t want to argue about this again; he handed her the pouch saying,  “Thought we should read it together.”

“You’re right, and thank you for bringing it,” Maryna said as she broke the seal over the clasp of the heavy leather pouch, pulled out the papers wrapped in a waxy, waterproof sheet, and started reading.

Devyn forced himself to be patient, though he knew he wouldn’t have to wait long; Maryna had always been a fast reader.

“It’s as we feared,” she said, putting the letter down after quickly scanning it, “The ruling council has run Uncle Arryk out of Arenberg.”

“How dare they!” Devyn had met many of the council members during his stay in Arenberg several years before, and he’d never seen a more obsequious bunch; clearly, they’d been biding their time. “What was their reasoning? Not that it matters.”

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35 Comments on “Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 139- Devyn

    • Yes, poor Arryk has to pull double-king duty. He starts out as Christian IV of Denmark, who entered the 30 Years War briefly, but slunk off after a terrible defeat. He went on to become one of Denmark’s great kings.

      Arryk unfortunately, also has to be Charles I of England, who will ultimately meet a sticky end. I had to take him out of the main story so he could go home and cause political instability that would lead to a civil war.

      Arryk will get a very limited POV in this book, which focuses on Devyn and Carina, a new character who’ll represent the rebel side.

  1. I had to look up “obsequious.” I’m not sure how that applies to the council’s decision. They were obeying orders from someone controlling them?

    • He’s referring to how some council members behaved a few years before. It was shortly after the king had several of them executed, so they were making a big show of compliance. Since Devyn’s been gone, they’ve become more rebellious. 😀

  2. Politics and Religion. Yuck. Guaranteed to raise people’s ire and blood pressure. That letter is sure to raise all kinds of questions, esp. how it will affect Maryna and Devyn. Good job.

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