Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 53- Braeden
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.
Barreling forward through Rise of the Storm here. By the time Braeden and Teodora have reached her capital, it’s besieged by a force that’s too big to take on with the numbers they have. Teodora lobbies a fellow ruler for help, but while she waits, she has a job for Braeden. Â She wants to send him to the besiegers home territory so he can destroy his supporter’s estates. Not Braeden’s favorite kind of work.
“I’m not asking you to kill peasants and townspeople, although if they get in your way, no one will fault you,” Teodora said.
“Most will die if their homes and crops are destroyed,” Braeden ventured.
“Not my concern.” She shrugged. “The aristocracy is responsible for its actions and the people on their lands should hold them accountable.” She sat up and looked straight at him. “You don’t believe me, but I’m well acquainted with your type, Terris. Once, I was like you, and had definite ideas about how good soldiers behave. I don’t have the luxury of those ideas anymore.”
I think there’s a slight possibility that Teodora is in fact a human being, but don’t hold your breath.
Previous snippets are here.
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Nice micro-tension in this passage. You’ve done a great job of showing the conflicting belief sets of these two people, and how Teodora tries to use her own scruples, if such they really were, to convince him to abandon his. I hope he sticks to his guns, so to speak, but truly, a soldier can’t afford fine feelings.
Thanks, Ed! Teodora really did have scruples at one time, but she also believes she just can’t afford them anymore. Braeden more or less believes the same thing, but tries to hold on to at least some basic decency.
Nicely done Christina! I really admire how you slip in the little bits that make us feel for Teodora. Leading in a world like that would never be easy.
Thank you! I have a big ol’ soft spot for Teodora. She honestly believes she’s acting for the greater good, even though she can be short-sighted and power-hungry as well.
Collateral damage. Inevitable, but…
Powerful words, and a powerful scene. Great work, Christina!
Fight to the finish. She’s a tough cookie and has to be. There’s a great conflict here.
In many ways, she’s the right person for the job. Now if only she weren’t so bad. 🙂
Your dialogue is so smartly-written, Christina. You put the reader right there in the moment. Well done! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
Great scene. Braeden really has to be tough to stand by his principles against such a powerful leader.
I’m not sure what to think about Teodora.
I like the way you’re giving us glimpses of how Teodora evolved as a person and a ruler. Well done excerpt!
Thank you! She has an interesting backstory that I hope I can explore someday.
Well, sounds like Teodora has had quite a ride in her time as ruler, to no longer afford luxuries like worrying about who gets killed. Will Braeden be able to rub off on her? Or will he have to become more like her to get through this? Nice job showing layers of character here. Great snippet!
Thank you! This partnership will go bad before too long. 🙂
What the heck are peasants supposed to do about their lord’s decisions? I think she’s just focused on where she can do the most damage–and doesn’t care about the little people who get stuck between warring nobles.
Yeah, if she didn’t already know how Braeden feels about the little people, their suffering probably wouldn’t even have crossed her mind.
The very best characters, to my mind, are those who truly believe in what they’re doing, even if it’s wrong, and even if they know it is.
I love that Teodora has viable reasons for her position, as unsavory and downright dangerous for some innocent folks as it may be…
And that Braeden stands for the powerless, even while he understands her position and its necessity.
Nit an easy position for either of them to be in….
It seems to me that a lot of people who do bad things either don’t really think they are, or can find all kinds of reasonable-sounding justification for it. And even though Braeden deplores her methods, he does understand that she might need extreme measures to get out of her difficult situation.
Ooh, Teodora, so malicious. Love her personality, not necessarily her intentions, but just the boldness of it and the strength in her character.
Yes, she does have some admirable traits- now if only she could use them for a good cause!