I am so excited!! For the first time, I had two linker's {I know we all know it is not a word, but we all use it so why don't we just add it to the dictionary already, eh?} last week!! And I owe you all an apology for getting this up so late this week... no excuse. I just couldn't get on. :P I guess it is a double good reason this is now open Thursdays too, eh?
This week I am pretty thrilled to be sharing a favorite part of the first book in my Trilogy. It is a scene between one of my two protagonist's and her literal owner. She is a slave. And she has an important message for him. You can see the results below and guess at what is to come... ;) This scene is actually in the works right now, so this is NOT how it will end up. But I'm going to share it like this anyhow, because it's still fun and shows a bit more of my story, an angle you have never seen before. I probably should create a better blurb for this Trilogy than what I have on the About My Novel's page, but I'm not sure how without giving away too much...
Well, anyway, I hope you all enjoy! Let me know what you think of the feeling and how you relate to Merrie.
Setting:
the tablinum {a Roman Senator's study}
the scent of scrolls and ink and sweat
fear
a message that must be delivered
Word count: 579 {yes, I am breaking my own rule, because this section just had to go together...}
Ó Pure Grace
“He is dangerous today, Merrie,” Jarius
shook his head.
“He is always dangerous,” she whispered.
“There is an oratory to be delivered to
the Senate that is irking him. He’s shouted at three slaves this hour. I can’t
let you in there. He’ll shred you.”
Merrie smiled. “It doesn’t matter,
Jarius. Whether it is now or later, I must speak to him. I’d rather it be now.”
“Very well,” Jarius sighed. “You take
your own risk.”
“Aye,” Merrie nodded, mixed elation and
dread settling around her shoulders. “I usually do.”
Jarius cleared his throat and went to
the door, Merrie stepping behind him. The heady smell of parchment, wine, and
sweat filled the tablinum.
“The slave Merrie to see you,
Excellence,” Jarius spoke into the chest filled room, and then stepped aside,
leaving Merrie vulnerable and slight in the doorway.
Heartbeat thrashing, she took one step
forward and chewed at her bottom lip, waiting what seemed a lifetime for
Antistius to look up. His stern brow, bent over a length of parchment scrawled
with little black words, worked fear into her like she had never known. For
seven years, she had avoided this man. And now, of her own choice, here she
stood before him. The frown etched deep in the creases of his face flickered up
to her, washing her in disapproval, and he scratched at the parchment with his
stylus.
“What is it,” he snapped.
Merrie cracked her lips open,
dry-mouthed and petrified. It felt like she had swallowed her tongue. A lump the
size of a goose’s egg throbbed in her throat, choking her. “My lord, I have–”
Merrie sucked in her breath, trying to speak. Fear churned in her belly and the
little courage she had mustered slipped between her fingers like water.
“Well,” the Senator’s face cringed with forbidding
impatience and he turned back to his oratory.
“I have reason to believe Claudia is in
danger, master,” Merrie blurted out, again hating her tactlessness. She had
never been blessed with a way with words. She hadn’t needed one. She told the
truth, spoke with love, and that was all that had mattered. Now she felt
handicapped. It took more than the truth to get around Antistius, Julia, and
Claudia.
“Oh, really?” Antistius frowned at his
page, ink dripping from his stylus tip onto the table, unheeded. His scowl
deepened and he shoved a foot into the floor, hard. Irritation flashed over him
and smacked Merrie in the face. She rushed on.
“I–I accidentally overheard a
conversation my lord Publius had in the garden with Gauis Baculaius. They are
planning on kidnapping her five days from now and forcing her to wed Gauis!”
The Senator jerked a new parchment from
a stack at the top of the table and slapped it on top of the last one. “What
absurdity!”
“It is no tale, my lord! It is truth.”
Antistius’s last fading benevolence
vanished. “This is an endless outrage! How do they expect me to craft such a
speech?” He glanced up at Merrie, brows glowering. “Are you still here, girl!”
he screamed. “What do you want?”
Merrie gasped, folding her hands in
pleading. “Please, will you not help her?”
“I have enough to do without listening
to you weep and simper.” Antistius stood up, abruptly. Merrie shrank back,
dragging her eyes to the floor as his dark gaze traveled over her. “Get out. I
will waste no more time on your petty grievances.”
Post a selection from your current WIP no larger than 500 words to your blog.
If there is a prompt, make sure your section fits the requirements.
Add the Once Upon a Time... linkup button:
Connect your link using the linkup button on Wednesday or Thursday!
And voila, you are done! Don't forget to visit the other blogs and drop a line.
Oooooh dearie me, that scene CANNOT bode well! Still, I like your presentation of Merrie there - plucky wee lass, but not overwrought Strong Female Character type. Very well done :)
ReplyDeleteAck. Why is it that no one listens to slaves? Seriously. They have their heads screwed on actually, Mr. Antistius. Nice snippet! :) And linkers is definitely a word! (I totally created it when I hosted SOC...:P)
ReplyDelete