Hello there, and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. WWW is a blog hop where a bunch of writers share excerpts of ten sentences or less from a wide variety of genres. It’s like the sampler option at your local brew pub; you get to try a little taste of everything.
I’ve been sharing from my current work-in-progress, which is a reimagined fairy tale. In the first chapter, Prince Gabriel and his manservant Webster are returning to Gabriel’s home along a forest road. Webster, castle born and bred, is having some trouble with his mount. You can read last week’s snippet here.
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“You there,” Gabriel pointed at Webster’s horse in his most princely manner, “You must always stay three yards behind Tempest here, who is your superior. Do you understand?”
The horse, a rather skittish young chestnut, tossed its head, snorted, and took three steps back.
Webster shook his head. “I swear they do understand you, my lord.”
“They understand a commanding presence,” Gabriel said, and looked at man and horse sternly. “You must not be so polite to your mount.”
“I’ve actually been quite short with him on occasion, but it makes no difference. I’m not cut out to be a horseman, your lordship.”
“That much is clear.”
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Well, this is much fancier than anything Gabriel would be caught dead in, but I love the artist. Ivan Bilibin. Image in public domain.
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Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in excerpts of ten sentences or less. Click the link to check out the other writers participating today. It’s a great way to discover your next favorite book!
Alexis Duran 
Webster may not be cutout to be a horseman, but I don’t think he has any choice at this point. Nice snippet!
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It’s true. Horses, like dogs, can sense whether a person is comfortably in control of them.
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Ha! Love this, especially that last line. 🙂
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What a kick! And the agitated horse may just up end the young man
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I don’t think his servant is ever going to be an accomplished rider but as long as he gets to the destination in one piece! Enjoyed the snippet…
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Ha! At least he’s honest? 😀
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Yup, you’ve gotta show them who’s boss. Glad Webster is not offended.
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LOL at Webster. Poor guy. You bet that horse knows who’s boss. Not Webster. This story is so interesting.
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Horses are smarter than some people give them credit for. Especially people that aren’t cut out to be horsemen!
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Fun scene, Alexis. Careful who you give rules and orders to , my prince- they may just bite you in the butt.
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I’m not much of a horseman either. 🙂 I had one decide to roll in the sand. Good thing I jumped off before he did. 🙂
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Haha… That much IS clear.
Wonderful work on the dialogue. It all works. I could hear his princely voice in the words you chose for him to speak. 🙂
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