Greetings and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide range of genres share from their work in excerpts of ten sentences or less. I’m continuing to share from Snow, a reimagined fairy tale inspired by the tale of Snow White. My Snow is in fact Prince Gabriel, who is currently stuck on a hunt with his brother the king and a pack of aristocrats. It is a gloomy day on the edge of the gloomy black forest, and although they are tracking a stag, they might flush out something rather unexpected instead.

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Mud up to his ankles, prickly evergreen branches scraping his cheek, rain trickling down his neck—normally Gabriel would have been as content as a fox in its den—but normally, a crowd of armed men wouldn’t accompany him into the woods. He’d be alone, studying the varying cries of whippoorwills, or examining a patch of freshly sprouted mushrooms. There wouldn’t be trumpets blowing, weapons rattling, and flasks of brandy being passed around between grumbling, grouchy nobility and their equally grouchy servants.

Behind him, Tempest snorted, blowing warm breath into his ear. He reached back and patted the horse on the neck. Tempest wasn’t a horse for sneaking through the undergrowth, not that there was much sneaking going on.  Tempest tossed his cinnamon-colored head and snorted again, stepping backward as if startled.  Gabriel stroked his silky black mane and whispered, “Patience.”

He’d dismounted in order watch Falkner and two of his men inspect a thicket of broken tree limbs.  To Gabriel’s practiced eye, the woven branches and deeply dug hole indicated a sort of intelligence, or advanced instinct, like an elaborate bird’s nest.

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Blurb-in-progress for Snow, a reimagined fairy tale:

Following the death of his mother the Queen, Prince Gabriel is called home by his brother, now King. Gabriel hopes for a reconciliation with his estranged brother, but all is not well at Castle Rosenthal. King Tristan has fallen under the sway of a scheming alchemist, the magical denizens of the bordering Black Forest are on the move, and Gabriel begins to fear for his life. Is the handsome huntsman in on a plot to assassinate him, or is there an even darker, more evil force afoot? A forced flight into the Black Forest may expose ancient powers at work, if Gabriel can survive long enough to uncover them.

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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