Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in short excerpts of ten, or maybe a few more lines.

I’m sharing from my current WIP, tentatively titled Snow, a romantic gay fantasy inspired by the classic tale of Snow White. In this scene, our hero, Prince Gabriel, is meeting the mysterious Lady Baltan for the first time. As many of you have picked up on, there’s more to the Lady than meets the eye. You can read last weeks’s snippet here, if you like.

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“I’m afraid I have nowhere else to go.  My husband’s brother—” Lady Baltan broke off and looked over her shoulder toward the window.  Her pale cheeks turned rosy. Gabriel couldn’t tell if it was the blush of anger or embarrassment, for her features remained placid.

“No need to explain yourself to me. You’re my brother’s guest and therefore mine as well.”

“Thank you, Prince Gabriel. I have no desire to burden you with my petty woes on the very day of your return.  Clearly, you’ve come to your mother’s rooms for a moment of privacy, so I will leave you to it.” She curtsied again and moved to the door, book still clutched tightly to her body.  

That’s the official ten. Here’s a bit more of the scene:

Gabriel couldn’t help himself.

“Do you enjoy poetry, Lady Baltan?” he asked.

“Why, yes. I….oh, I see.” She laughed, a pleasant trill that did not reach her eyes. She looked down at the book in her arms as if she’d forgotten she held it. “I hadn’t meant to take it, just to read a few passages to calm my nerves.” She held out the book in both hands as she walked toward him. “I’d much rather spend my time in a book than surrounded by so many important lords and ladies. That must strike you as very silly.”  She glanced up at him from beneath dark lashes, and Gabriel was struck by how youthful her face appeared, with a smattering of faint freckles across her nose, and how old her eyes. Dark eyes, heavy with knowledge.

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Blurb in progress for Snow:

Following the death of his mother the Queen, Prince Gabriel returns home for the first time in three years, hoping for a reconciliation with his estranged brother, the new king, but all is not well at Castle Rosenthal. King Tristan has fallen under the sway of a mysterious noble woman with a dark past, and all along the border of the Black Forest, magical denizens are on the move. 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 power afoot? A forced flight into the Black Forest may expose ancient magic at work, if Gabriel can survive long enough to uncover it.

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