Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. I’m going to keep this intro short, because WordPress is behaving badly and I don’t want to end up throwing my computer out the window, which would be cathartic but ultimately unhelpful. Also appears that I can’t upload photos or even the WWW logo. Sigh… (Update: it appeared magically in the night!)

I’m continuing to share from my work in progress, a romantic gay fantasy inspired by the tale of Snow White. Last week, Gabriel took his seat in the great hall next to his uncle Aldous and they exchanged pleasantries. In this snippet, Aldous speaks first.

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“Well, we can’t all be called into Astrid’s starry realm like your dear mother, may the gods protect her soul.  Someone has to keep an eye on your brother.  Tell me, how is Lord Craigmoor? Shame he couldn’t join you on your journey.”  Aldous swilled his wine and Gabriel did the same. The sight of the crowded hall played havoc with his nerves.  He could well understand why Lady Baltan had sought refuge in poetry, in his mother’s still and peaceful rooms.  And where was the lady, Gabriel wondered as he scanned the room?

Returning his attention to his wizened uncle, he said, “Lord Craigmoor is quite well but could not leave so suddenly. We’d only just returned from Locklair when the king’s summons reached me.  I set out at once, with Lord Craigmoor’s letter in support of Tristan in my pack.”

“Hmmm, well, that’s good news at least.  I’ve heard there’s been trouble from the forest up north. I heard—”

Whatever rumors Aldous had heard had to wait, because at that moment the king entered the hall.

***

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.