It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets! The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+
I'm a little late posting a Rainbow Snippet this weekend, but I didn't wanted to miss. Today's snippet is from The Artist's Masquerade. In The Artist's Masquerade, Flavian is an artist on the run from his home country disguised as a companion to his friend Velia. She has come to Tournai to marry the son of a royal duke, Cathal, in an arranged marriage. Flavian assumes he'll disappear once they arrive, but things don't go quite as he imagined, especially with regard to Cathal. This is Flavian's first sight of Cathal as they arrive in Tournai. (I went over six sentences—sorry!)
The man was Umber, duke and father of the man Velia was to marry. Which probably made the other man his son, Cathal, Velia’s betrothed.
And so it was. The duke motioned, and the younger man stepped up beside him. The duke introduced him, but Flavian hardly heard any of it. He was too busy looking at Cathal. He was tall. Very tall. Without these stupid heeled shoes, Flavian probably would barely stand as high as his shoulder. Deliciously broad shoulders. In fact, Cathal’s whole bodyseemed well muscled, thick but not bulky. Flavian could only imagine the lines of those muscles hiding under his fine clothing. The thought made him yearn for a sketchbook or, better, a canvas and paints. He could see the lines of those muscles taking shape on the page...but he would never paint them. He couldn’t even let himself think of painting them.
The rest of Lord Cathal was just as nice. His hair was dark and thick and wavy, well ordered at the moment, but Flavian wondered if that was always true. It had the look of hair with a mind of its own. Cathal’s features were chiseled and quite handsome but set in serious lines. There was an easily identified resemblance to his father, but despite its seriousness, Cathal’s expression seemed to have less rigidity than his father’s. And his eyes...
Flavian nearly jumped to find himself the focus of Lord Cathal’s unusual gold eyes. Flavian had been so engrossed in studying the man that he must have missed the formal introductions making it around to him.
And so it was. The duke motioned, and the younger man stepped up beside him. The duke introduced him, but Flavian hardly heard any of it. He was too busy looking at Cathal. He was tall. Very tall. Without these stupid heeled shoes, Flavian probably would barely stand as high as his shoulder. Deliciously broad shoulders. In fact, Cathal’s whole bodyseemed well muscled, thick but not bulky. Flavian could only imagine the lines of those muscles hiding under his fine clothing. The thought made him yearn for a sketchbook or, better, a canvas and paints. He could see the lines of those muscles taking shape on the page...but he would never paint them. He couldn’t even let himself think of painting them.
The rest of Lord Cathal was just as nice. His hair was dark and thick and wavy, well ordered at the moment, but Flavian wondered if that was always true. It had the look of hair with a mind of its own. Cathal’s features were chiseled and quite handsome but set in serious lines. There was an easily identified resemblance to his father, but despite its seriousness, Cathal’s expression seemed to have less rigidity than his father’s. And his eyes...
Flavian nearly jumped to find himself the focus of Lord Cathal’s unusual gold eyes. Flavian had been so engrossed in studying the man that he must have missed the formal introductions making it around to him.
You can find out more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're all staying safe and healthy!
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