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 sharing some snippets from the first book in my Elemental Magicae series, A Dance of Water and Air, this month. In A Dance of Water and Air, Edmund is a demisexual prince with an Affinity for Water magic, who is told by his father the king that he must marry the queen of a neighboring country. He makes the long journey there, only to find himself ignored and alone and confused by the undercurrents at this new court, but he does strike up a friendship—and end up falling in love with—the queen's brother, Arden. Then Edmund is blamed for an attempt on the queen's life and thrown in the dungeon. Arden helps him escape, and the two run, hoping to uncover whatever plot is threatening them and their countries...and to find a way to be together. I skipped ahead just slightly from last week's snippet to Edmund's meeting with his father. This snippet is longer than it should be, but I thought it was necessary.
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 sharing some snippets from the first book in my Elemental Magicae series, A Dance of Water and Air, this month. In A Dance of Water and Air, Edmund is a demisexual prince with an Affinity for Water magic, who is told by his father the king that he must marry the queen of a neighboring country. He makes the long journey there, only to find himself ignored and alone and confused by the undercurrents at this new court, but he does strike up a friendship—and end up falling in love with—the queen's brother, Arden. Then Edmund is blamed for an attempt on the queen's life and thrown in the dungeon. Arden helps him escape, and the two run, hoping to uncover whatever plot is threatening them and their countries...and to find a way to be together. I skipped ahead just slightly from last week's snippet to Edmund's meeting with his father. This snippet is longer than it should be, but I thought it was necessary.
“As you know, we’ve been pursuing an alliance with Aither,” Father said.
And, of course, Edmund did know, though he hadn’t been involved in the negotiations. Aither sat at their western border. Theirs was generally a friendly border to begin with, trade flowing freely between the two countries, but Father and his council had hoped that the looming threat of Tycen’s aggression might worry Aither’s young queen as much as it had them and would tempt her into an alliance. Edmund hadn’t been informed about the state of the negotiations in some time. Had they gone horribly wrong?
“We’ve come to an agreement with Queen Hollis.”
“You—” Edmund stopped. He’d been so sure Father was going to say just the opposite that he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “That’s wonderful, Father. Did the final agreement go as you’d hoped?”
“We got what we needed from it.”
“Good.” And yet the relief Edmund should’ve been feeling didn’t come. Father didn’t look as if he’d just concluded a successful negotiation, didn’t look as if he was pleased by the outcome. Or...no, not as if he was displeased, but too serious. “Is something wrong?”
“Not at all. However, the promises of increased trade and mutual protection were not enough on their own to secure the alliance we needed.”
Edmund wasn’t surprised, though he hadn’t been privy to the particulars of what Father wanted, aside from Aither standing with them should Tycen press their aggression. “What did they ask for?”
“Queen Hollis and her advisors required more assurance of our compliance, and truth be told, I wasn’t upset to have more of theirs. They’re Air wielders, so they’re different from us, but Water and Air are compatible. Even if I would have preferred an alliance with no deeper entanglements.”
“Father?” A rush of cold spread through Edmund’s veins.
“You and Queen Hollis will wed with the expectation of a child being born within two years. The alliance will be secured by blood and all the stronger for it.”
And, of course, Edmund did know, though he hadn’t been involved in the negotiations. Aither sat at their western border. Theirs was generally a friendly border to begin with, trade flowing freely between the two countries, but Father and his council had hoped that the looming threat of Tycen’s aggression might worry Aither’s young queen as much as it had them and would tempt her into an alliance. Edmund hadn’t been informed about the state of the negotiations in some time. Had they gone horribly wrong?
“We’ve come to an agreement with Queen Hollis.”
“You—” Edmund stopped. He’d been so sure Father was going to say just the opposite that he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “That’s wonderful, Father. Did the final agreement go as you’d hoped?”
“We got what we needed from it.”
“Good.” And yet the relief Edmund should’ve been feeling didn’t come. Father didn’t look as if he’d just concluded a successful negotiation, didn’t look as if he was pleased by the outcome. Or...no, not as if he was displeased, but too serious. “Is something wrong?”
“Not at all. However, the promises of increased trade and mutual protection were not enough on their own to secure the alliance we needed.”
Edmund wasn’t surprised, though he hadn’t been privy to the particulars of what Father wanted, aside from Aither standing with them should Tycen press their aggression. “What did they ask for?”
“Queen Hollis and her advisors required more assurance of our compliance, and truth be told, I wasn’t upset to have more of theirs. They’re Air wielders, so they’re different from us, but Water and Air are compatible. Even if I would have preferred an alliance with no deeper entanglements.”
“Father?” A rush of cold spread through Edmund’s veins.
“You and Queen Hollis will wed with the expectation of a child being born within two years. The alliance will be secured by blood and all the stronger for it.”
You can find more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for reading today!
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