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+
This week, I'm sharing a snippet from A Dance of Water and Air, the first book in the Elemental Magicae series. In this book, Prince Edmund must make an alliance marriage with Hollis, queen of the neighboring kingdom. But he and Hollis's brother, Prince Arden, find themselves growing closer instead. Then, Edmund is accused of trying to kill the queen. Arden helps him escape, and they flee, hoping to clear Edmund's name and save both of their kingdom—and find a way to be together. This is Arden's first sight of Edmund when he arrives in the throne room to be presented to Hollis. (I went a little over the sentence count—sorry!—but I thought it was necessary.)
The tall doors, polished wood with silver and gold set in a fluid pattern over the entire surface, were pulled open, and Prince Edmund stepped through.
Arden hadn’t expected the punch of instant attraction and didn’t much care for it. He had certainly been attracted to people before and had a couple of discreet liaisons when he’d found a potential lover he could trust, but he’d seldom felt an attraction so sudden and visceral, one that had him wondering what it would be like if he dragged Edmund off to bed.
But this was his sister’s intended—for an alliance marriage that was meant to secure the safety of their kingdom.
Still, Arden understood his own reaction. Edmund was breathtaking. He had light brown skin and shining dark brown hair that waved around his face. He was tall, with broad, strong shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist and hips and long legs. The heavily embroidered silk jacket and slim pants he wore—obviously in the style of the Thalassan court—showed off his body to its best advantage. He carried himself as the prince he was. No uncertainty, no unnecessary deference in his posture, even as he walked into a foreign court very nearly alone, and Arden respected him for it.