Written to Rix-scaedu's prompt of "the longest night of the year." I had fun with this one, honestly. And of course, given that night and shadows are some of the favorites of the dark-eyed Metadrine elves, I decided to write a little drabble with them. I do so love writing them... 136 words.
It was the highest of holy days for the dark-eyed elves, for the Metadrine of the southern woods. It was the Feast of Shadows, a celebration of the Kareni their queen, and the renewal of the Ravens’ vows to said queen. It was the day any new Kareni would be seated on the dark throne, and the coming of age for any new seriath--heirs to the throne--and the beginning of their undertaking of the challenge.
It was not a day for visitors.
But there was no other time, the visitor had assured her. Either they come to the dark throne at dusk tonight, or there would be no chance of the Kareni ever hearing their plea.
So for the first time since the wars, a human walked into the dark forest, to speak before the queen.
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August 2014 Prompt Call #3 - "Murder at the Theatre?"
Oh, I had fun with this one. Bringing back my more journalistic side from university, this is for Rix-Scaedu's prompt of "A review of a performance of the great play (insert name or proper noun here)’s Revenge where something untoward happened and there was an actual death in the performance." It's not quite a review, but likely from someone who would have been reviewing it. I hope it fits the bill, though I may be willing to write more...? Set in the Rather Large Puddle universe. 197 words.
More on this story as it is available.
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Written for Rix-scaedu's prompt of "the foundling child." This is a scene that actually takes place during the action of the novel, but from a different perspective. No one in the book is quite sure what these creatures are. Currently 201 words.
The great beast padded back to its home, walking a path none but him had walked since gods' feet were shod in earth and light. His hunt had not been normal. His kill, he dropped in the hiding place, away from the others and safe from harm, but his mind was troubled.
Was the hunt poor? The soft pitched question made his head turn. His mate came out from within the shelter, rubbing her muzzle against his. The pups are hungry.
No, hunt was fine. There is more than filling in the safe place. But still his mind was troubled.
Then why the tension? Her ears turned back as she settled to lie in front of him.
He crouched and rested beside her. There was a young one, in the woods. I found her, injured, in a tree.
A young one? Her head lifted. Ours, or...
No. A godling-child. She feared me, at first.
The godling is no fool.
But she spoke to me, as the Lady once did. His golden eyes stared into the air, lost in ages ago.
Did you leave her there?
Her kind came after her. His eyes narrow. But I will find the lost child again.
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For Rix's donation - a second prompt. This one was her prompt of "opening". Set in the world of Son of the Revolution, viewpoint: Beth. 486 words, and complete. Set prior to the book.
The sun had set, and the stars had just managed to start twinkling through the cloud-smattered sky.
Beth took a deep breath in, feeling the warm air fill her chest, and then pushed back out. Memories of bonfires – marshmallows – kisses kept out of shadow only by the embers of a dying evening – flickered through her mind.
It felt like ages ago.
It had been decades. But it felt like so much longer.
“What's on your mind, love?” The bass rumble from behind her still caught her by surprise, all these years later.
She leaned back against Vic's chest. “Just thinking about sunsets. Past life stuff.”
“Mmmm.” She didn't often talk about her living memories – since Vic's had been more years ago than he cared to number – but she didn't refuse the information if asked. “Reminiscing?”
“Something like that.” She turned to face him, raising herself up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. “Did you ever think you'd be living like this – so to speak – back when you were changed?”
“Mmm. The bar is a surprise.”
She had to laugh. She'd been a bartender in life, as well – in fact, still the bartender at this very establishment. It had been called Charlie's back then, and it'd been her first job. The owner – Charlie himself – had been a friend of her father's, and so he had let Beth bartend before she was legal to drink, since she was a “good girl with a smart head on her shoulders.” When she'd met Vic in her late twenties and been changed a few years later...well, Charlie had been her first supporter.
“I don't care what you is, child.” The older man ruffled Beth's hair, not easing the sniffles or the tears in the slightest. “You're still James' kid, and I'm still gonna help you out.”
“I'm not going to be able to work like I used to, Charlie.” The woman rubbed her eyes, feeling very much like a child again. “What am I going to do?”
“You wanna run a bar, then run a bar, Bethy.” Charlie tipped her chin, looking her in the eyes. “I'll sell you the place. Make it a...what're they called, for you nightlife folks.”
“Blood bar?”
“Yeah, but not that one. A safe place.”
“...a haven.”
“Yeah. You take this old dump and make it a haven for you and your man, and anyone you call friend. I've been lookin' to retire anyway.” He kissed her hair. “You gonna be great, Bethy. Don't care if you're a vampire or a fairy.”
So she had. She'd bought the bar, made a contract with the Red Cross, and opened up her own place.
“Just about time to open, Bethany.”
The lights came on in Alpha+ with the streetlights.
For Rix's prompt of "Arrivals". 270 words. Written in the world of A Rather Large Puddle, with all attempts at spoiling the (rather obvious) ending avoided. VPC: Jade Rivers.
She wasn't quite sure why she was nervous. It's not like she was having her parents fly in to meet her boyfriend's family or anything.
...Well, then again...
Instead of her coming home this summer, her parents had agreed to fly out to London for two weeks instead, so that they could see the city, and meet her new friends, and save her the money of flying home. She was excited – CJ had agreed to come out too, and it would be nice to have her brother around – but at the same time, she was nervous.
Her parents had never met her boyfriend. Even when he'd been in the States, it had been...well, a bit of a dance for the two of them to be around each other. And that was a story in and of itself. He hadn't been her boyfriend at the time – because that would have been a whole kettle of haddock that they hadn't touched – but now he was and now she was nervous.
So she stood, in the airport, waiting. Alone.
She hadn't wanted to be alone, but the boy had insisted that it was better if he didn't meet them at the airport. They'll be tired from the flight, he'd said. That's no time to be meeting your daughter's new beau. Let them rest, sleep off the jet lag at the hotel, and then they can meet me properly.
She'd wanted to argue. He'd had a point. She had no leg to stand on.
United Flight 3206 EWR → LON 21:20 Landed
Now it was only a matter of moments.
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Thanks to Rix's donation, here's the conclusion to the story!
(Mild spoilers for the end of the book – though that's not a hard ending to see coming)
Jade held her breath, standing up and waiting for the plane to disembark. It had been a long time since she'd seen her parents, and even longer since she'd seen CJ – though they talked on Skype often enough.
What felt like years later, people started emerging from the walkway – among them, a familiar group of faces. Jade beamed as CJ came darting toward her to give her a tight hug. “Look at you, precious little ex-pat you,” he laughed into her hair.
She giggled. “I'm not sure that works this way around, CJ. Aren't ex-pats the Brits that move to America?”
“It works because I say it works and you have a British accent now.” CJ grinned, and Jade rolled her eyes, turning to hug her mother and father as they walked up.
“Hey Mom, Dad. How was the flight?”
“Uneventful,” her father commented, kissing her hair. “It's good to see you, Jade sweetheart.” It'd been a few months since the car crash that scrambled her father's brain back in order – oddly enough – and it was good to see him out and about, and remembering people's names properly. It had taken some getting used to that her father actually did know her name.
Then again, it had taken some getting used to that CJ and her father were on sort-of speaking terms again. That had been an ancient battle hatchet partially buried, and Jade for one was happy to see it gone.
“No big plans for tonight, I hope?” her mother added, and Jade had to laugh.
“No, Mom. Allen didn't even come to the airport with me, so that we didn't overwhelm you.” She was grinning – it was so wonderful to be able to talk about Allen without feeling like she was a criminal. “I'll make sure you get to your hotel, and then you can meet Allen and the rest of the Taylors over the course of your stay.”
“Sounds good to me.” Her mother kissed her hair as well and gave her another hug. “You seem so much happier now.”
“Best I've ever felt.” Her voice was softer than she'd expected, and CJ gave her a one-armed hug. “This is the best choice I've ever made.”
“And we're all looking forward to meeting him, now that he's properly your boy,” her brother added, ruffling her hair. “You got a chance to start over. That does a person good.”
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For Rix's prompt of "an ill wind." Sent in Karantiri, this time with his Honor the Caller Meridnar - Carinth's father, during his time as Caller. 208 words.
The forests of Kalvara were quiet. The sunset caught the crystal and topaz of the Hall's construct, casting dazzling shattered fragments of light onto the marbled floor. A single candle flickered with a gust of unnoticed air – the tendrils of smoke from the remains of the evening's incense twirled up to the ceiling with innate laziness.
Meridnar was not at ease.
His Honor the Caller had served in the Hall of the Sun for decades now. He knew that within the next decade, he would choose to step down, and end the blood reign on the position. Too many Callers have died wearing the ring. His eyes traced down to Daranya, the symbol of his power, resting with hidden weight on his finger. I will not add to that chain. I will not force another one of my people – perhaps a member of my family – to that fate. I will end this cycle.
His eyes closed.
The future is not bright, but I daren't face it on my own. What comes on this turn of the fates is for the next Caller to lead, not I.
“There is a fell wind in this wood,” he said softly to himself.
This is in response to rix-scaedu's prompt of "Roses are red, violets are blue." It's written in the world of A Rather Large Puddle, from the perspective of the main character, Jade Rivers.
February snuck up on me, way before I was ready for it. I'd been talking to Maggie about my covert operation she'd dubbed Operation: Union Jade (which I found incredibly amusing) to get to London for a college interview without Allen finding out. Of course, he knew I was going to be gone for about a week in February, and that it had to do with college...but I hadn't told him where I was going.
My English teacher didn't need to know all the details, right? Right. Just my teacher. Nothing more. Not like I was conspiring with his younger sister whom I'd met only three months before to try and go to higher education in his native country. Not like we'd been secretly flirting via email for almost as long.
Nope. Nothing like that.
So when all of a sudden, Matt popped up next to me at the end of class and asked what we were doing for Valentine's Day, I honestly did a double take. “Oh God, I hadn't even thought about it. I don't know.” I turned in my chair and looked back at him. “You wanna get dinner or something?”
“Sure. I'm surprised, usually you're right on top of this.”
Well, normally since we've only been talking again for something like a week and a half, I don't think it's unreasonable to wonder if I was going to have a boyfriend for Valentine's Day anyway... I kept my snark to myself. I didn't want to burn bridges with Matt. I wanted to weather this storm until graduation...and then run away to college in London.
...God, I was a coward. Was it possible to love someone and want to run away from them and never see them again all at the same time?
“Yeah, I just...college applications and all that.” I waved it off, knowing he wouldn't question more – and he didn't. “Yeah, let's get dinner. Wanna pick me up at like...six? We can go to the Blackberry?”
“I was thinking we could hit the Cup and Crown instead.”
My eyebrows must have shot into my hairline. “Yeah, sure, if you wanna do that – that's fabulous, Matt.” He was clearly trying to win me over again. Cup and Crown was quite possibly the nicest, most swank restaurants in town.
“Okay. At six?”
“Six.” I grinned at him as he walked away. But even then, I stalled until the rest of the class had filtered out and looked up at Taylor. “Doing anything for Valentine's Day, Mr. Taylor?”
He gave me a small amused smirk. “I plan to sit in my house and watch the worst romantic comedy I can find, drowning my bachelor sorrows into a pint of sorbet.”
I grinned, rolling my eyes. “Such a girl.”
“Yes, of course. No, I shall probably treat the day like any other. I'll contact my family, make up a lesson plan, grade papers, eat dinner, and go to bed. I'm terribly boring.”
“Well, try to do something fun anyway, okay? Write a love story.” I winked; we were still sending each other short excerpts of our work in our emails, so he'd know exactly what I was insinuating.
“I'll see what I can accomplish. Have a good evening, Miss Rivers, and enjoy your holiday.”
“You too, Mr. Taylor.” I walked out, trying to ignore the cold as I pulled my coat collar tighter and drove home.
The conversation with Matt had left me mildly confused, but I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to have a nice dinner with my still-boyfriend at a fancy restaurant. I'd almost made it into my house and all the way up the stairs before my mother's voice stopped me. “Jade sweetheart?”
I stopped. “Yeah?”
“A package came for you.”
I frowned and walked back down to the foot of the stairs, where my mother was waiting with a long box. “A package? From who?”
“A florist. I assume it's from Matt.”
The frown just got deeper. “But...okay, thanks.” I took the box and darted back up to my room. If Matt's taking me to dinner, there's no way he had flowers delivered too. That's ridiculous. As I fired up my computer, I opened the box.
Inside was a note and a single white rose. I smiled at the flower – I'd always liked white better than red – but it was the note that really make me grin.
Roses are red,
Well, this one is white
I'm dreadful at rhyming
So forgive me tonight.
It's a poor excuse for a Valentine's Day gift, but it is the best I can do.
(And forgive my poetry – it is not my genre.)
-A.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
I had to make this choice before I left, didn't I?
