Well, it took a few weeks...but I finally hit it! I know it seems trivial, and maybe it kind of is, but still. I said I would, so here is a segment from one of the short stories that will be released in the early fall!
This is a short story that centers around one of the secondary characters, Yaretzi. The story is "meant" to be read between books 2 and 3, but really can be read any time as it gives background or extra, information on the characters and world.
Blue Seas
Slap, slap, slap.
Yaretzi’s scandals slapped the
stone beneath her feet with every step. Her hair had been swept back into an
intricate braid that had taken her only half a bell. Most women would have
needed half the morning for such an elaborate design. But growing up in a royal
household had helped her, even if she didn’t feel that way often. If she chose
her footfalls would be silent; but not this day.
Slap, slap, slap.
She had woken early. Risen with the
sun in fact; like she had every day before during her trial period. Today would
be different. Today she would receive her marks. The swirling marks that all
members of her tribe bore—all the adult members anyway. Her task had been
fairly simple, diving to the bottom of the lagoon to retrieve a rare sea plant.
An affair only witnessed by the elders.
Slap, slap, slap.
Yaretzi’s chambers were far from
where the ritual would be held. Though she had left plenty of time before she
was required to arrive, her strides carried her swiftly through the hall. The
thin, white fabric of her dress fanned out behind her in her wake. None of the
servants or people in the halls approached her. She could have that effect on
people. All except two it seemed. Footsteps echoed her own, approaching fast.
A hand rested on her shoulder for a
moment before she grabbed the attached arm. Twisting mercilessly, she forced
the person against the wall.
“Easy!” The voice came out muffled
from the white-haired man shoved against the white stone.
Yaretzi growled in her throat and
released the man. Backing up a few steps, she placed her hands on her hips.
“What do you want, Chimalli?”
“I came to walk with you.” He
rubbed at his wrists and arm. “Where did you learn that?”
She quirked an eyebrow. “I have my
secrets.” Turning, she resumed her journey.
“Hey!” Yaretzi didn’t stop for him.
She didn’t have time for his antics. Unfortunately his long-legged strides
overtook her, and soon he was matching her pace.
Under the cover of her lashes she
looked him over. He looked like he had gotten dressed in a rush. As part of the
elite warriors of their people he didn’t have to be awake at a certain time.
She had heard the rumor; he loved drinking and the company of beautiful women.
Half his head was shaved to display the black swirling patterns of his own
marks earned almost a year past. Chimalli was always trying to talk to her,
though she wanted nothing to do with him once they became adolescents.
It was one thing to have close male
friends as a child, but as not only an adult, but the future Chieftess? That
was not acceptable. Besides, a smile crept across her lips, he didn’t want to
be just friends with her anymore. Her hips may have swung out a little more at
the thought. If she desired, she could use that; for what she wasn’t sure, but
she could think of something. His voice interrupted her musings.
“…excruciating. Your mother may
have them give you something for it while the elder finishes.” He paused and
gathered more air. “Hopefully he doesn’t choose your face. That would be a shame.”
Yaretzi silently agreed. There had
been a girl two years back that had gotten hers across her cheek and brow bone.
She had cried when the looking glass was held for her before promptly fainting.
Inside her stomach turned, but Yaretzi didn’t show it. Somewhere on the edge of
her mind Chimalli was still talking, and she let him continue. It helped to
keep the other people milling about away.
They neared the small hallway that
would take her the rest of the way. Coming to an abrupt halt, she forced Chimalli
to face her.
“I am continuing on alone.” His
blue eyes were darker than the other Insulons. She could see herself reflected
in them, right down to her purple eyes. “They are waiting for me.” Without
another word, she shifted and strode down the hallway. This time he didn’t
follow her, and she moved undisturbed on silent feet.
This was not a place that one went
loudly through. This was for reverent silence. On both sides stood statues of
the leaders of her people, forever captured in stone. The newest would be at
the end of the hall, and though she knew what waited for her, her breath caught
in her throat when she saw them.
The carver had truly been a master
of the craft. Captured in perfect detail, her brother and father stood staring
down at her with soft expressions. Traditionally it was only the Chief or
Chieftess remembered for all time in this hall, but her brother had died not
only alongside his father, but countless others. This was a memorial to
everything that had been lost on that fateful day when the Ryders—who had been
their friends and allies—attacked.
Yaretzi had been young, but she was
old enough to remember the large winged beasts spouting flame, and the screams
of her people. She knew that it wasn’t the dragon’s fault, but her skin
prickled at the memory of claws, teeth, and fire. The Ryders had been their
contact with the outside world, without it they were completely isolated.
She reached up and placed her right
hand on her brother’s foot, and her left on her father’s. Their brows and
jawline were the same, but her brother lacked the broad shoulders and muscular
arms that their father had. Shaking herself, she turned to the doors. Wiping
away a tear and straightening her shoulders, she pushed the large doors open.
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