Continuing on from where we left off last week — Bellica Agate and her regiment have arrived in Southland, where an army of “gypsies” has taken over the town. And yes, this is all first draft stuff, so there will probably be some grammatical errors.
It didn’t take long for someone to come out and meet them. A whole lot of someones, truth be told.
Their welcoming party consisted of fifteen people, all armed with spears or longbows. Damien to her right fidgeted, his hand twitching towards his sword; she held her hand out in a steadying gesture. The people greeting them were gypsies – Agate would have known even if they hadn’t been talking among themselves in Ixil. Their hair was dark, lustrous and curly; their teeth shone white against the dark brown hue of their skin, and their eyes ranged from a light hazel to the velvet brown of a deep pool of water on the forest floor.
The sight of them sent a pang of longing so sharp through Agate there was no way she could convince herself it was loathing, this time. Ever the perfect bellica, she kept her features composed and tried to ignore the feelings being stirred up at the sight of a people she’d lived with for so long in her youth.
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20 responses to “SFFSat, October 20th: The Welcoming Party”
Ahh poor Agate!
I am sort of mean to my characters, it’s true. Glad you liked the snippet!
Conflict! I love it!
Thanks Gayle!
Great stuff. Love the imagery/descriptions!!
Thank you T.K.! I’m really glad to hear that, because for some reason I was kind of nervous about this snippet and its descriptions.
Do I detect divided loyalties?
Oh yes…yes you do. *maniacal laughter*
There’s so much going on emotionally in this snippet. The damn near breakout of battle, her emotional turmoil rolling up and she holds steady. This is a character I can root for.
Your comments make my day. Thank you. 🙂
Great descriptions! I can feel Agate’s anguish. And, kudos to you for using a name for a language that doesn’t end in -ish or -en. *applause*
*bows* I aim to please.
Love the inner conflict.
Thank you Sue!
Lots of great descriptiveness here…I did chuckle at the description of the “welcoming” party, though. 🙂
Ah, yes. “Welcome! We have pointy weapons with your names on them.” 😉
Hmmm, going to make it difficult for her to do her job if her loyalties are divided.
Oh, yes. So very difficult.
Gorgeous descriptions here.
Thank you Misa!