7/7 Blog Challenge

Thanks for this, Marlene!

The 7/7 blog challenge means I open a current WIP, and post 7 lines beginning with the 7th line on page 7. Or page 77. Then I tag 7 other authors who get their turn. Good times for all.
Marlene’s post is here.

*Quick plug* Marlene is a wonderful person who has several great novels for sale, so feel free to check them out if you’re interested in things like alternate history involving the Titanic, the fey and urban fantasy. Someday, she might even combine them all!*End of Quick plug*

I have decided to go with the beginning of page 77 of my current work-in-progress, ‘The Nightward’. It’s a science fantasy, set in a matriarchal world modeled on a mixture of African, Indian and Caribbean society. Women possess ‘real’ magic, while men have only ‘illusion’ and this has led to women being the more powerful sex. However, there are things in the past of this world (no, it’s not Earth, but there are links), that will not stay dead. And the door to them has been opened in order to dethrone the rightful Queen of the High Court and the Hand of the Goddess Gaia herself.

Viyella is the heir to the High Throne. Today was hers and her twin brother’s sixth birthday. At the celebratory party to introduce the heirs to the other Queens of Gailand, Viyella’s mother is murdered in front of her. She manages to escape the ambush with the help of her new bodyguard, Dagen, a soldier or Daguard, whose future is now irrevocably tangled with hers. They seek shelter at the Seat of an ally, Lady Gretchen. There, they realise for the first time that they face more than betrayal…

“It is the Nightward.” The hand lifted away from Viyella’s forehead and a sudden draft chilled the skin there. “And it comes for her.”

“Comes for her?”

Viyella opened her eyes as the Lady rose to her feet, the wind snapping blue silk around her ankles. She knows.

“Daguard, the Queen must not stay here. In a matter of an hour, the darkness you see will reach Fairye. Once it arrives, it will seek out the Queen–and we will not be able to stop it.”

Hope you liked that peek :-). Below are the seven writers I’ve tagged. Feel free to go visit them and read their snippets too.

And to my friends…Tag! You’re it!

Elizabeth Hull
Drea
K.N.Lee
Anna Kashina
Cindy Lynn Speer
Walter Williams
Susan Curnow