Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work. Enjoy!
I am continuing snippets from my new medieval romance set in fourteenth century England in and around my hometown of Reading. By the time you read this, I’ll be doing some field research over the same days as in this story – mid July to early August.
Audrey, my heroine, countered the attack of a robber, and met the hero, Selwyn Drake, the Sheriff’s bailiff.
You can read last
week’s snippet here – https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2019/07/lord-williams-bailiff-snippet-from.html
Audrey and Selwyn have introduced themselves. Note,
the tawdry woman was around earlier but I cut those sentences. Please excuse my irregular punctuation.
The tawdry woman interrupted, clutching at the bailiff’s cloak
and whining, “He took my purse,” she fluttered her eyelashes and plumped her
bosom.
A frown flicked across his sun-browned face, and I guessed
Master Drake was not impressed by her bountiful attractions; he was intent on
his business of ridding the streets of criminals.
One of his men offered a bag to the sheriff’s bailiff, “We found
this pouch under the thief’s coat.”
Untying the bag, Master Drake rolled down the top to expose the
contents, four leather purses of different sizes and a red velvet pouch. He glanced
at the buxom woman and cocked an eyebrow, “Which purse do you claim?”
Her brows crinkled in concentration and she spoke quickly, “The
red one.”
Weighing the pouch in the palm of his hand, he asked, “How many
coins did you have?”
After a suspicious hesitation, she rushed out, “Mayhap five gold
coins,” - a wild guess in my opinion, and far too much wealth to match her
shabby garb.
“You are mistaken; this purse cannot belong to you,” he said in
a grave tone. He tucked the bag under his elbow, and emptied the contents of
the velvet pouch onto his hand; a set of small shiny stones, diamonds or
similar precious gems, sparkled in his palm.
New Draft Blurb:
In
fourteenth century Britain, Dame Audrey cherishes her independence as the widow
of a wealthy cloth merchant. But the guild elders covet her profitable business
and she fears they will invoke the Abbot’s authority to compel her to marry a
man of their choice. Her lively spirit revolts against becoming the property of
a cruel husband. While on a pilgrimage to pray for guidance, Audrey aids the
dying victim of a brutal robbery. She wins the stranger’s blessing and a gold
brooch with a green dragon. Back in her hometown, the faerie brooch attracts
trouble from thieves of all ranks and the attentions of a handsome yeoman,
Selwyn Drake. Can the magic brooch help Audrey evade the schemes to force her
into wedlock or must she submit to a husband’s will?
I’m still editing the story, although I hope to publish it in a few weeks.
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| Church tower and 14th century dovecote at Avebury |
As always, I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.
Too bad she didn't know the true contents of that pouch. Very valuable!
ReplyDeleteYes. Obviously it belongs to a wealthy person. Selwyn could tell by the feel that the purse didn't hold coins.
DeleteThat's quite a haul there. I'll bet the tawdry woman will dream of the lottery ticket she almost won.
ReplyDeleteThis is a minor incident, although it illustrates Selwyn's cleverness and we'll come to the rich owner of the gems soon.
DeleteHmm. What a haul and trouble afoot for the woman. Outstanding snippet.
ReplyDeleteClearly, she lied, but the man stole the purses which is a punishable crime.
DeleteOooh, who is robbing who here? Love the set up, Aurora!
ReplyDeleteThe alewife is trying to sneak in a false claim and Selwyn detected her lie.
DeleteWell that's certainly an interesting twist! Enjoyed the excerpt, the scene is quite vivid and the whole subplot with the 'tawdry woman' was amusing.
ReplyDeleteMostly that is the intent, although the actual owner of the jewels appears next.
DeleteLove the twist! Great imagery. I fell right into the scene.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement.
DeleteThis sounds such a fascinating story and I really enjoyed the snippet. I love the way Selwyn caught on to the 'tawdry woman's' attempted deception.
ReplyDeleteSo does Audrey, the heroine.
DeleteHmm...is the woman involved in the thievery? :-)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your research, Aurora! Looks wonderful!
She was probably acting as a decoy, although she might be innocent. I skipped that part.
DeleteIt's fun to check some of the locations, although much has changed in six hundred years.
Love that he saw thru the woman's ruse. Boy, did she make a mistake? Loved the narrator's observations. Cute.
ReplyDeleteYes. Audrey likes his clever reveal of the lie.
DeleteInteresting snippet ... Glad he's on the ball.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yes he is.
Delete