Thursday, April 26, 2012

Wayward Wintermill #atozchallenge

 
 
For the A to Z Challenge, I'm featuring twenty-six flash fiction pieces from my Foxwick Kingdom and its surrounding neighbors. A to Z Flashes of Foxwick is now available from Smashwords and Amazon and includes the bonus short story "Lady Death." You can add this to your Goodreads list here.

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Wayward Wintermill


Princess Eirwyn curtsied and tried not to cringe before her mother. “You called for me.”
Wintermill’s queen jumped from her throne and motioned for Eirwyn to follow. Eirwyn could barely keep up with her mother’s long stride as they entered the courtyard and traveled outside the palace.
In the distance, Eirwyn spied delicate smoke snaking from chimneys. Rumors floated to the palace staff that other kingdoms had their subjects live right against the castle. Eirwyn couldn’t imagine such a thing as she peered up at her ice-coated palace in the middle of the frozen lake.
Her toes curled in her fur boots, and she conjured a warm breeze to keep her face from freezing. Mother hadn’t said anything yet, and Eirwyn chewed on her lower lip. Something bad had happened, but what? She hadn’t heard any news.
“Mother?”
The queen spun around so quickly that Eirwyn nearly slipped on the ice. Instead of the slap she’d expected, her mother handed her a vial filled with pinkish-tinged liquid. “On your first night in Foxwick, pour this into Prince Javen’s goblet.”
Eirwyn’s fingers trembled as she took the vial. Who was this prince and what was her mother planning to do to him? “Foxwick? What does this vial do?”
“It’s a love potion. Foxwick will soon be a part of our kingdom.” Mother grabbed Eirwyn’s chin, and Eirwyn reluctantly met her gaze. “Don’t screw this up.”
Eirwyn slipped the vial into her cloak’s pocket. The love potion weighed her down, but she couldn’t let guilt stop her. Although she didn’t want to travel to Foxwick, she feared her mother’s wrath more. “As you wish.”







Now if you want to learn more about authors, I’m featuring up to three per day on my blog Surrounded by Books Reviews. To find the other participants, click here.

11 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I get the feeling something will get screwed up though.

Anonymous said...

I know this is only the second day I've been able to read so far, but I'm not liking Eirwyn's mom. She reminds me of someone, but I'm having trouble placing exactly who that might be. It will come to me, though.

Laura Eno said...

Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Carol Kilgore said...

Poor Eirwyn. I think she will win in the long run :)

Nicole said...

Hmm, methinks there'll be more to the story here. ;)

Christine Rains said...

This makes me feel bad for Eirwyn even if we know what comes later!

Hart Johnson said...

No, Eirwyn! Don't do it! Love potions always backfire somehow!

Unknown said...

Wow, what an assignment. Now I want to know what happened.

Unknown said...

Oh dear... Something tells me this isn't going to go the way the queen planned it!

J.C. Martin said...

That sounds like a great start to a story! And I love the vision of the ice palace in the middle of a frozen lake!

J.C. Martin
A to Z Blogger

Fairview said...

Another great piece! Love these all.