Scene

Writing scenes between school work and I thought I'd share this scene with Damaris and Huck with you. 

“What made you decide to protect yourself?” Huck asked. 

“You mean besides my life being threatened?” she asked. 

“Yeah.” 

“She studied Huck for a moment. He was stretched out on the couch with his right ankle resting on his left knee. Who was this man because it wasn’t the Huck she knew. 

“While I was recovering in Lorvena, I was included in Edward’s studies on feudal Japan. His tutor mentioned there were female samurai warriors called onna-musha. I was so interested that I did my own studying,” she said as she leaned back against the cushions. 

“The first was Empress Jingu,” he said. 

“You’ve heard of them?” 

“Of course, they’re warriors,” he said. 

Why was she not surprised? The man was well read. 

“And you study warriors.” 

“Yes. I had to train women for war. I studied all I could in how women of the past fought. How they were trained. Did you know there were female ninjas called kunoichi?” 

She stared at him in shock. Not at the female ninjas or that he knew about them, but his statement about training women. 

“You helped the women your trained by studying the past? I don’t know what to think.” 

He smiled. 

“Damaris, I don’t know how the female body moves in battle. I needed to learn how to train them to be the best. I wasn’t easy on them because the enemy wouldn’t be easy. Just because they’re women doesn’t mean they got it good. They wanted to be in combat, so, I trained them for battle,” he said. 

“Japan?” 

“Well, Japan has had women warriors for longer than any other country. They had it figured out,” he said as he set his foot on the floor and leaned forward. 

“I don’t know what to think. I would’ve thought that a macho man, such as yourself, wouldn’t want women fighting,” she said as she placed her hands on her thighs. 

“I have women in the security detail of Lorvena. I don’t question if a woman wants to fight, to protect. I just demand them to be as dedicated to actually fighting and protecting as their dedication to the want or need. If a woman in the early centuries found the willpower to defy the odds, who am I to demand different,” he asked as he reached over and squeezed her hand. 

“And what do you think about female commanders?” 

“They better be the best person for the job,” he said. “Or it’s their birthright.” 

She smiled. 

“You’re not who I thought you were,” she said. “At least what I wanted you to be.” 

“Damaris, if your people can’t accept you as their queen its their loss. But, I think you worry too much. I saw the interview. The people of Florine want you back. They miss their princess,” he said as he moved his hand to her cheek. “Don’t doubt that you have the love of your people.” 

Crown Restored Scene

Since it's been forever, here's a scene from Crown Restored. 

"Oh, Huckleberry, do you think I need to wait until someone comes into power? The throne is mine." 

"Of course, it is, but there's a reason you've not gone after your throne," he said. 

She nodded. There was a reason but it wasn't something she could share. Although, Huck would be the only one she could trust. 

"Let's just say it suited me to wait." 

"Well, it suits Richard to have you fly back to Lorvena. We'll take off in the morning," he said. 

"And if I say differently?" 

Huck and Richard didn't dictate her life. 

"Apparently, I'm to mention a Nancy Holland if you didn't want to leave so soon," he said. 

She closed her eyes and pictured the nun who put everything on the line to protect the throne. If her uncle even stepped foot in the convent, she'd kill him. He'd already taken her parents. Julian wouldn't take the woman who helped sneak her in and out of the country. 

"Is she hurt?" she asked, opening her eyes. 

"Not to my knowledge. Richard didn't say anything but her name. Who is this woman to you?" 

"A nun," she said as she slung her bow over her head. 

"A nun?" 

She nodded as she gathered the rest of her arrows. Huck grabbed her arrows in the target. 

"She's not a threat to me." 

"Damaris, I don't know if you consider anyone a threat. My question is, does this nun make you vulnerable?" 

"She won't betray me." 

"Not the question I asked. Is she a weakness for you?" he asked as he placed the arrows in the quiver still on her back. 

"Maybe." 

"So yes," he said. "Where is this convent? I'll place a team around it." 

"What?" she asked as she spun around to look up at him. "You want to place your guys around the convent for protection." 

"Some will be women, but yes. I'll place a team in the area," he said. 

"Why?" 

"Because this nun means a lot to you and I don't want your uncle to use her against you," he said. 

"Thank you," she said as she leaned up on her toes and kissed his cheek. 

Inspiration

This going to be something Julien, Damaris's uncle asks her when they finally come face to face. Her answer will shock him. 

Small Scene

"Why a bow?"

"Because guns are loud," she said as she released the arrow. 

He watched as it split the arrow dead center of the target. Pulling out his gun, he shot the target three times before looking at her. 

"I can hit it too, but mine is faster." 

"Debatable," she said as she turned to face him. "Do you really think the men who protect my uncle will allow anyone with a gun into the palace that they don't know?" 

"They have to be able to get this gun away from me and no one has done that yet. You forget I'm security." 

"Doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head. " Besides, this isn't my only weapon." 

"I've seen your arsenal. You still need a gun," he said. 

"Since you're bent on being my shadow, you can carry the guns." 

"You're not comfortable with them, are you? 

Without blinking, she grabbed the gun in his hand and fired at the target. Her aim was true and the broken arrows fell to the ground as she handed him the gun. 

"I'm comfortable with any weapon. I choose to use something else," she said as she stepped back. 

Hardcovers

If you look closely, you will see that you can purchase a Hardcover version of a few of my books! All of the Fairy Tales Series along with Siren Song and Diamond Dirt are available in Hardcover on Amazon. These are Case Laminate so no Dust Jacket, but still the pretty covers. 

All of my earlier books are available in Hardcover on Lulu.

Small Scene

Since I finally got the muse back for my newest book, here is a small scene from Book 14: Crown Restored. 

Damaris studied the image closely before shaking her head. She didn’t recognize the man. Who was her uncle speaking with? The tattoo on the man’s arm wasn’t something she’d seen before, but it was something she could research. She starred at the picture as she moved to the next one and paused. She knew both men in this one. Julien was standing beside the man who tried to kill her. 

Twice.  

Tobias Crawford. 

The man had been her personal guard up until the day he stabbed her. 

She placed her hand on her left side above her hip. The ragged scar reminded her of the time in her life when she was helpless. Her parents sent her to Lorvena to receive the best healthcare while looking for the man who attempted to kill her. Her parents hadn’t trusted anyone in the country with her care, especially since it was her personal guard who stabbed her. 

Moving her hand, she flipped to the following picture. There was the unknown man again beside her uncle and Tobias. This wasn’t a better angle than the first picture. In fact, she could only see part of his face and almost none of his body. Her uncle blocked the man. 

Almost as if they knew someone might photograph them. 

Could her uncle know she got daily updates? 

“No,” she said as she flipped to the next picture. 

Her uncle wasn’t that smart, or at least not smart enough to find out a photographer was taking pictures and sending them to her. Paying someone to blend in was worth every cent. The trust fund her mother set up for her came in handy sometimes. 

The rest of the photos were not great and didn’t give her a clue who the unknown man was. She isolated the tattoo and sent it to Edward. He would hand it over to the security team, and no one would know it came from her. 

She sighed as she stood up to stretch. It was time to move out and join her aunt and uncle. After a month of searching, she’d finally found them. No thanks to that brute who called himself security. 

The thought that Huck knew where her family was but didn’t tell her was insane. They were her family to protect, not Huck’s. She’d been trying to track Huck’s movements to see if he led her back to her aunt and uncle, but she couldn’t find him. 

It was as if he was a ghost. 

She knew it wasn’t. For one thing, Casper was a friendly ghost, and Huck wasn’t friendly. For two, Huck made it a point to be more of a shadow than a ghost. He didn’t haunt people besides the fact that Huck wasn’t dead. 

Yet. 

New Book

If you purchased your copy of Glass Throne, you saw a sneak peek at my next book. It does have a name! Book 14 will feature Princess Damaris. No release date, but here is the last sentence of the sneak peek. Don't forget to get your copy of Glass Throne, it's available on kindle as well as paperback. 

"If the man could have his own twin brother killed, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill his niece."