Internal Conflict Blogfest: Hanging on a Thread
Author: Anastasia V. Pergakis // Category: "Ryn and Ciyme", Blogfests
I know it's late - hubby, the little man, and I are all sick with chest colds. NOT FUN! But, I still had to make a post as this is fun and relaxing for me, so here we go!
The Internal Conflict Blogfest by Jessica Bell! It was a hard choice deciding which novel to take my excerpt from. I even thought to write something brand new so that I would have to choose.
I finally settled on something from "The Adventures of Ryn and Ciyme". You guys remember learning about Ryn from my entry for the "Bad Girl Blogfest". Well, this is from R'av's POV - the guy she beat up!
Scene: It is dawn, Ciyme convinced Ryn to allow R'av to travel with them to defeat the Snake People. It really cements R'av as a character here and everything he does following this is based on his thoughts here. Remember Ciyme and Molten are tiny dragons!
He watched Ryn with interest as they ate breakfast and packed up camp. Her purple hair was a bit dirty but it still looked like violet silk. She had dark circles around her eyes and for the past two days he’d watched her posture become worse and worse.
Ciyme had told him what happened to her father and her brother and he wondered how she soldiered on. He remembered when his wife was murdered that he wasn’t able to get out of bed for days.
He felt so guilty that he froze up when the snake people attacked the day before. Seeing Ryn trying to fight them made him think of his wife. She was unable to fight and her death was met without resistance. R’av, outnumbered seven to one, was unable to save her. He couldn’t remember exactly how long ago it was that he lost her. It seemed like eternity when in fact it had only been only a year.
R’av, a Duke at the time, gave up his title and left all his possessions behind – wanting nothing that reminded him of his life with her.
As they traveled that day, he kept his eye on their surroundings. He had to protect Ryn – to redeem himself. She was a strong girl but if something happened to her it would be his undoing. Losing the woman he loved was hard but losing another would snap the final string that R’av was desperately holding onto.
“R’av, do not think so hard. It will boil the blood in your brain,” Molten whispered.
“Very funny. Just for your information, I’m not thinking. I’m watching.”
“Yes, but what, or should I say who, are you watching?”
R’av rolled his eyes. “I’m watching out for snake people as you should be also.”
Molten took flight, flying above the trees to get a clear view of the landscape. R’av returned to thinking about Ryn.
She was different than any woman he’d ever met. R’av wasn’t sure how to act around her. Any attempts made to be a gentlemen was met with sarcasm and disdain. He wanted to know why that was. Even if she was so independent, surely any other woman wouldn’t turn down niceties from a man.
R’av wondered if something had happened to her that made her hate men. He dismissed the thought quickly when he remembered that she didn’t act that way towards Y’ron. She cared deeply for the skinny waif and R’av wondered what it was about him that made her hate him so much.
He was about to ask her but quickly shut his mouth again. Suddenly, he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to know the answer.
They crossed the boarder from Fernan into Hithin. The scenery gradually changed from forest to fields of bean plants. Ciyme began picking beans and brining them to Ryn who smiled and ate them raw.
R’av liked her smile. It was bit crooked and her teeth weren’t perfectly straight but it was still beautiful. Her smile lifted the look of misery from her face for a few seconds and in that moment she lit up and glowed.
“You’re staring,” Molten said, flying just above R’av’s head.
“Please. Would you bugger off?”
Molten laughed – that sounded like a drum roll – and flew ahead of them to see the land.
They came to a fork in the road and Ryn stopped her horse.
“Something wrong?” R’av asked reaching for his sword.
Make sure you check out the other entries! They are sure to be great!
And check out my guest post at Wicked Writers about research!
The Internal Conflict Blogfest by Jessica Bell! It was a hard choice deciding which novel to take my excerpt from. I even thought to write something brand new so that I would have to choose.
I finally settled on something from "The Adventures of Ryn and Ciyme". You guys remember learning about Ryn from my entry for the "Bad Girl Blogfest". Well, this is from R'av's POV - the guy she beat up!
Scene: It is dawn, Ciyme convinced Ryn to allow R'av to travel with them to defeat the Snake People. It really cements R'av as a character here and everything he does following this is based on his thoughts here. Remember Ciyme and Molten are tiny dragons!
He watched Ryn with interest as they ate breakfast and packed up camp. Her purple hair was a bit dirty but it still looked like violet silk. She had dark circles around her eyes and for the past two days he’d watched her posture become worse and worse.
Ciyme had told him what happened to her father and her brother and he wondered how she soldiered on. He remembered when his wife was murdered that he wasn’t able to get out of bed for days.
He felt so guilty that he froze up when the snake people attacked the day before. Seeing Ryn trying to fight them made him think of his wife. She was unable to fight and her death was met without resistance. R’av, outnumbered seven to one, was unable to save her. He couldn’t remember exactly how long ago it was that he lost her. It seemed like eternity when in fact it had only been only a year.
R’av, a Duke at the time, gave up his title and left all his possessions behind – wanting nothing that reminded him of his life with her.
As they traveled that day, he kept his eye on their surroundings. He had to protect Ryn – to redeem himself. She was a strong girl but if something happened to her it would be his undoing. Losing the woman he loved was hard but losing another would snap the final string that R’av was desperately holding onto.
“R’av, do not think so hard. It will boil the blood in your brain,” Molten whispered.
“Very funny. Just for your information, I’m not thinking. I’m watching.”
“Yes, but what, or should I say who, are you watching?”
R’av rolled his eyes. “I’m watching out for snake people as you should be also.”
Molten took flight, flying above the trees to get a clear view of the landscape. R’av returned to thinking about Ryn.
She was different than any woman he’d ever met. R’av wasn’t sure how to act around her. Any attempts made to be a gentlemen was met with sarcasm and disdain. He wanted to know why that was. Even if she was so independent, surely any other woman wouldn’t turn down niceties from a man.
R’av wondered if something had happened to her that made her hate men. He dismissed the thought quickly when he remembered that she didn’t act that way towards Y’ron. She cared deeply for the skinny waif and R’av wondered what it was about him that made her hate him so much.
He was about to ask her but quickly shut his mouth again. Suddenly, he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to know the answer.
They crossed the boarder from Fernan into Hithin. The scenery gradually changed from forest to fields of bean plants. Ciyme began picking beans and brining them to Ryn who smiled and ate them raw.
R’av liked her smile. It was bit crooked and her teeth weren’t perfectly straight but it was still beautiful. Her smile lifted the look of misery from her face for a few seconds and in that moment she lit up and glowed.
“You’re staring,” Molten said, flying just above R’av’s head.
“Please. Would you bugger off?”
Molten laughed – that sounded like a drum roll – and flew ahead of them to see the land.
They came to a fork in the road and Ryn stopped her horse.
“Something wrong?” R’av asked reaching for his sword.
Make sure you check out the other entries! They are sure to be great!
And check out my guest post at Wicked Writers about research!
I like stories of redemption and I hope R'av has a good one. :) I'd like to read more.
Nice work and way to leave us hanging. lol. Nothing like a "is there something wrong" and then the end. ;-)
Great stuff, just like your Bad Girl entry, and again with the cliffhanger! No fair!
Nice scene and definitely shows inner conflict. Good job. :-)
Note your use of the Duke title, as laid out in your research earlier!
Good conflict.
- Eric
Very interesting characters Harley. Moving on with life after losing a great love cannot be easy, and you captured the conflict between old loyalty and new interest quite well. Thanks for sharing.
........dhole
Better late than never, right? Nice work. I love being left hanging, having to turn to my own imagination. Excellent tension in here. Thanks for participating!
Ha ha ha! "You're staring." Tension, tension. I can feel it. This guy is in for it:)