Mind On Roar

otaku | nerd | critter | author

[lorweaver]

I've started playing around on Instagram doing book Photography as I share books I've read and book products I've started collecting. Good bye to my money. I recently did a review on the latest book I read.

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Insta: @lor.weaver

REVIEW

I was really excited for this story. Hardcore, hot assassin? Yes! Novice heroin being trained by said hardcore assassin? Yes! All the tropes said training can provide? Give me!

All of my dreams... 💥 🚮

First, what I liked. There are two instances where Shadow (MC) has visions, providing foreshadowing and the highlight of visual presentation. Other than that, Shadow's abilities are interesting and fun.

Part 2 provides a little more intrigue, and there was plenty of romantic bits. But that's kind of where it all ends.

Story wise, I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities in the beginning. Our assassin was a huge disappointment, and the two MCs felt more like peers rather than master and apprentice. I didn't mind this, but I was sold something different, and I was looking forward to the dynamic I had built up in my mind. In the end, this felt like an attempt at a Sleeping Beauty retelling without the slumber part.

The author uses duel point of view, which I usually enjoy, but when switching POVs, the author alters between first person and third person. This was jarring and frustrating and I almost stopped reading a few chapters in because of it. What made it worst was that this book is written in the present tense causing more confusion when switching between third and first person.

There is a ton of telling instead of showing, illustrating why "show don't tell" is a rule. The first half of the book was drawn out with world building that could have been weaved into the story in a way that didn't feel like info dumping. It also spent most of the time nerfing the assassin in order to make the female protagonist look good, which made the few action sequences lackluster at best.

The second half of the book improved, however it was hindered by an oversaturation of the two characters wondering how the other felt about them.

Am I going to read the second book? I honestly don't know.

Is this a premise I want to make my own to satisfy the visions in my head resulting in a completely different story? Very probably.

[lorweaver]

When you're querying agents, but your novel is reminiscent of a D&D campaign full of quirky, soft, bad a, yet layered PCs.

And you get a tragic backstory, and you get a tragic backstory!

...Yet somehow you're all so sweet, and I want to squeeze you??

*Sigh*, someday my epic, fantastical nerdiness will be appreciated.

[lorweaver]

Look, this. This is why I bought a phone with a stylus a couple of years ago. I'm on a train (sort of sleeping?) at 3 in the morning when inspiration strikes. No notebook. My laptop is falling apart and put away. But here. Here I was able to whip out my phone, bust out the pen, and chicken scratch out the scene playing in my head. I'd remember the idea, but I would have forgotten the lines that made this moment so tantalizing. And instead of having to fight with an ever-frustrating and inaccurate phone keyboard, I was able to just write it out (yes, I *can* read it XD). This is a writer's bliss. Now if only the elderly couple behind me would stop squabbling so I could go back to sleep.

[lorweaver]

Whoops.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here...

*crickets*. 

Apologies to my followers (I didn’t realize I had so many). Now that things have settled down, I’m hoping to start posting WIP content again.

So here’s me dipping my toe back in the tumblr world again.

[lorweaver]

Introducing: Godal. He is the king of the world in which Gudomlay and her partner for class is teleported for a project. He is sadistic, arrogant, overpowered, and a little bit mad. I mean like, insane. The dude does what he wants without a care for the consequences. At birth, a druid had to shave off a part of his “essence, aura, power” or whatever you want to call it because it had the potential of setting itself off and obliterating the world. So he carries it around usually as an accessory but sometimes as a weapon or human being who is the complete opposite of himself. Because of his past, an oracle transferred his heart into that separated power so he could only feel the effects on it at a lower intensity. This was so he could save the world without getting caught up in the pain of his past. And as Gudomlay gets to know him, she begins to wonder if behind that smug surface isn’t something a little more tragic.

I can feel it. The energy. Swarming around me are the characters who have been neglected all this time. If I weren’t me, I’d be nervous. And yet, because I am so great. I only stare back at them and challenge them to challenge me with the cold darkness in my eyes. But of course, there is one who would take me on. A new character. A character who, if I met him in real life… well. I don’t know how well we’d get along. In one of my previous posts, I summoned him to chase away the others. But now. We are enemies.

Godal: Well then. Where have you been, Mistress?

(He’s totally being sarcastic when addressing me by the title I’ve been having my characters call me. But I’m a bad-a**. So, I stay calm and cool and meet his arrogant smirk with a flat face).

Me: I got a job.

(There’s a collective gasp from all my characters.)

Takehiro: You mean your lazy butt actually decided to act as a functioning member of society?

Keep Reading ➝

[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“Free her.”

A weight, so heavy not even Arthur’s grip on the sword could hold him in place, slammed into Arthur and blasted him sideways. Shouts rose all around him, and he looked in time to see a vicious mouth snap toward him. Then a sword ripped through the white wolf’s side and sent it spiraling sideways. Arthur accepted Lot's offered hand.

“You’re losing your touch, Arthur,” Lot said.

“I appreciate your assistance,” Arthur replied. He knew better than to mock an ally’s aid. Even a begrudging one. It seemed Gawain’s words and Lot’s dependency on Arthur had earned Arthur Lot’s help. At least for now.

Lot twisted around and tore through another wolf coming for Arthur. “Rally to the king!” Lot shouted. His retainers, Gawain, Kay, and some confused looking soldiers of the keep circled them.

“They’ve come for you, Arthur!” Kay said as they fought the wolves back.

“What?” Arthur said. Their maimed and partially skinned bodies made them terrifying. Most’s attempt to avoid Kay did not escape Arthur’s notice. A few even whined when Kay glared at them. “How do you know?” Arthur asked.

“Who do they keep trying to get to?” Kay shouted.

“What kind of wolves are these?” a soldier cried.

“Timberwolves!” Gawain kicked one back, so it whined and skid into two others.

Arthur froze. The one Lot had run through righted itself, and its grotesque wounds stitched back together. “Undead timberwolves,” Arthur realized.

“Arthur, we don’t have weapons capable of vanquishing the undead!” Gawain roared.

“Merlin!” Arthur turned to find the wizard protecting Carys by twirling and extending his staff at the wolves targeting her. One dug its claws into the flap of her coat. The stone broke apart and Arthur shouted. They weren’t only after him. They wanted Carys too!

A hand latched onto Arthur’s shoulder and turned him around.

“Go,” Lot said. “Free her.”

Arthur nodded. “Kay, Gawain!”

“Clearing a path, My King!” Gawain replied as he stepped in front of Arthur. Using two swords, he mowed down the first several wolves bearing at them. Kay charged forward next, a shield on his arm, and pummeled through more. Gawain slid out from under Kay’s shield and thrust his sword up into the stomach of one that had leapt over the others. Then Kay fell to his knee and held his shield over his head.

Arthur sprinted toward him, jumped onto the shield, and then Kay pushed him off. Arthur shot like a bullet over the remaining pack. Merlin stepped forward as Arthur landed and generated a jagged, clear shield. Arthur wrapped his fingers around Caliburn's hilt and pulled.

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“Sorry, Sir, but we have a score to settle...”

“Well,” Kay called. “Arrest us. We’re fugitives, aren’t we?”

The men exchanged glances and murmurs before hesitantly restrained them. “What do we do now?” One whispered to the soldier beside him.

“You fetch the superior in charge and call Sir Ulster. What do you think you do?” Kay asked as if directing the arrest of someone else.

The men nodded before sending one of themselves to follow his instructions. Arthur remembered how he’d once led his own men. Then the commander came.

“I see you’ve done the unwise.” Sir Ulster crossed his arms as he regarded them. Then he sighed at Kay. “I had hoped you'd disappear, so we wouldn’t have to get involved.”

“Sorry, Sir, but we have a score to settle. I don’t take kindly to being called a thief, let alone letting my little brother be accused of such.”

“And the wizard?” Sir Ulster asked, a quick glance telling him Merlin hadn’t come along.

“He’s around,” Gawain said.

“Who—”

“He’s with us,” Kay said, stepping closer to Gawain. “Now, Arthur.” He turned toward him so everyone else did the same.

“Send a message to Lot,” Arthur began in a rigid voice. “Arthur, son of Sir Ector, presents him an invitation. I have the sword and the stone maiden. If it chooses him, I will let him have it. If not, he will silence himself on the matter forever.” Then, he lowered his chin and glowered at the absent enemy he spoke to. “If not, I will open the tomb of Pendragon and set a risen king on him myself.”

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“Accept the gift she has given you. It may be the only one you get. Avoiding two wars is nothing to scoff at.”

“Giving you the silent treatment, is she?” Kay called from under the entrance stairs. Arthur watched him shovel half a sandwich in his mouth while holding another out to Arthur. “Time for dinner,” Kay said with a bit of lettuce flapping between his lips.

“I can’t eat,” Arthur grumbled. “I feel sick.”

“Eat, Your Majesty.” Kay shoved the sandwich into Arthur’s face. “You’ve been standing here for hours.”

Arthur gawked. “Did you say dinner?”

“That’s right.” Kay clamped onto Arthur’s shoulder and steered him away from Carys. “Dinner. Even Gawain raided the kitchen.”

“There’s food?” Why did that surprise him?

“Merlin is a good mum, making sure his kiddos have enough to eat.”

Arthur sighed. “I wonder.”

They emerged from the keep onto one of its walls. An azure sky peeked through the forest trees above, and specs of starlight winked at them as if to shed warmth on the bitter night. Kay sucked his fingers clean, and Arthur forced himself to take his first bite. He couldn’t believe he’d stood in front of Carys, brooding from morning to evening without noticing.

“Am I that caught up in her?” he wondered.

“Yes,” Kay replied.

Arthur leaned on the wall. “I hate the idea of her getting hurt.”

“Naturally. We all feel that way about the people we care about. That she’s yet to prove herself capable of facing the monsters creeping toward you makes it difficult to accept her help. But Arthur” —Kay made Arthur look at him— “Carys knows what she’s doing. Fighter or no. The girl is smart—despite her relationship with arithmetic.”

Arthur’s lip twitched into a smile. So, Kay had noticed her struggling too.

“She’s a taction like you. Her ability to analyze and glean information is a huge asset. Better if you learn to play off each other. Sure, her concrete solution petrifies her for a while. Maybe it'll be a long time before we can free her. And yes, that’s scary. Especially when one considers how much you care about her or feel guilty for using her, but she did it on her own. A woman who takes matters into her own hands, despite the risk of angering the only people she may like at least a very little, is brave. Accept the gift she has given you. It may be the only one you get. Avoiding two wars is nothing to scoff at.”

Arthur wanted to argue, but the only comeback he had was weak. “I’m scared.”

Kay’s lips slipped into a wry smile. “Yeah, me too. I don’t like the idea of losing a little sister.”

“Is that really how you feel about her?” Arthur asked.

The troubled line on Kay's lips flipped into a devilish smirk. “Why? Are you threatened?”

“You’re not her type, Kay,” Arthur said as he turned away.

“And you are?” Kay’s laughter poked at him like a determined child’s finger.

“That isn’t the point.”

“Of course, it isn’t.”

“How did you turn this into being about me?” Arthur growled.

“You make it really easy, Arthur.”

“That’s not what this is about, Kay.”

“I know.” Kay’s expression shifted, this time into melancholy. “You’re just happy to be by her side again, right?”

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. We always find a way.”

Gawain pulled Merlin from the wall only to slam him against it another round. Merlin grunted, but he looked no more than slightly irritated.

“Gawain!” Kay’s gruff bark announced his and Arthur’s arrival.

“Stay out of it, Kay!” Gawain warned. “I told the girl and wizard no to turning her to stone, yet he did it anyway.”

“I didn’t,” Merlin drawled.

Gawain snarled, and Merlin eased his grip off him. Gawain, feeling as if he stood on a boat in a storm, planted a hand on the wall. Merlin walked toward Carys, but Gawain struggled to find his balance. How could he have failed so soon?

“I thought someone had come into my room,” Merlin said.

A complicated expression twisted Gawain's features as Arthur, barefoot and still in pajamas, approached Carys.

“How could she have obtained the sword?” Arthur asked in an airy voice. Gawain averted his gaze from Arthur’s cool facade. Gawain couldn’t manage to ground himself and do the same. Not when it came to Carys.

Merlin’s lip twitched, and Arthur’s frown deepened. What was going on? Gawain straightened as Merlin considered what to say.

“Merlin. You kept it hidden in your mirror,” Arthur pressed.

“Did I?” Merlin asked, his half-feigned ignorance fooling no one.

“You’re getting pretty shady, Sage,” Kay growled.

Merlin shrugged. “I brought it with us. Someone told Lot where to look. If he has a powerful ally, there is no guarantee they couldn’t get in.”

“You had it with you?” Gawain asked.

“Yes.”

“But how did Carys get it?” Kay asked.

Merlin scoffed. “The more I know her, the less I trust her.”

Gawain ground his teeth, his fingers curling into his palms.

“You haven’t trusted her from the beginning,” Arthur said.

“What do you mean?” Kay glared at Merlin. “Carys has done nothing but help us. Why would you suspect her?”

“Help us?” Merlin smirked at him. “We took in an antisocial, homeless girl. The only good she’s done is get us some students for a club that has nothing to do with our survival.”

“She makes Arthur happy,” Kay reminded him.

Merlin paused to glance at Arthur wearing a grim expression then shrugged. “Valid. Well then. We should stop bickering about it and contact Lot. She’s given you the opportunity to settle things without having to feel guilty about asking her to risk her life.”

“Merlin…” Arthur’s voice came out in a soulless whisper. “Can you bring her back?”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. We always find a way.” Merlin left them in silence, and Arthur hung his head.

Kay scowled the way Merlin went then strode to Arthur and squeezed his shoulder. “It’s alright, Arthur. Carys isn’t the type to leap without careful planning. She’ll be fine.” Arthur nodded, and Kay frowned at Gawain. “Merlin isn’t the same man he used to be, Gawain. Don’t light the fuse.”

Gawain looked away. “None of us are the same, Kay.”

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“Be careful, kitten. You’ll make me fall for you.”

She reached behind her, a set expression earning her the image of a determined goddess. A pitchfork appeared in her hand. She twirled it over her head and assumed a fighting stance.

“Do not make me hurt you,” the dullahan said. He could use more power now that he’d grown used to her combat habits, but he hesitated to.

She uttered no reply, and he sighed. Leaving the ax and shield where they lay, he pulled a massive sword from the shredded billows of his cloak. His fellows had once called him relentless toward his enemies. They wouldn’t know what to think of him sympathizing with one now.

The banshee descended upon him before his sword freed itself from the cape, but the dullahan lifted it in time to block her attack. They struggled against one another, teeth grinding and muscles swelling.

Then the dullahan forced his strength forward and sent her flying back. The impact, too great for the unnatural physics of the space they occupied, made their surroundings warp and burst outward in a ring. It nearly knocked the dullahan off his feet as a low hum followed the blast. The banshee righted herself in the air, caught the edge of the sound wave with her foot, and used it to propel her at him, pitchfork raised.

Its teeth clenched between the dullahan’s blade and her weight crashed down on him. Their collision sent him onto his back again, and she stood pressing down so hard the vein in her temple fluttered.

Time to end this. The dullahan swept his leg under hers, so she pitched forward. He grabbed her before she could adjust her grip on the pitchfork and pinned her under him.

“Be careful, kitten. You’ll make me fall for you.” Was he teasing her or not?

The banshee screamed and flipped him over her head. Then she scrambled through the water and curled her fingers, dressed in brass knuckles, around his throat.

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

A blue shimmer gleamed across her skin as small sparks danced in a ring on her brow.

Shadows flickered from Carys's shoulders as if starving flames in a dim bedchamber. Her glare drove into the wall. The muscles in her crossed arms pulsed.

Who did Arthur and Gawain think they were? How dare they stop her from doing what she deemed right?

A blue shimmer gleamed across her skin as small sparks danced in a ring on her brow.

Lot wanted the sword the same as when Arthur pulled it free the first time, and they had one defense to dissuade him. A law, which made the sword responsible for its choice of owner, did not exist in the round table’s day. Why would Arthur not take advantage of it and let her help him? They had made an oath. He wasn’t allowed to stop her!

A spark on her brow flashed and reflected in her mirror-like eyes.

Then there was Gawain.

Carys’s nose flared. Her magic snapped the leg of the wooden chair near her. It clunked forward, but she didn’t notice.

Gawain, a stranger, had no right dictating to her. Instinct screamed that he deserved defiance, not cooperation.

“Brooding does not become a lady,” Merlin’s voice called beside her.

Carys’s gaze snapped onto him. All signs of her magic dissipated in the presence of another as she frowned at the mirror he’d emerged from.

She hated mirrors.

“Come to gloat, scold, tell me I’m being selfish?” she asked, the menace in her voice threading through the frosty air.

“No.” Merlin held out his hands in offering, and the static of his magic mingled with her vehemence. A shimmer of light swelled over his palms, briefly illuminating his stoic face before fading to reveal the sword in question.

Carys’s arms loosened as she faced it and him. Then she met his amethyst eyes. They held such depth and knowledge. She couldn’t hope to ascertain Merlin’s wisdom, yet she sensed it awakening an instinct within her she’d not known she possessed.

Merlin didn’t offer her the sword out of rebellion or hatred for her. He knew too. Her sacrifice alone would stop the threat of this war.

“Tell me what to do,” she said.

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

She thought to refuse, but even she didn’t want to wrestle the path...

“A-Arthur?” They were on the third story! How did he think they’d make it safely to the ground? Would she have to sing to them all in one day?

Arthur leapt without hesitation, pulling Carys behind him, who let him out of blind faith. She clamped her eyes shut, but they didn’t fall. Her eyes peeled open, and she looked in all directions. Merlin had them suspended in the air, one arm out to cast his magic. Then her feet hit solid ground.

She stood perplexed. Her grip, tight as a jammed pickle jar, loosened on Arthur.

Merlin had taken them to the Black Forest. Carys breathed in the dark, earthy smells. The snow had almost melted, and moss crawled over the trees. The sound of trickling water made her turn her head. She peered past the foliage and saw a creek surrounded by large boulders.

“Come along, Carys,” Arthur called while giving her hand a soft tug.

She considered him and then the others forging ahead. Only Gawain waited. She followed, Arthur guiding her through the slippery terrain while Gawain picked out the easiest path. Then the trees opened up, and they approached a lake.

The black water lay as unmoving as glass. Carys held her breath, but the sight of a familiar castle in the center of the lake on a tiny island opened up her lungs. She knew this place.

The company gathered at the lake’s edge and waited for Merlin to finish chanting a short spell. Then stones emerged from the black surface, and the wizard and knights used them to approach the island.

Carys followed, mindful of her footing until she stood on the island. When she stepped off the last rock, it and the others sucked back into the water with a gulp. She looked after them, the furry, emerald grass brushing her ankles. She wondered why Merlin’s abilities still took her by surprise­­.

“This way!” Merlin led them around the base, its undergrowth so wild Kay took Carys by the waist to lift her over the denser obstacles. She thought to refuse, but even she didn’t want to wrestle the path that bounced back into place after someone went through it. After they fought past ferns and bushes, a massive entrance overrun by ivy loomed over them.

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“Right, princess.” Kay pulled Carys behind him. “We didn’t usually make a run for it, but I think now’s a good time to start practicing. Merlin, exit?”

Arthur stepped beside Carys, who watched as an uninvolved entity. “How did you get pulled into this?” he asked.

She sighed. “Kay barged in, grabbed Gawain, Gawain grabbed me, and we ended up here.”

Arthur nodded, but now he had to consider. Should he entangle her in what came next? Merlin raised an eyebrow as if asking him the same question. He'd kept his thoughts of Carys a secret, and Arthur hadn’t the courage to inquire.

“Well?” Merlin probed. They stepped away from Carys watching Gawain and Kay.

“She’s a part of this,” Arthur whispered.

“And you don’t mind?” Merlin asked.

Arthur fell silent. Yes, he minded, but he couldn’t do anything about it. She wouldn’t go anywhere. That’s what they’d agreed on. To protect each other. Carys wouldn’t run away at the first sign of danger.

“Someone put Caliburn through her. She deserves to know why.”

“You think she doesn’t?” Merlin scoffed as if mocking him.

Arthur thinned his lips. Merlin was right. Carys probably knew more than he did. Merlin hadn’t told him everything.

Then Kay’s communicator gurgled, and he pulled it from his hip to listen as the others fell silent. A muffled voice came through, and Kay’s brow tightened.

“Things just got worse,” he said.

“Looks like the company you expected has arrived,” Arthur muttered to Merlin when he heard boots climbing the academy stairs.

“Lot has made an official declaration,” Kay went on as he scanned their faces. “He claims the sword in the stone is his, and he wants it back.”

“Sounds like it’s back to basics,” Gawain said. All eyes turned on him, and he nodded at the stairs where school security emerged.

“Right, princess.” Kay pulled Carys behind him. “We didn’t usually make a run for it, but I think now’s a good time to start practicing. Merlin, exit?”

Merlin, whose eyes had fallen shut, nodded. “Found one.”

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“This,” she gestured at the lake, “is your life hanging betwixt my fingers.“

It was time to force a little flow into her magic.

Her next breath released the spell disguising her, and she emerged in the form given to her when becoming a frost.

Her reflection shone like an eerie light through the mirror. She hadn’t had one as a banshee, but a frost was meant to be seen.

The mourning fairy’s hair lay in dusty silver and blue strands to her waist, her skin shone like porcelain, and a round sunburst mark glittered silver on her brow. Below it, her eyes pierced as if mirrors and her lips darkened to the color of a black cherry’s skin. Her emerald, silk dress pooled around her, and the sheer cape on her shoulders billowed as if a shadow.

The intruder gawked at the form in the glass, her fierce beauty rattling him as he slowly turned around. Dismay crowned his face when he saw the cruel presence occupied his reality. Foolish, Carys thought, to hope she lay beyond the mirror.

She lifted her palm and waved her fingers. Their surroundings changed, and the intruder found himself balancing on the ice of the mansion’s lake, a gray sky above and grand evergreens watching in anticipation. His eyes rolled around his skull, the precariousness of his situation making him pale.

He flinched when Carys laid a hand on his cheek.

“This,” she gestured at the lake, “is your life hanging betwixt my fingers. As an exile, there is nothing stopping me from doing what I wish with you. So answer me. Why have you infiltrated this mansion?”

Her prisoner attempted a reply, but stutters made him unclear until he forced his voice. “He sent me to find it!”

“It?” Carys tilted her head.

“The sword. The sword from the stone maiden. He wants it. He says it belongs to him.”

Carys’s eyes narrowed. “He?” She didn’t care for his ambiguity.

“Lord Lot. He wanted me to find the sword and bring it to him.”

Carys’s chin dipped, and she glared at him through her brow as a bitter wind threw her cape and latched onto his limbs. “I did not take in that sword for it to go to another. Nor would I have released it into the hands of he who was not the Once and Future King.” She stepped away, he cowering under her displeasure, and she lifted her hand. “Sleep.”

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“I wish you were my mom!”

Arthur chuckled and urged her forward. “Let’s go.”

She let him steer her toward the line of boys holding a banner. A big, blue thank you sprawled across it. Individual messages and signatures scribbled between and around the letters. Mel stood at one end of their disjointed line smiling.

“Yay, Carys!” She waved her fist in the air, and Carys sighed. Of course, the fairy had joined the festivities. Carys could handle a sign and some smiles, though. Her arms relaxed at her sides, only to stiffen when the guys ran up and wrapped her in their sign.

She struggled against them. Her arms raised to protect her tender chest and looked for Arthur while fighting the barrage of negative thoughts leaping like a desperate jester in her head. Her first impulse told her to run from the trap, her desire to trust Arthur begged her to calm down. The boys spread out around her.

“Ready, and go!” Ben pointed a finger at her.

Carys’s wide eyes jumped to each jovial face. Not a hint of meanness tainted their expressions, and Arthur stood aside as if waiting for the need to intervene. She took a deep breath when he met her gaze and relaxed.

“Carys, you’re beautiful!” someone shouted.

Carys recoiled as if hit by a fistful of pixie dust.

“You’re amazing.”

“Please go out with me!”

“Hey!” Arthur barked.

Carys’s mind fell silent, and her anxiety warped into disbelief.

“Thank you for the drinks.”

“You were really cool at the tournament.”

“I wish you were my mom!”

Wait—what? Her face screwed up at that last one until others overlapped it.

“We got a lot of students because of you.”

A flurry of compliments and praises she couldn’t fathom hurdled at her. Where did she look? She didn’t know how to feel or what to do. They kept shouting, prickling embarrassment through her. But underneath that, something else she’d only felt for Arthur emerged. Gratitude.

Carys gawked at them, truly confused when they quieted down. “You—like me?”

A few faces crumpled, and “aws” trickled throughout the room.

“She’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Arthur, please, let me have her!”

“No,” Arthur deadpanned, his tender expression switching to severity.

Carys trembled and thought if she’d not sworn to never to cry again, she would. “Th-that’s enough, right? You’re all satisfied?” she asked breathlessly.

Their kind gazes held her and then, bellowing a hoop and holler, they untangled her.

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“You are the loveliest goldfish I have ever met.”

“Does it bother you that much?” Arthur walked beside her.

Carys sighed at the wiry tree limbs. “I understand he means well. That he wishes to thank me but... I have a hard time trusting people.” For whatever reason, Gawain especially.

“And me?” Arthur asked.

“No...” She hugged herself. Not having her bag to hold felt like she’d left a shield behind. “No. Not anymore.”

“Anymore?” Arthur cried, his face a dramatic twist of surprise, frustration, and dejection.

Carys jumped. “I’m sorry. I got caught up in my head. Merlin and Galahad straightened me out, though.”

“You’ve suspected me since last night?” Arthur narrowed his eyes. She couldn’t tell if he was teasing her or offended.

“On and off,” she admitted. “I’ve felt like a confused goldfish trying to survive—only to forget the plan thirty seconds later.”

“Carys.” Arthur stopped, and she paused to look at him and his pretty smile in the sunlight. “You are the loveliest goldfish I have ever met.”

Carys blinked at him, trying to determine whether she found his clumsy attempt to compliment her cute, sad, or both. He went on unfazed by her uncertain reaction.

“I'll take care of you, so don’t worry about how to survive. You can protect me, and I will protect you.”

First a baby dragon then a baby goat. Now a goldfish. What strange creature might they compare her to next? Not that she blamed Arthur. She’d made the goldfish analogy herself. At least he’d called her lovely instead of clumsy.

“Do we have a deal?” He extended his hand, and Carys’s heart lightened as she took it.

“Yes, Arthur. We have a deal.”

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[lorweaver]

Frost of Avalon WIP Page

Keywords: King Arthur, Fantasy, Young Adult, Slow Burn, Strong Female Expected CW: Fantasy Violence Content: excerpts, characters, content

“You’re just saying that because of what that woman did to you.”

Merlin frowned at Arthur and Carys snuggled in the hall, a book in their laps and hands resting side by side over lily of the valley. He remembered the field Arthur had taken him to. The place that meant so much to him before he became king. The place he went to when he desired escape from the castle and everyone in it. The field where thousands of lilies of the valley grew. His refuge as a child and as a king.

According to Kay, Arthur had only taken one other person there.

As if summoned by the thought, Kay came beside Merlin and crossed his arms. “Huh, looks like a breakthrough to me.”

“Small progress,” Merlin agreed. He imagined them laying in that field and wondered if Carys would appreciate it the way Arthur did.

“But you’re not celebrating yet,” Kay added.

Merlin wished he could, but it was too early. As much as Arthur wanted to invite Carys into his world, this baby goat—trying so hard to navigate through her own tragedy—would run away before accepting.

“He cares too easily for women,” Merlin said to disguise his true thoughts, though he believed it. Arthur had a soft spot for the fairer sex. Not out of duty or because he thought them weak. He loved them in respect for their secret strength to endure far better than men.

“You’re just saying that because of what that woman did to you.”

Merlin’s fingers tightened into his arm and answered with silence. He’d let Kay believe his cynicism came from his failed attempt at love.

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