{📚Neuzugang📚} Neu eingezogen ist "The Stories we write" von Olivia Dade, erschienen im Kyss Verlag. Ich bin ehrlich verliebt in das Cover. 📚🔖📖 Auch der Klappentext liest sich großartig. 😊🥰 Danke an die Buchhandlung Graff für die Signieraktion. 😊 Wer hat das Buch auch schon oder schon gelesen? 📚 #Buch #book #oliviadade #kyss #kyssverlag #endlichkyss #Roman #coverlove #coverhighlight #Buchliebe #buchhandlunggraff #signiert #signierterschatz #Blogger #blogger_de #Bloggen #bloggerlife #Buchblog #Buchbloggerin #missrosesbuecherwelt https://www.instagram.com/p/CdsihvQrRSP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
An out-of-context short story I whipped up for the writing group, based on a song prompt: “Hurricane (Johnnie’s Theme)” by Lord Huron. The characters are from a novel I drafted back in 2020, and the scene is set shortly before the novel begins. Kytt is a princess; Elis is making a terrible hash of being a royal guard. (The girls wanted a kissing scene. I was forced to oblige them.)
Kytt dangled her bare feet over the edge of the watchtower platform, ballgown bunched under her knees, and took another sip from the wine bottle she’d snatched from the party. A handful of guards paced down the mulberry colonnade, their torches throwing dancing shadows up the slope of the garden lawn. The mulberries rustled in a rising wind.
The guards had already checked the hedge maze, but hadn’t paid any mind to the watchtower at its heart, as the only way to access the platform was by a ladder. For whatever reason, most people assumed Kytt was above climbing things while wearing a dress.
Well, most people.
Kytt didn’t notice the lone figure until he was at the tower’s base. She recognized him immediately. He’d abandoned his regulation sword and pistol and his boots had never shined according to standard.
Kytt’s pulse fluttered in her throat. Quickly she took another swig of wine and pulled her knees to her chest, twisting her skirts about her legs.
“I thought you were on morning rotation now,” she called to the figure scaling the ladder.
Elis tilted back his head, teeth flashing in a grin. “Do you think I’d find you if I was on duty?”
How had he found her? Kytt had never told anyone about this place. It was her only refuge.
With a grunt, Elis hauled himself up onto the platform and settled cross-legged beside her. Leaning back on his hands, he surveyed the city and the thunderstorm boiling just beyond. After a few minutes of silence, he bent his chin toward the wine bottle and Kytt’s fingers pale around its neck.
“Celebratory drink?”
Kytt scowled at him. “What are you doing here, Elis?”
Instead of answering, Elis pried her hands off the bottle and raised it in a toast. “To your future husband. May he be granted due patience and a good ear.” He tossed back a mouthful and made a show of smacking his lips.
Kytt snatched the bottle back. “I’m not marrying Lord Peverryl.”
Elis’s face twisted into a grimace. “Then why in the world are you drinking that stuff? And hiding up here when there’s half a night of dancing left?”
A flash of lightning stuttered across the sky, casting the sharp angles of Elis’s face in stark relief. A half-faded bruise painted his cheekbone.
Wine and bitterness brought Kytt’s hand up. Her thumb traced the mottled yellow and purple stain. “I don’t feel like dancing,” she murmured.
Elis caught her hand and unfolded his legs. “Nonsense. You always feel like dancing.” He hauled her to her feet, humming in warning as she swayed.
“They’ll transfer you to the fox watch next,” Kytt warned halfheartedly.
Elis set a hand to her waist. “Who’s to know?”
There was hardly room for dancing on the little round platform. As if to make up for the limited space, Elis pressed closer than his choice of dance necessitated. He reached up to brush Kytt’s hair behind her shoulder, setting it loose in the wind sweeping through the open space.
Rain began to patter on the roof.
Elis spun Kytt in a tight circle and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her bare shoulders to chase away the cold.
Kytt pressed tight against his chest, dizzy and lightheaded. “What are you really doing here, Elis? How did you find me?”
Elis’s lips brushed her temple. “I always find you.” He continued to sway as thunder cracked and echoed against the cold stone of the city. In the following stillness, he whispered, “So you aren’t marrying that pompous nobleman.”
Kytt’s lips twisted. “It’s not a good match.”
“No?” Elis raised a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, his thumb lingering on her cheek.
“Mmm, no.” Kytt’s eyelids were heavy. She rested her forehead in the hollow of Elis’s shoulder, tucking her hands under her chin. “He never listens to what I have to say.”
A chuckle rumbled in Elis’s chest, echoing the thunder. “Which is why you have to sneak up on him.” Now his lips touched her cheek, feather light.
Kytt tried to pull away. “Elis….”
His fingers slid across the back of her head, twining into her hair. “You deserve someone who listens to you.”
She raised her head. “I told you to stop finding me.”
Lightning flickered in his eyes. “I’m a terrible listener.”
Kytt gave up on trying to put some distance between them. Whatever rationale normally guided her, normally warned her that this game they were playing was far too dangerous, had vanished. She didn’t care anymore. If Elis was determined to keep his eye on her, she might as well make the most of it.
When he finally kissed her, she didn’t even pretend to be upset.
~ 12 Tage - 12 Bücher ~ Tag 4 der #Buchchallenge, danke an @andreasm.sturm für die Nominierung. Es geht darum, 12 Tage lang 12 Bücher zu posten, die ich gelesen habe. Immer eins pro Tag. Keine Erklärung, keine Rezension, nur das Cover. Jeden Tag werde ich jemanden bitten, daran teilnehmen. Heute normiere ich @selene_niniel und würde mich freuen, wenn du teilnimmst. ❤ Ziel ist es, eine Bücherliste zu erstellen. #emmachase #kyss #kyssverlag #roman #romance #challenge #challengeaccepted #12tage12bücher #challengetime #lesen #leseliebe #leseleidenschaft #leseratte (hier: Dresden, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CP-gNZSB43v/?utm_medium=tumblr
