Lord Danbury walked out of the room, and Anna could hear him speaking in the hallway. He was answered by their footman, and another male voice she didn't recognise. Probably the steward; Seb wasn't going to get another chance to climb out a window, at least not until he got to whatever country house was …
A Steering the Craft exercise where you try to weave a large lump of exposition into a story. The crowds stared and whispered, as they did every year. At least it was a different crowd this time. Country folk, gawping and gasping, instead of the sniggers of the city’s thieves and merchants. In all, Queen …
Andreas stood at the entrance of the wide room, greeting his guests. Xavier said Leila was in the summer house, but lacked her loom. Could she sing without her weaving tools? Should he send someone to collect them? As if she had heard his thoughts, the first threads of a working song, the type used …
Prompt: All the statues in a major city go missing Janet switched the television to mute. The reporter standing in front of the empty pedestal didn’t have anything new to say and was looking increasingly uncomfortable. She didn’t blame him; the Albert Memorial minus Albert and his attendant symbols of the Empire was an eerie …
A random snippet from a story that went nowhere. The candidates were left to their own devices that morning, provided, they remained in their apartments, so each could be found at a moment’s notice for their meeting with Prince Justin. Marie raised a brow when her maid admitted the official from the night before barely …
The silence at the dinner table was deafening, Maria wanted to clatter her knife against her plate, or her glass, something, anything to break the bitter, suffocating blanket their mother had thrown over all of them and their father was doing his best to ignore. Marcus did it for her, casting down both knife and …
Juanita raised a brow when Xavier sidled into her kitchen in Marya’s wake. Her second brow went up when Timon raced through the front door, spotted Leila and his daughter, and sagged in relief. “I’ve been hearing such stories.” He straightened and eyed Xavier. “Are you the lad who was harassing Leila, or are you …
The first time it happened, I was sitting under the kitchen table. It was a good place for a small child in a busy household. Out of the way, unseen, but aware of all the goings-on. So anyway, the first time. It was a holiday, so I wasn’t at school and the kitchen was full …
Emrys walked through the station, making for the café he preferred to use for initial contact meetings. It was public, busy, and open. So, anonymous in a way that only hiding in plain sight could manage. He was in there often enough that all it took was a nod to the people behind the counter …
Xavier accompanied her to her home, then continued on to the galleon with Marya. It was a tense, quiet walk. Marya asked. "Are you going to go back tomorrow?" Leila nodded. "I have to." Marya tensed. "What did he say? He might be the prince but he can't force you into doing anything." Leila summoned …
The DNA of Stories 