The Ballroom Project, Chapter Two (3,600-word fiction)

Alilah must reach her brother. She must. She can’t quite see him – it seems to her that he is standing at the other side of a vast, unfamiliar hallway, his silhouette barely visible – and she is running to reach him, yet the faster she moves, the further he slips from her view. She…

She wishes she could send some comfort his way (1,300-word fiction)

A continuation of my Ballroom Project saga! The part of the story that occurs right before this scene can be read here. When Surtha arrives, he is ordered to sit before his father and the rest of the family. Orvec is seated to his right, with his bride Beneth alongside him and her family, the…

He acknowledges her with the briefest of nods (880-word fiction)

Albalia’s sharp gaze takes in Alilah’s dress and cape – Alilah sees her checking that the ancestral gems are correctly arranged – then she nods and turns away. “Come. Eat, and we shall then prepare the grounds. I will go to the kitchens first, I must consult the chefs…” Downstairs, Eitrem is seated at the…

She has not inherited the striking beauty of her mother (1,000-word fiction)

She is considered pretty, charming, and in possession of the pleasing manners that any noble young woman of Orsthai is expected to have. Yet she has not inherited the striking beauty of her mother and her mother’s kin. Her presence shall never be as commanding, her force of will shall never be as strong, and she has always known that Albalia resents this.