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September 11, 2005
9 and 10, and a passage from 11
Normally, I don't do this. So consider it a rare "treat" (assuming you like my writing; otherwise, why are you reading this?) and a glimpse into what I've been working on as overtime and extracurricular duties have allowed me.
Revised 9 and 10. Working on 11, which is where this comes from: a short passage from The Firebird's Wish under the cut.
[Our heroine, Ria, has awoken with a fantastically bad headache after a particularly unusual nightmare. And so this scene between her and her roommate occurs.]
- Ria crept back inside, sitting down on her bed and rubbing her temples. The door opened, Melusine's hum preceding her as she wandered in.
"Morning, woolgatherer," she said, pulling a towel off her head and running her fingers through her damp hair. The fragrance of warm sandalwood and neroli filled the air as Melusine sprinkled a few drops of oil on her palms and massaged her scalp. "You slept like a stone."
"Do stones sleep?" Ria asked, pinching the bridge of her nose again. Talking was an effort.
"What are you doing?" Melusine inquired.
"Keeping my brains from spilling out of my ears."
"What's wrong?"
"Imagine fifty angry firebirds stuck in your head and trying to get out."
"I'd rather not."
"That's a shame. You'll never know the sheer, ecstatic joy I'm experiencing now."
Melusine rubbed oil into her arms and elbows. "Maybe there's something one of the Seers can get you?"
"Nah. I think I saw some bloodbell in the garden." Ria got to her feet. "I can brew it into something to cut down the pain."
Melusine's brow wrinkled briefly. "Isn't fresh bloodbell toxic?"
"Only if you don't ask it nicely."
Melusine stared at her blankly.
"Sorry," Ria mumbled, stumbling out the patio door. "That didn't make sense even to me. I'll be back."
And that, as they say, is that.
Posted by sdshaver at September 11, 2005 11:31 PM