MeiLin Miranda's Blog, page 66

Scryer's Gulch ep 31

A Full-Blooded Evening:

"Boy, Mamzelle, the way you do talk, I'd swear you really were from France instead-a..." Hopewell paused, uncertain. "Instead-a...er...wherever you all are from," he finished with a weak smile. "Well-l-l, I guess I would like a little filly at that. S'pose that's what I came for!"

"Très bien! I weel give you the choice best of my girls. But first, perhaps a drink?"

She gestured, and Howard the enormous bartender appeared at her elbow so suddenly Julian started. Two glasses and an amber bottle were set on the table, and Howard disappeared as quickly as he'd come. "That man's a tad disturbin'. He's not...not one of your folk, is he?"

"Oh, no. 'Oward, he is human." Mostly, she added to herself. She poured Julian a stiff drink and encouraged him to knock it back.

"Boy, Mamzelle, you sure are bein' nice to me tonight!" said Julian, with more cheer than suspicion in his tone.

"And why would I not? Now we no longer compete, I weel be ton ami--friend. Friends of the best, no? 'Ave another."

Julian grinned and hoisted the bottle. "Don't mind if I do!"

With each swig, Julian grew more talkative, just as Mamzelle had hoped; they began a good gossip over all of his various tenants. "The new schoolteacher--Mademoiselle Duniway--she goes well?"

"Oh sure, Miss Duniway, she's a peach!" burped Julian. "A reg'lar peach. That cat of hers is a holy terror, though."

"Cat?" said Mamzelle with casual interest.She had tracked Misi down to a single block of buildings including the Hopewell; her plan had been to go through the guests one by one and see who might be the owner of a large black cat. Hopewell had cut to the chase for her. "What kind of cat causes trouble for you?"

"A big black tom. Furry beast with a bad temper. Just as soon spit 'n' scratch as say hello, that cat," grumbled Julian.

"I think I know this cat," purred Mamzelle.

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"Lovers and Beloveds" chapter 2 is live

In which Temmin gets a dunking:

The first thing Temmin saw when he looked into the bathroom mirror on his birthday was a man. He was eighteen; that was that, he was an adult now. "And I still can't grow a proper beard," he said aloud, rubbing his chin.

"What, sir?" called Jenks.

"Nothing!"

The second thing he saw when he looked in the bathroom mirror was a face not his own.

Underneath his own reflection lay a faint tracing--a smooth face, a paler, thinner face with precise features, odd silver eyes, and iron-colored hair pulled back in an old-fashioned tail. He blinked, and it disappeared.

"Jenks? Insanity doesn't run in the family, does it?"

"Not to my knowledge, sir," said Jenks.

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"Lovers and Beloveds" chapter 1.8 is live

The conclusion of chapter 1:

Temmin found his tea laid out on the small table in his study. "Oh thank Amma, I'm starving," he said as Jenks poured him a cup.

"When are you not starving, young sir? How did your dancing practice go?"

"Very well, actually!" said Temmin around a mouthful of ham sandwich. He swallowed. "I remember more of my dancing than I expected to, and I rather enjoyed it. And I danced with the prettiest maid."

"Stop dunking biscuits in your tea, you turn eighteen tomorrow. Miss Ellika is very lovely indeed, young sir," said Jenks as he walked back to the bedchamber.

"No, no, not Elly, though she's a very pretty maid, if you want to put it all poetically. Jenks, she was flirting with a footman!"

"Miss Ellika flirts with lampposts, Your Highness," the valet's voice floated from the other room.

"She needs to stop. She's a princess. No, I mean an actual maid, a very pretty little thing named Dannikson."

"Oh?"

"She reminds me very much of a girl I kissed at the Estate, the night before we left."

The valet's head appeared in the doorway. "You kissed a girl?"

"That's what I said, isn't it!" said Temmin, pleased with himself.

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Scryer's Gulch Episodes 11-30 ebook now available

If'n you don't like reading online, you can get episodes 11-30 in convenient ebook (four different formats) for 99 cents at my site. You can get Episodes 1-10 for free at Smashwords.

Scryer's Gulch episode 30 is up

Sucker:

Over at the Hopewell, Emmy was keeping herself warm out of doors back behind the hotel by means of exercise, swinging a cane carpet beater against Julian Hopewell's parlor rug. Her long dust-brown hair hung in untidy braids where they'd fallen from atop her head--she never could get the hang of pins--and they flopped against her thin back as she waled on the carpet.

She stopped to brush sweat from her brow and glanced down the alleyway, just in time to see that Duniway woman slip between two buildings further down. What was she skulking around for? Emmy beat the carpet slower so as to keep a better lookout, tiny poofs of dust barely rising from the pile.

Sure enough, five minutes later here came John.

Emmy beat at the carpet so hard the crumbs and dust flew; she kept at it until the cane beater broke clean in two. She'd show John what kind of woman that Annabelle was.

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"Lovers and Beloveds" chapter 1.7 is up

In which Temmin takes a refresher course:

"You take Dannikson, and I'll take Wallek, Temmy," said Ellika. She took the footman's hand in hers, gazing up at him through her lashes. It set Temmin's teeth on edge. Was she flirting with a footman? Wallek held his head up, flushing beneath his freckles, but didn't meet the prince's gaze until Temmin took the maid's hand; his eyes met Temmin's in a clear flash of possessiveness, and Dannikson ducked her head.

Ellika cleared her throat and Wallek returned his attention. "Shall we dance?" she said. The four placed themselves in the pattern for the quarta, and the music began.

The steps came back to Temmin faster than he'd expected. He steered Dannikson more than led her, but soon her light, pliant step sent them gliding through the forms: twirling, changing partners, dancing in a ring, beginning again. The girl laughed, nerves forgotten, her cap's red ribbons flying; more curly tendrils slipped out to flutter at her nape.

Temmin pulled her closer by degrees. She smelled of hay and tea, and he wanted to bury his nose in her neck. Her quick pulse beat at her wrist beneath his fingers, her corset bones stiff beneath his hand at her back; he wondered how soft her breasts were, whether her nipples were the same sweet, rosy color as those of the girl in the hedge, and he grew impossibly, uncomfortably hard.

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"Lovers and Beloveds" chapter 1.6 is up

When Temmin returned, he got no further than the Keep's mud room when Jenks pounced. He traded his mucky boots for carpet slippers, and once upstairs, his dusty riding clothes for more elegant attire. "Do you need a shave this morning, young sir? You rushed out before I could get a good look at you," called Jenks from the wardrobe.

Temmin examined his chin in the mirror; still not enough beard to grow out, though his plentiful sideburns and moustache left little to be desired. "No. Why can't I just change my boots?" he said, scrubbing his face with a wet flannel.

"This is court, Your Highness, you cannot go to breakfast smelling like a horse."

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Patrons-only "Tales of the Lovers' Temple" story is up

The Patience:

Anda felt eyes on her; someone was in the observation gallery. She met two astonished blue eyes staring at them through the pierced screen. The Heir, she thought, that rude, dismissive boy. His eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he stared so hungrily she wondered if he'd burst through the screen, push the woman out of the way and pounce on her himself.

It was not the stare of a man merely aroused; it was the stare of a man who'd never seen anything like it before--very probably a man who'd never seen a naked woman. She smiled insolently back at him. I will wrap you round my thumb for your disdain, young man, she thought, then returned her attention to the woman, stroking her soft brown hair. When she looked up again, he was gone. The woman had nearly fallen asleep, the nipple in her mouth, but at Anda's touch she renewed her nursing.

This is an adults-only story limited to patrons of my site.

"Scryer's Gulch" Episode 29 is live

A Demonstration of Knowledge:

Someone out there asked about etheric guns--how they worked.

I’m not surprised you don’t know. What with gun control, you’ve probably never seen one outside of an EV show or a flicker. If you’re a cop, or if you’ve done a hitch in the military, you’ve probably fired one--maybe even some of the big artillery guns, if you’re good--but now that the draft’s ended I bet not many of you’ve served your country like that. Not like my generation.

I suppose my generation fought, though, so yours didn’t have to. Or that’s what we hoped.

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I'm not above bribery.

I need your votes at TopWebFiction.com, and I'm not above bribing you! Vote for the History and get a cool Lovers and Beloveds wallpaper! (At least I hope it's cool.)

And if you're a patron, there's a new, different LaB wallpaper in the Patrons Only graphics section of the gallery.