Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 22

Rainbow Snippets: You understand?

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Because it’s celebrate pride month, I’m taking a short break from focusing solely on To Poison a Prince snippets to show pieces from across my stories in the theme of coming out to their partners…

This snippet is from Someone Else’s Shoes. Originally published in the USA Today Bestselling anthology, Once Upon Another World, it’s being released on its own in November 2021. This story is a lesbian retelling of Cinderella set in the spellster universe.
The snippet itself is after Alla and Princess Viktoriya properly meet at the ball…

“Truthfully,” the princess whispered, drawing closer as if divulging a great secret. “There was another aspect to this night that wasn’t announced. My father wanted me to wait until I had found a wife to bear my children, but my mother saw this as an opportunity to see what fish are willing to bite now that I am of marriageable age.”

Alla’s heart sank at the bitterness in Princess Viktoriya’s words. If her stepmother knew the truth behind tonight, the woman would stop at nothing to see one of her daughters was chosen. It wouldn’t matter to her that neither Tamara nor Natalya liked women in that fashion. “Poor Vik,” she murmured.

Princess Viktoriya hummed her agreement, her lips flattening into a thin line. “Mother thought it better I face the whole court as the princess I am rather than the prince they thought they had. At once.” She shook her head. “They still insist I marry a woman. Because, you know, carrying a child is something I can’t do myself.” Her tone seemed cheerful and flippant enough, but the smile she gave Alla didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Alla had never given any thought to having children—at least, not beyond what her stepmother might do to them if she did. And when the only option to her was to proposition a serf or servant? It certainly wasn’t happening.

She gently laid her hand upon Princess Viktoriya’s knee. “I’m sorry. Truly. I’ve never considered how hard it must be to know the future of a whole lineage rests on you.”

“Do your shoulders not bear the same weight?”

Alla shook her head. “My lineage is nothing in comparison.” Or at all. So few of noble breeding would look to muddy their line by introducing elven blood into it.

Princess Viktoriya patted Alla’s fingers and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Truthfully, I don’t mind the marrying part. Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I don’t find my own gender attractive.” She leant back, resting her hands behind her to keep from falling off the bench. “You understand?”

With her face heating, Alla tucked her hair behind her ear. She did indeed. Quite a bit.

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more snippets from my other books. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Seeing the world…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I am in the last third of To Poison a Prince’s final edits, which involves a few rewrites. I’m also tinkering with a prequel novella to In Pain and Blood, but I’ll still be posting bits of Hamish and Darshan’s story for a little while longer…

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. This snippet follows last week’s, where Darshan isn’t impressed with his half-sister’s decor…

Hamish cleared his throat and glanced around. When they had approached the building, the mansion obviously had two equally enormous wings and there were at least three doors leading off this room on either side. He didn’t think an attack was imminent—not that he could hope to put up much of defence against spellsters—but that didn’t mean he could rule out any sort of altercation. Not when Onella was the half-sister who had no compunction with shooting an arrow into her brother.

Mindful of that any number of people could be listening, Hamish bent closer and whispered in his native tongue, “You look a little uneasy.”

His husband’s eyes widened, the expression amplified by the kohl ringing them. Muddied by the thick lens of his glasses, the irises looked brown. But Hamish had seen them close up enough times to know the earthy brown centres were ringed by a deep forest green. Whilst Darshan often remarked that Hamish’s eyes reminded him of jewels and the crystalline blue ocean near Minamist, Hamish only ever saw the world in his husband’s eyes.

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Poor design…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I’m done with the first edit of To Poison a Prince and taking a bit of a break before delving into a more substantial editing, but I’ll still be posting bits of this story for a little while longer…

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. This snippet follows last week’s, where they’ve reached the estate of Darshan’s half-sister…

“Why a tree?” The sparkle of colour drew Hamish’s gaze upward to where several large gemstones of green and red glittered in the candlelight. Was it meant to be someone’s attempt at leaves and fruit? They hadn’t done anywhere near as good a job there as with the tree.

His husband exhaled in a long, blustery sigh. “My bet would be on Onella mimicking the entrance to the imperial palace’s throne room. Poorly, I may add.” He flapped his hand, dismissing the sight. Darshan hadn’t remained still since entering Nulshar. When his hands weren’t fluttering in some dramatic gesture as he talked, he would stroke his tiny beard. The once stylised wings of his waxed moustache had long gone, the tips merging with a small circle-shaped beard that only encompassed his mouth and chin. “This design was clearly done by someone who has never set foot in Minamist, never mind the palace grounds. I would be ashamed to have this adorning my doors.”

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: A clunky monstrosity…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I’m done with the first edit of To Poison a Prince and taking a bit of a break before delving into a more substantial editing, but I’ll still be posting bits of this story for a little while longer…

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. This week’s snippet comes from chapter two, where they’ve reached the estate of Darshan’s half-sister…

Hamish had expected some sort of fanfare. That was generally what happened on the rare occasions his mother visited other clan’s castles. Twilight had greeted them as their carriage rattled into the front courtyard—brimming with short hedges and bushes blooming in yellow and orange. They had climbed the marble staircase to enter the mansion with little fuss beyond the bustle and fluster of servants.

But it was just the two of them, watched over by a dozen or so sets of eyes as they crossed the antechamber to a door that stood twice his height. The natural wood grain would’ve been a marvellous sight just shining in its various shades of honey brown. It had clearly been altered beyond its original design and the massive tree, carved from a blackish-red wood he couldn’t identify, took up much of the door’s surface.

“Gods,” Darshan moaned. His husband also surveyed the door, albeit with a far more critical gleam lighting his hazel eyes. “Could she be any more obvious about her intentions?” He sniffed, his cheek twitching as he gave a slight sneer. “Just look at this clunky monstrosity.”

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: It’s a test…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I’m done with the first edit of To Poison a Prince and taking a bit of a break before delving into a more substantial editing, but I’ll still be posting bits of this story for a little while longer…

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. In this piece, they are readying themselves for a soirée thrown by Darshan’s half-sister. In last week’s snippet, we were near the end of chapter one with them in the middle of a pre-dinner dinner, this follows on from then…

“It’s a test to see how much you will leave for your slaves.”

Giving a lip-rippling sigh, his husband leant back in the chair. “But I dinnae own any and all yours are in Minamist.” He glanced at the door, likely recalling his introduction to Zahaan. “Well, most of them. Are you nae bringing him along? That elven man is one of your slaves, right?”

“Technically, yes.” He hadn’t missed the thinly veiled disapproval in his husband’s voice. He had tried to explain how he often forgot about such details, just as he needed the occasional reminder that his Nanny Daama still belonged to his twin and himself. They’d grown up together. Daama had raised him. And Zahaan? “He is here under a different capacity, not as my valet.”

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Not for eating?

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I’m done with the first edit of To Poison a Prince and taking a bit of a break before delving into a more substantial editing, but I’ll still be posting bits of this story for a little while longer…

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. In this piece, they are readying themselves for a soirée thrown by Darshan’s half-sister. We’re skipping a little ahead of last week’s snippet to near the end of chapter one with them in the middle of a pre-dinner dinner.
Hamish talks first…

“So, I guess dinner happens after the dancing?”

Darshan inclined his head. “That’s when you cannot eat. Even though they’ll set several courses of huge trays, brimming with all the delicacies you could want, before you.”

They both ate a few more mouthfuls in silence.

“Nae even a morsel?” Hamish mumbled into his drink.

“Well, the food isn’t really for eating.” Not by them.

“It’s nae for—?” Hamish slammed down his tankard, slopping beer onto the tabletop. “What’s the point of food you cannae eat?”

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Not exactly alone…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I’m done with the first edit of To Poison a Prince and taking a bit of a break before delving into a more substantial editing, but I’ll still be posting bits of this story for a little while longer…

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. In this piece, they are readying themselves for a soirée thrown by Darshan’s half-sister. We’re keeping it going from last week’s snippet.

“We’re nae alone.” His gaze darted towards the wardrobe doorway, no doubt in search of Zahaan. “He might hear you.”

Darshan chuckled. “I’ve no doubt that he can.” Elves had an exceptional range of hearing that far surpassed humans and dwarves. But his spymaster had walked in on worse things. He also had enough sense to keep himself scarce. “But it is of no consequence. No one here can understand your language except for us. Naturally, that shall change in due course, but I plan to utilise this rare opportunity.”

“By whispering indecent things to me in the presence of others?”

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Not in public…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I’m busy with the first edit of To Poison a Prince, but I’ll still be posting bits of this story for a little while longer…

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. In this piece, they are readying themselves for a soirée thrown by Darshan’s half-sister. We’re keeping it going from last week’s snippet.

Hamish glanced up as he finished fussing with the last toggle. “And I thought we agreed you wouldnae talk that way in public?”

Darshan spread his hands wide, gesturing to the entirety of the dressing room. Yes, he had most certainly agreed to spare Hamish his blushing in the presence of those who would use his husband’s easily flustered personality against him. However… “This is hardly public.”

The area might not have a bed or any other furniture to denote it as a place of intimate activities, but it was still part of his personal suite. They were free to be themselves within the confines of these walls and not have to worry about any act or word being used as fodder for those who meant the crown harm.

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

With the first draft of To Poison a Prince out with alpha readers, I’m currently tinkering with a side-project. But I’ll still be posting bits of this story for a little while longer.

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. In this piece, they are readying themselves for a soirée thrown by Darshan’s half-sister. This carries on from last week’s snippet.

“Well, forgive me for finding my husband sexually attractive,” Darshan replied, the words a little sharper than the jesting tone he had meant. “Clearly, I should have found myself some utterly loathsome creature instead of a veritable god.”

Despite the acerbic note, Hamish’s lips still skewed into a poorly hidden smile. “Maybe you should have,” he mumbled into his beard, his attention dropping to the toggles. He fastened each one almost as swiftly as they’d come undone. “I’m naewhere near as insatiable as you.”

Doubtful. Darshan bit his lip to keep the word from leaving his mouth. After his husband had weathered thirteen years of forced abstinence, anything Darshan offered would’ve seemed excessive. But this was a far cry from Darshan’s own hedonistic past that had seen him sent to Tirglas as a punitive measure.

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And, after a lot of late-night writing, with overtures of panic, the first draft of To Poison a Prince is complete! Now, I sit back and take a well-deserved break whilst its off with alpha readers. And maybe look into a side-project I’ve been tinkering with.

For those of you who are new or catching up… Darshan and Hamish are a pair of thirty-something princes from two vastly different lands. Their tale starts with them travelling through the ginormous Udynea Empire that Darshan is from on their way to the capital. In this piece, they are readying themselves for a soirée thrown by Darshan’s half-sister. Last week, they were going backwards. This week, maybe not…

Hamish’s cheeks darkened, even as he jerked out of Darshan’s grip. Was he scandalised by the idea? They’d done similar a great many times throughout their journey from Tirglas to here. “I ken your passion feeds off your magic—and that the stronger the magic, the more it affects a spellster, and yadda-yadda—but do show a little decorum.”

Darshan had spent his weeks as an ambassador in Tirglas keeping his desires on a tight rein. It hadn’t been terribly difficult, what with the trials for Hamish’s hand and the man’s attempt at taking his own life. Even without those two points hanging over everything like a shroud, discretion had been advised on account of the land not being entirely forgiving about the activities of men like themselves. Not that Hamish would’ve considered Darshan as being at all restrained.

But they were in Udynea now. People would still care Darshan paraded about with a man on his arm, but only because it wasn’t them.

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more of these two adorkable twits. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!