Tag Archives: magical

 

 

‘Tirsa, we have to talk this through–’

‘No,’ she answered solidly through gritted teeth, and stood.
‘No more lies, no more talking … no more!’ Moreover, she wished she had a sword or at least a knife, and while she wished it, in the corner of her eye she spotted a knife glittering in the sun, shining on the surface of the pool below the noisy waterfall. Without thinking, she picked it up in one movement and the next she stood before Artride threatening her with the knife. Visibly she was shocked, sitting and staring at Tirsa with wide-open eyes. So it is true, completely? Where did she get the knife from anyway? She must have it hidden from me all along …
‘Tirsa, for crying out loud, you are not yourself. Put away that knife … please.’ She began to fear and she showed it.
The bodyguard threw her head backwards and started laughing madly. Artride had never seen her like this before. ‘All of these things she said that mattered were desires, yes, but only some of it is true, all of what I told you! You must know that!’ she pointed out critically.
‘No,’ Tirsa answered grimly. ‘She was telling the truth if you think about it. A Woodchild doesn’t lie and after all she is a Truthteller.’ And she smiled wickedly and peered around.
‘You were actually going to stay here, weren’t you?’
‘No, Tirsa. Why can’t it be possible she is lying?’
‘Because when she focused on me … what she told about me was all true.’
Artride’s face showed signs of shock and disappointment, and that hurt Tirsa. ‘It was? You truly want to kill me?’ she saw the other woman swallow and turnher face away in shame.
‘I can do this quest alone. I don’t need you or anyone,’ she softly responded, keeping her voice plain and louder, ‘I shall succeed.’ She suddenly stepped towards the queen with the sharp blade of the knife pointed at her throat, breathing heavily, her eyes filling with tears. ‘Why?’ Her voice was breaking up halfway.
‘If you seriously believe she was telling the complete truth about you, not a mixture; you also believe there is no curse, so why would you continue this journey?’
‘I will go back alone and have my brother released! You will have no power over him or anyone anymore! You are cunning, but vicious!’
‘I never had any power, you know that,’ she stated calmly, but clearly affected by Tirsa’s words; her eyes were big and watery.
‘You have been lying! There never was a curse; it was just an excuse to make me care! I understand now. I was an easy target; perfect to come along and protect you deep into this land. You have been playing with me. Well, you got what you wanted. You stay here to settle down and do not ever come back. I will tell “your people” you are dead, like you desire; but stay out of my sight from now on.’
The shocked pale queen shook her head slowly; her face still so friendly and understanding, although stunned; Tirsa almost could not bare it.
‘I am sorry I was not honest with you about my desire for freedom to run away, but I am now,’ she tried to explain. ‘You have to believe me. There is a curse, Tirsa. Moreover, this escaping thing of mine was never a real plan; it was nothing more than a crazy idea; a desire if you like from a confused frustrated mind, no more than that. I have been desperate, so very desperate. I am telling you the absolute truth. You have to believe me, trust me, like I trusted you.’

 

“excellent dialogue”
“A good fantasy story especially in the lesbian genre and it doesn’t get much better”
“An excellent read for the price”
“The premise is thoroughly original. The two protagonist’s backstories were well fleshed out, and created sympathetic characters that the reader wished to see succeed. I enjoyed the Windchildren and Woodchildren very much, as well as the gods of the magical land. Sempervirens was a captivating villain as well, and I thought the author handled her quite well.”