I'm afraid I missed yesterday's update. The dreaded insomnia struck again, so I just made it through work, came home, and went straight to bed without eating, let alone writing anything.
I, um, may have slept for up to 11 hours and did take another nap today. But hey, afterwards, I managed to produce over 1,000 words!
So, here's my snippet for today:
Hippias dropped a bundle of letters on the bed and thrust a message right under her nose. "These are my informers’ usual reports. I wanted to go through them with Your Majesty, but I think you should read this first."
Cursive script looped elegantly over thick, expensive paper. The golden seal that showed the Emperor’s throne amidst winged lions had already been broken. At the bottom of the scroll, Attolia noticed another familiar stamp: Melheret’s personal sigil, carved in wax.
The letter from the Mede chancellery condoled the queen on her newly widowed state in exquisitely polite terms. Its florid prose made no mention of the year-long trade embargo, but it included personal greetings from another erstwhile ambassador: Nahuseresh was grieved to hear that such a young king had died so soon.
Attolia’s earthenware cup hit the wall in a shower of splinters and a spray of tea. With a loud yelp, the poodle jumped up from the carpet, rudely torn from its nap, and dug its teeth into Hippias’s tough leather boots.
"I’m afraid it mistook you for the Mede," the queen said dryly. "If these esteemed diplomats were here, I’d be tempted to bite, too. Only I’d have the good sense to go straight for the throat."
"They are mocking us, Your Majesty," Hippias huffed. "Provoking us, almost."
"Provking us, period. But I won’t be goaded into anything rash," Attolia said with a rueful look at the remains of the cup.
"We can’t risk giving them any pretext for war. We still don’t know where we stand with Magyar, and relations with Eddis and Sounis are somewhat … tense. Laying waste to their empire in order to avenge the slight to my dear departed husband? Very romantic, no doubt, and very stupid."
Amazing what a good rest and a clear mind can do for you :)
I really like the way you're able to add very serious political considerations on top of the personal story, it adds an extra layer of tension to the scenes.
And yes, I'm unfortunately not one of those lucky people who can function on little or no sleep. I just need to catch up on it as soon as possible, or thing will get ugly soon.
Sometimes you just have to function on very little sleep, but it's not pleasant. Good for you to get the rest you needed - the resulting word count is indeed impressive. :)
I can manage for a day or two, but it's really, really hard for me. One of my bosses is the exact opposite - he never gets more than five or six hours per night, and still works for twelve hours a day, at a pace that would send me into a nervous breakdown. I don't know if I find this enviable or disturbing...
Sleep is definitely good, and it's clearly had a positive effect on your word count! A nice snippet with some great intrigue.
Provking us, period. Apart from the typo, I'm not sure about the word "period" here - to me it feels very current-day-American and out of keeping with the setting (though not knowing the fandom it may be a perfectly acceptable anachronism).
Attolia's not one to be goaded into dangerous behaviour by unctuous diplomats. I liked the visual of the poodle biting the boot. No doubt the dropped tea startled him, but if he could have understood the contents of the letter, I think he would have done something similar without the shattering cup. It was a poisonous letter after all.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2014-11-22 05:44 pm (UTC)I, um, may have slept for up to 11 hours and did take another nap today. But hey, afterwards, I managed to produce over 1,000 words!
So, here's my snippet for today:
Hippias dropped a bundle of letters on the bed and thrust a message right under her nose. "These are my informers’ usual reports. I wanted to go through them with Your Majesty, but I think you should read this first."
Cursive script looped elegantly over thick, expensive paper. The golden seal that showed the Emperor’s throne amidst winged lions had already been broken. At the bottom of the scroll, Attolia noticed another familiar stamp: Melheret’s personal sigil, carved in wax.
The letter from the Mede chancellery condoled the queen on her newly widowed state in exquisitely polite terms. Its florid prose made no mention of the year-long trade embargo, but it included personal greetings from another erstwhile ambassador: Nahuseresh was grieved to hear that such a young king had died so soon.
Attolia’s earthenware cup hit the wall in a shower of splinters and a spray of tea. With a loud yelp, the poodle jumped up from the carpet, rudely torn from its nap, and dug its teeth into Hippias’s tough leather boots.
"I’m afraid it mistook you for the Mede," the queen said dryly. "If these esteemed diplomats were here, I’d be tempted to bite, too. Only I’d have the good sense to go straight for the throat."
"They are mocking us, Your Majesty," Hippias huffed. "Provoking us, almost."
"Provking us, period. But I won’t be goaded into anything rash," Attolia said with a rueful look at the remains of the cup.
"We can’t risk giving them any pretext for war. We still don’t know where we stand with Magyar, and relations with Eddis and Sounis are somewhat … tense. Laying waste to their empire in order to avenge the slight to my dear departed husband? Very romantic, no doubt, and very stupid."
no subject
on 2014-11-22 06:19 pm (UTC)I really like the way you're able to add very serious political considerations on top of the personal story, it adds an extra layer of tension to the scenes.
no subject
on 2014-11-22 06:29 pm (UTC)And yes, I'm unfortunately not one of those lucky people who can function on little or no sleep. I just need to catch up on it as soon as possible, or thing will get ugly soon.
no subject
on 2014-11-22 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-22 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-22 09:21 pm (UTC)I'm loving the intrigue here.
no subject
on 2014-11-24 02:44 pm (UTC)I'm loving the intrigue here.
Thank you kindly! :)
no subject
on 2014-11-22 10:55 pm (UTC)Provking us, period.
Apart from the typo, I'm not sure about the word "period" here - to me it feels very current-day-American and out of keeping with the setting (though not knowing the fandom it may be a perfectly acceptable anachronism).
no subject
on 2014-11-24 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-23 01:33 am (UTC)Attolia's not one to be goaded into dangerous behaviour by unctuous diplomats. I liked the visual of the poodle biting the boot. No doubt the dropped tea startled him, but if he could have understood the contents of the letter, I think he would have done something similar without the shattering cup. It was a poisonous letter after all.
no subject
on 2014-11-24 02:48 pm (UTC)Heh - thank you. Now that I've introduced a dog into the narrative, I need to find ways of using him. :D