Rainbow Snippet for 1-12-2019

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers 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 (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

Still posting from one of the books of the Academy of the Accord series, showcasing two of my favorite characters. (Okay, yes, they’re all my favorites, but Yhon and Bry – especially Bry – hold a special place all their own.) I was going to skip ahead and show you an older Brythel, so you could see the changes in him, but decided to finish this bit instead, so I’ll get to that next month.

For those joining late:

Yhonshel is a Tuanae, both wizard and warder. He is a captain, one of the three seconds in command at the garrison of the academy, and he is also a Master wizard and one of the three deputy headmasters at the academy. He’s quiet and gentle and soft-spoken but I don’t recommend ever making him truly angry.

Brythel is one of the cadets. He is timid and nervous and very unsure of himself. (One of the reasons I love Bry is that he probably grew and changed more than any other character I’ve ever written.)

The students were introduced to Yhonshel on their tour of the castle and he invited any of them who were interested in music to come find him during free time. Bry has taken him up on his offer.

Picking up from last week’s snippet:

Hesitantly he began to play, Yhonshel watching him with a gentle intensity.

“Relax,” he said softly. “Pretend I’m not here.”

Brythel wanted to protest that he couldn’t do that, that it was Yhonshel’s presence that he wanted almost as much as he wanted music, but he swallowed the words and nodded.

“Close your eyes,” Yhonshel said. “You are safe here. There is nothing to fear.  Just close your eyes and breathe deep and easy and imagine that you are in the safest place you can think of.” He smiled as he saw the boy relax in response to the sound of his voice. “You are safe,” he murmured. “Now, play.”

Brythel began playing, hesitantly at first, then with growing confidence as the music began to weave its magic.