This is the probable first page of my next book project, Little Sister of the Dragonslayer. I hope you enjoy it!
The calendar indicated that it was spring, but snow lingered around White Hills monastery. In a courtyard free of snow, its cobblestones kept warm with heat stored from the previous summer, a door opened. A teenage girl dressed in a pale blue linen tunic and violet trousers stepped out. She closed her golden-brown eyes for a moment as wind strong enough to lift her long black braid struck her. She shivered, but walked across the courtyard at a decorous pace.
Another door, and she was inside a corridor lit only by sunlight trickling through high, narrow windows of stained glass. The projected geometric patterns lent a cheerful touch, and the girl felt at home. She knelt beside a sliding door of frosted glass, heard the quiet murmur of women’s voices from within. She knocked gently on the door’s frame before she registered what they were discussing.
“Enter,” called one of the voices. The girl slid the door open. She crossed the threshold without rising, closed the panel behind her. “You called for me, Sister Abbot?” She disciplined herself to look only at the gray-haired Abbot.
“I did,” the old woman confirmed with a smile, her weathered blue eyes kind. She looked to the other woman, and the girl let herself look as well. The unfamiliar woman had burnished copper hair that she’d cut short, and calm gray eyes. The polychromatic seven-pointed star of the Order of the Celestial Guardian was embroidered on the chest of the white wool gambeson she wore, and a dot of light moved languidly on her forehead, tracing out the same sigil. The woman’s nose was sharp, and her cheekbones high. The girl guessed she was closing in on forty, and likely, the end of her active career as a warrior.
“Probationary Sister Midori,” the Abbot said, “this is Initiate Sister Siobhan.”
Midori bowed slightly. “I am pleased to meet you, Sister,” she said.
“The pleasure is mine,” Siobhan responded, her cool gray eyes studying Midori.
“Probationary Sister Midori,” the abbot said, still smiling, “has passed all of her tests to become a Novice.”
Siobhan nodded, her eyes still lingering on Midori. After a moment, she nodded again. “I am traveling to Blackstone City. I need a companion. Would you care to travel with me?”
Midori waited a moment, trying to conceal her excitement. “Please,” she said, and then, “thank you.”
“Is your gear ready, Midori?” the abbot asked.
Midori suppressed a smile. She had been pestering Lay Sister Jordan for days, filling her saddle bags with items the Sisters Instructor had recommended for her travels, from extra pairs of socks to scouring sand and clove oil for maintaining her maces. “Yes, Abbot,” she answered.
“We leave at first light,” Siobhan said.
“You should go and get ready,” the Abbot said to Midori.
Midori bowed, opened the door panel behind her, and exited without standing.
The calendar indicated that it was spring, but snow lingered around White Hills monastery. In a courtyard free of snow, its cobblestones kept warm with heat stored from the previous summer, a door opened. A teenage girl dressed in a pale blue linen tunic and violet trousers stepped out. She closed her golden-brown eyes for a moment as wind strong enough to lift her long black braid struck her. She shivered, but walked across the courtyard at a decorous pace.
Another door, and she was inside a corridor lit only by sunlight trickling through high, narrow windows of stained glass. The projected geometric patterns lent a cheerful touch, and the girl felt at home. She knelt beside a sliding door of frosted glass, heard the quiet murmur of women’s voices from within. She knocked gently on the door’s frame before she registered what they were discussing.
“Enter,” called one of the voices. The girl slid the door open. She crossed the threshold without rising, closed the panel behind her. “You called for me, Sister Abbot?” She disciplined herself to look only at the gray-haired Abbot.
“I did,” the old woman confirmed with a smile, her weathered blue eyes kind. She looked to the other woman, and the girl let herself look as well. The unfamiliar woman had burnished copper hair that she’d cut short, and calm gray eyes. The polychromatic seven-pointed star of the Order of the Celestial Guardian was embroidered on the chest of the white wool gambeson she wore, and a dot of light moved languidly on her forehead, tracing out the same sigil. The woman’s nose was sharp, and her cheekbones high. The girl guessed she was closing in on forty, and likely, the end of her active career as a warrior.
“Probationary Sister Midori,” the Abbot said, “this is Initiate Sister Siobhan.”
Midori bowed slightly. “I am pleased to meet you, Sister,” she said.
“The pleasure is mine,” Siobhan responded, her cool gray eyes studying Midori.
“Probationary Sister Midori,” the abbot said, still smiling, “has passed all of her tests to become a Novice.”
Siobhan nodded, her eyes still lingering on Midori. After a moment, she nodded again. “I am traveling to Blackstone City. I need a companion. Would you care to travel with me?”
Midori waited a moment, trying to conceal her excitement. “Please,” she said, and then, “thank you.”
“Is your gear ready, Midori?” the abbot asked.
Midori suppressed a smile. She had been pestering Lay Sister Jordan for days, filling her saddle bags with items the Sisters Instructor had recommended for her travels, from extra pairs of socks to scouring sand and clove oil for maintaining her maces. “Yes, Abbot,” she answered.
“We leave at first light,” Siobhan said.
“You should go and get ready,” the Abbot said to Midori.
Midori bowed, opened the door panel behind her, and exited without standing.
1 comment:
Oh, yes! An adventure! I'm looking forward to this, and just this much definitely makes me want to know more. Thanks for a peek.
Post a Comment