Hey! Look at that! I’m writing a post for WIPpet Wednesday and it’s Tuesday!

If there were any cider in this house, I’d totally be having one right now.

Sadly, there isn’t. But there are fixings for mug cakes…

Mmmmmm… mug cakes…

What was I doing again? Oh yeah… writing a post.

Anywho, the creative bug has bitten me. In addition to starting a new bodice for Faire (it’s going to be fabulous!) I’ve also managed to get more writing done than I have in awhile. I finished chapter 4, made the changes that I needed to for the old chapter 5 so it would fit in with the new beginning, and I’m almost done with chapter 6.

I am on a roll!

I also went ahead and changed Lucina’s name to Tesni. When I stopped and thought about it, it occured to me that there were far too many names ending in A (Maya, Audra, Lucina, etc…) I’m also tempted to change Matthew’s name. A friend pointed out that his name being Matthew, and his dad’s being named Michael could get a bit confusing since they’re both M names. I’m not entirely sure on that though – so we’ll see what happens.

Since Wednesday is the 22 of April, here are 22 lines from chapter 6 plus 2 more because why not. This takes place after Vivian wakes up in a strange poppy field (which we last saw here)

When Vivian looked in the direction she had pointed, she saw that, sure enough, a donkey and a cart stood a short distance away. The donkey was barely more than skin and bones, his ribs standing out sharply against his dull grey hide. The cart wasn’t in much better shape. It was constructed of rough boards, and one wheel looked as if it had a crack in it. “Looks like it’s abandoned.”

However, as they drew closer, Vivian noticed a woman wearing a green dress kneeling behind the cart. There was something wrong about the dress that bothered her though, the cut didn’t look like anything she had seen in a store; it was loose and held together by knots at the shoulders, and thick leather belt around the waist. The fabric it was made of was roughly woven, and coarse enough that she could see individual threads. Maybe it was handmade, Vivian told herself, but why would someone willingly wear something like that? It had to be harsh against the skin.

The woman’s back was towards them, so she did not see them approach, and Tesni moved so quietly that she did not hear them either. Vivian tried to follow the other girls lead, and step in her foot prints, but unfortunately she wasn’t as stealthy. Her next step landed right on a small twig. Even though it was tiny, the sound of it snapping echoed through the trees around them. Tesni turned to glare at her and Vivian winced.

They looked back at the cart to find that the woman had turned around to stare at them, her mouth hanging open in surprise at their appearance. Just as Vivian had suspected, her dress wasn’t anything even remotely close to the clothing available in stores. The only thing that she had seen that was similar had been in museums or art books.

A toga.

Around her neck was a heavy leather necklace – no, Vivian corrected herself, a collar – that was attached to the back of the cart by a chain. And now that she had stood up, they could see that there were three other unfortunate souls that were chained up too.

She opened her mouth, shouting something at them in a language that Vivian didn’t recognize. Whether it was a warning, or a cry for help, she didn’t know, and she didn’t want to stick around to find out.

“I think we should leave.” Tesni said just as soon as the girl started shouting.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Vivian agreed.

To read more WIPpet Wednesdays, go here.