Sarah Z. Creates

In the World-Building Wednesday series, I’m doing just that: using writing prompts to flesh out Talah, one of the worlds in The Sundered Realms. This month’s series is sketching out a few images of an origin story!

Azar watched as Mairi leaned over to whisper in her bondling’s ear. Azar cocked her head, her fae gold hair falling over her shoulders to pool on the leaves strewing the hall floor. It was strange to think of her father as anyone’s bondling. He was too much himself to belong to another.

No matter how beautiful that other might be. And Mairi was beautiful.

Her long, dark hair highlighted the paleness of skin that sometimes almost shimmered as if scaled. Her eyes were a blue so deep they appeared black. Her lips were startlingly red, a slash of color that emphasized the planes of her features.

She was beautiful even by fae standards, and powerful, too.

Azar might have been jealous if she hadn’t been so frightened.

Because for all the faint smiles Mairie bestowed on those around her, she was cold. As icy as the streams that were starting to crystallize around the edges now that winter was upon them.

Mairi had met her and dismissed her, her tone faintly mocking of the king’s magicless heir.

Already, many had taken Mairi’s subtle cues and begun snubbing Azar.

Azar might not have minded that, but she had also seen Mairi’s treatment of Tilda. If Mairi was icy with fae, she was downright glacial with the human. Glacially cruel, intent on grinding the woman not into subservience, but into nothing. Azar wondered what interaction Mairi had had with a human that had caused her to despise the species so thoroughly.

It was a question that gnawed at Azar as she had watched Tilda’s skin pale and thin in the weeks since Mairi’s arrival. The bruises Tilda wasn’t able to hide never truly faded. Azar watched as her maid limped through the shadows on a foot that had mysterious broken and refused to heal, and Azar wished for the millionth time that she had power. With power, she could make them stop harassing her friend, even if they didn’t want to.

But power was going to elude her forever, it seemed, which was why she was approaching her father tonight with nothing but words.

She clenched her fists in the simple tunic she wore. Tilda had sighed at its plainness the first time Azar wore it, but this morning, she had offered no comment.

“Stay here,” Azar had begged, but she and Tilda both knew that in the end, no where in the king’s domain would be safe. Not even Azar’s own quarters.

But further away was safer, so Azar was going to ask her father to allow her to take Tilda to one of the runs on the far side of the forest. A small one, rarely used, and one Mairi would have no reason to visit.

Mairi could turn her cruelty on her own people, who were so much more capable of defending themselves than either Azar or Tilda.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into The Sundered Realms! There’s plenty more to enjoy. In addition to these World-Building Wednesday posts, you can sign up for my newsletter to get a FREE short story: The Ruin of Ehslyng. Or stay connected via my Facebook page.