Tuesday Teaser

*yawn* Good Tuesday morning to you! It's been a long night in the London household. Thunderstorms rumbled and shook the house until about 3am and then the nightmares started. Stupid dreams that startle me awake. And why must nightmares be such great plot ideas? I foresee lots of caffeine for me today!

On to the teaser! Hope you enjoy it! Leave a comment below so that I know you dropped by! Don't forget to stop by the fabulous Krystal Shannan's  blog for her own Tuesday Tease!

"Mama, I’ll be good," the little girl whispered. She clung to her mother's legs. "I didn’t mean to fall in the water, I promise I won't do it again." She looked up, her mother's face shadowed by her cloak hood. The winter's night air wrapped around her legs and she shivered. Confusion whirled in her mind. They whispered about her fall into the water at the bath house. "Mama, someone pushed me, don't you believe me?"

 Arms circled her shoulders as her mother dropped to her knees. "Oh, Dominica," her mother sobbed against her. "One day I hope you'll understand."  She buried her face against her mother. The sweet smell of rosewater filled her nose. Her mother's scent.

 "She will be safe, Brother. I give you my word." The senior Vestal nodded her promise to the little girls father. "No one will touch her inside the temple."

 "I know, Sister." Her father nodded. The little girl saw tears in his eyes. "Dominica, it's time. Kiss your mother," he ordered in a voice that cracked as he spoke.

 "But I promise," the little girl sobbed as her father pulled her away from her mother. "I'll be good!" Her scream echoed against the side of the temple. Her father squeezed her one last time and pushed her into the outstretched arms of the Vestal Priestess.

 "Hush, now, child," the Vestal whispered into her ear.

  "No! Mama! Papa! Don't leave me!"

Teaser Tuesday!

Good afternoon! I hope everyone is having a fantastic Tuesday!  It seems that blogger has been changing up the format here .... and true to my Taurus nature.... I don't like change. (You can only imagine how frustrated I've been as Facebook changes over to timeline... hate it). So I'm a little late getting the teaser up today... but it's part of the piece that I am currently working on. (And praying that my muse will allow me to remain focused on until it ends! I swear I have writer's A.D.D.).

As always... it's unedited! :) Don't forget to stop by Krystal Shannan's  blog for a taste of her now FINISHED WIP! Woo woo!!! GO KRYSTAL!!!!!!

    “She was your friend?” 

    Livia nodded just as the litter jerked to a sudden halt, and found herself nearly thrown into the floor. 

   “The fool driver must be in the wine again, Attia.” The shouting outside began in earnest and the litter rocked as something heavy slammed against it.

    “Get down!” Attia screamed as she flung herself to the floor. Dominica moved to pull aside the fabric and peak out the window to discover what all the commotion was about. ‘No!” The woman screamed, grabbed Dominica by the braid and dragged her down. “We are for certain under attack you foolish twit!” The sudden scream of a man nearby sent a chill through Dominica’s heart.

    “My Father said the roads to Arcavius were safe! The barbarians are peaceful here!” Dominica tried to moved but the woman held tightly to both girls.

    The sudden silence frightened Dominica more intensely than the sounds of the guards fighting moments before. The steady falling of footsteps grew closer to the litter the three women huddled in. “Here,” Attia hissed, pulling a silver dagger she had hidden in the folds of her dress. “Quickly, slit your wrist before the barbarian takes us!”

    Dominica looked at the knife the woman pushed into her hands. She had often heard of other women, taking their own lives rather than fall to the savages.

    “Nica!” The voice boomed from outside a moment before the door ripped away. The cool air of the mountains rushed inside and bathed over her. Dominica sat frozen, the man glaring in at her was unrecognizable. Dark eyes flickered quickly to the other women and then the knife.

    “Quickly, before he reaches in!” Attia whispered.

    “You will do no such thing.” Snatching the dagger with one hand, he gripped Dominica with the other and pulled. She tried to resist. “Do you forget me so quickly outside your villa walls?”

Teaser Tuesday

Oops! Totally sidetracked this morning! Spring cleaning has taken over! I have one room left in the house to de-clutter, clean and organize and then it's on to the garage! Ugh, the garage. Let's not even think about that mess right now. I'm southern... we don't use our garage for vehicles.... it's more like... storage. Ha!

So...after minimal fretting about... I've settled on my teaser for this beautiful spring day! Don't forget to check out Krystal Shannan's  teaser! It's great! She's nearing the finish line on her WIP called Misplaced Heiress.  

                                                              GO KRYSTAL GO!!!! 
Hope you enjoy it!!!!!!

    The heat wave had been rolling through the city without mercy for more sunrises than Dominica cared to count. She had lain awake, unable to sleep, praying to the gods for rain while listening to the silence of her family’s villa. Tossing the thin rose colored sheets aside, she up another plea that the heat would soon end, for even sleeping without clothes had ceased providing any relief during the night. Reaching for the thin wrap she kept nearby, she headed for the door, stopping only to listen for any sounds. Slipping quietly out of her room, Dominica slid softly through the dimly lit hall towards her Father’s tablinum. The late hour assured her that the servants and slaves would be abed. She knew her Father was still in his study, having not heard him pass by her rooms for his own. He had spent most of the night there, in deep and often loud discussion with the men whom had arrived just after the evening meal.

    So intent upon checking on her Father, she did not see the black shadow moving soundless behind her.

“Nica.” Despite the familiarity of the deep voice, Dominica spun, startled, pulling her nearly sheer wrap more tightly around her.

    “Bricius!” Dominica glared at the sole private soldier that her Father employed as he leaned casually against a pillar in the shadows outside her room. “Do not frighten me!” She saw the flash of white as he smiled at her discomfort. Bricius had worked closely with her Father for the last decade and Dominica suspected that the soldier was the tool behind much of the violence surrounding her Father’s enemies in the Senate. Despite it, Dominica felt at ease in the soldier’s presence.