Ok, so I’m not in Wales today but I’m on my way there! It’s all very exciting. As always, if you want to find out more about my travel adventures, you can go to my other blog. I’m going to try and keep them separate as much as possible. I’ll admit that the last week, I have rather neglected my WIPs as I had an essay to write and I spent most of my free time developing my languages. However, I did get some time to go over Queen of Hearts, and do some more edits as well as extend the word count for SSHK.
Today’s WIPpet is some more from SSHK. This scene takes place relatively soon after the last one. WIPpet math = 18 lines according to my word processor + 1 for luck. 🙂 Note: v. unedited.
The mood in the city of Lahiba was electric, the air buzzing the way it does before a summer storm breaks. As Jahinda hurried through the narrow streets and bustling plazas to the palace, she scanned the faces of the cityfolk. Some looked happy – she saw merchants selling their wares at lower rates than the poor trading season warranted and beggars who smiled despite the heat and the stench and the dirt. But not everyone shared the sentiment – cautious folk walked quickly with their heads down and the outright scared were packing their bags and heading for the gates. Though there had been no official announcement, news of the Naming had spread. She arrived at the gates to the palace as the sun was sinking below the horizon, turning the sky turned an eerie red. Dressed in the burnt orange robes of Memset, Goddess of War, and the Finder’s badge pinned over her chest, no one dared challenge her. Once inside the walls, Jahinda hurried along the west portico, her long shadow stalking her movements. Taking an abrupt left up a set of narrow stairs, she emerged into a long corridor. She turned left again, spinning on her heel so her cloak billowed around her, and stopped outside a dark green door, knocking firmly on the old wood.
The door cracked open to reveal a muscled grey haired man in robes the colour of dried blood, “Jahinda, you’re late.”
“Sorry,” Jahinda pushed past him into the room beyond where the other six were already gathered.
Fiana, the grey-haired woman at the head of the long table stood, “The Great God Deshral has spoken three Names.”
“And we are Gods-bound to Find them,” the six Finders chanted the ritual response.
R.E. Navan 
I think you did a good job of portraying the electric mood of the city. The Naming ceremony Jahinda was creeping off to has me intrigued. I’m looking forward to reading more about this world.
Ohh, so this is how they’re going to find them… I’m even more intrigued now, that there’s so few of them to find the named ones. Love the description of the atmosphere too, I could imagine it vividly!
Thanks 🙂
My only nit is the use of ‘electric’. Do they have electricity? Would that word have any meaning in their world? But this, “her long shadow stalking her movements” Ooooohhh….I love that. Love it.
Thanks 🙂 And yes, I’m not a hundred percent sold on ‘electric’ myself though apparently the word has been around since at least the 1600s. 🙂
Really??? Wow. I wouldn’t have thought that long. It just sounds very modern to me.
As someone who tends to skip over description and has to go back and add in more details later, I really enjoyed yours. The imagery is wonderful!
Thanks 🙂