The Sweetest Downfall

who cries when someone dies in a movie

Definitely Layla. She tries to hide it, but she reacts first, thinks later. Serena’s been trained to keep her emotions in check, so she might feel like crying, but she’s good at putting on that stone face.

who wears the ugly holiday garb

Layla. She loves to find the ugliest thing she can possibly locate and wear it with pride. Especially if it’s comfortable. Plus, it makes Serena laugh.

who pays for the meals

They take turns, especially at first. Layla insisted upon it. Once they get married, though, the pull from a joint pot and pay together. And Serena is always a big tipper.

Serena. Layla’s too practical when it comes to strays, but Serena has a very big heart and still thinks she can save the world and everything in it.

who leaves the bathroom door open

If using the facilities, neither of them, at least not at first. If bathing, Layla. She hopes to entice Serena to join her.

who tells the ‘dad jokes’

Layla. She loves puns and bad jokes and silly things. Stuff that makes Serena laugh and give her a fond look.  

who wants kids more

Neither of them. Serena is hoping she can foist off the idea of heirs onto her brother, while Layla has enough nieces and nephews that she thinks she’s set for life.

who travels more

Layla. She’s at least been out of the city a few times thanks to being a member of the militia and Nolan’s Guard. Serena hopes to get out of the city soon. She wants to make diplomatic trips to both Aldagar and Ivaline to maintain friendly relations with their neighbors.

Serena is one pretty package from top to bottom. Everything about her is gorgeous.

Even so, Layla has her favorites. Like Serena’s thick thighs. Her wide hips. Her olive skin. Her glossy black hair so long it falls to her waist like dark water. It’s as soft as silk and always smells of sweet oils from a distant land.

Layla likes to embrace Serena from behind, pressing her nose to Serena’s hair. She inhales deeply, enjoying the scent. Serena’s hair is so soft it tickles Layla’s cheeks.

“Do you mind?” Layla asks as she rubs Serena’s corset-covered belly.

Serena laughs and pats her hand. “No, my sweet. Indulge away.”

She hands Layla a brush and works her way free long enough to sit at her vanity. This puts her hair in easy reach for Layla to play with.

She isn’t skilled at the intricate knots and braids like Serena’s handmaidens. But this isn’t about style.

It’s about Layla getting to run her fingers through Serena’s hair.

Layla has a temper.

Where Serena is more likely to pull on a mask and hide her feelings until later, Layla is the type to react immediately. Sometimes with a sharp retort. Other times with a raised fist.

Big things come in small packages, or so they say, and given Layla’s explosive moments, Serena believes it.

There are some things Layla can brush off with no trouble. She does have her sore spots, but sometimes, Serena can bring her back with a soft word.

Other times, Serena doesn’t bother. She feels as insulted as Layla does and she has to admit, she enjoys watching Layla teach imbeciles a lesson.

Layla’s small, but she’s fierce. Insulting her abilities, for whatever reason, is quick to incite a challenge.

Layla taking down opponents twice her size gives Serena a quiet thrill. The fierce look in her brown eyes makes Serena tremble. She has to resist the urge to drag Layla into the nearest alley and pin her against a wall.

Yes, Layla has a temper. She also has restraint when she needs it. So it’s a good thing Serena helps balance her out.

So one of the themes in A Royal Pursuit is that Layla is taking part in a tournament, Cel'li’s Challenge as a matter of fact, in hopes to win Cel'li’s Boon, rather than the prize coin. Cel'li’s Boon is an open-ended opportunity to make a request for something that you couldn’t get otherwise, though it’s more often used to make a statement of love.

In Aldagar, they have a celebration every year and a tournament/challenge to go with it. They have five deities that they cycle through to honor.

1. Cel'li, the warrior god. His challenge is a physical tournament, doesn’t have to be swords but no magic can be involved.

2. Melali, the god of knowledge. His challenge is sort of like a brain bowl. Participants have to be able to answer a variety of questions from a variety of origins including literature, science, math, and history.

3. Larian, goddess of cunning, or the trickster goddess. She is honored by a footrace that is more like a relay race.

4. Ilith, goddess of magic, who is honored by a fighting tournament, but only for wizards/sorcerers, whether Innate or Adept.

5. Arith, goddess of science and younger sister of Ilith, who is honored by an alchemy challenge.

Twisted Fables is now available for Pre-Order if you want to go ahead and get the Anthology ahead of time!

I’m very excited to finally be getting back out into the publishing world and I hope you’ll support the other writers in this fascinating Anthology.

My short story is a f/f fantasy called A Royal Pursuit.

It’s time for The Reverence, and this year’s challenge is for those brave or foolish enough to enter. It’s a chance, however. For fortune and fame. For something else. For one of Cel'li’s boons.

Layla knows it’s her golden opportunity. Tired of keeping her relationship with Princess Serena to the shadows, this is a chance worth taking. With such a prize, no one can deny their bond. It’s the best hope she has for the future. Even if it means risking everything.

Even better!

Not only can you buy the entire anthology digitally and in print (from Amazon), but you’ll also be able to buy A Royal Pursuit individually after the release date.

Seven more days to go! \o/

For the people of Aldagar, who live in proximity to Elvie and Meransia, their rules of ascension are considered quite lax.

Same-sex marriages are not frowned upon and are treated as normal, even for the nobility or royalty. The Ruling Two can be m/m, m/f, or f/f. The Ruling Two don’t even have to be the married couple, so long as one of the Ruling Two are genetic heirs to the throne.

Take, for instance, Serena’s grandparents, her father’s parents. While they were husband and wife, they were not King and Queen. They were King and wife, with a secondary member of his support staff serving as the balance to his Ruling Two, (King and Dame, or King and Sir, in this instance, King and Sir). The Ruling Two do not have to be romantically linked.

Therefore, if Serena and Layla were to be wed, Serena would have the option to either nominate Layla as her Queen and the second half of her Ruling Two, or Layla (who honestly has no interest in learning how to rule a nation), could politely demur, allowing Serena to choose a more suitable candidate to rule beside her.

It is not the fact that they are a lesbian couple that prevents Serena and Layla from being together with ease, but that Layla is not only a commoner, she’s an Unlearned commoner (which is different from an uneducated commoner). Royalty don’t often marry for love, but for practicality, and Layla’s skills are impractical to assisting and supporting Serena in her future rule.

Princess Serena, daughter of King Elian and Queen Cerise, the Ruling Two of the country of Aldagar, located on the continent of Ghent.

Layla, daughter of Nolan’s Guard, a soldier in training. Her parents are Garrick and Noelle.  

Serena is older than Layla by a couple of years. She has a younger brother. Her father inherited the throne when he came of age, and he has a sister, but she declined the throne. (More to come on royal ascension in a separate post). Serena’s mother is an only child.

Layla, meanwhile, has three siblings – two sisters and a brother – and from one of them, nieces and nephews. Layla is the light of her father’s eye, the only one interested in following in his footsteps. Her father is part of Nolan’s Guard, and her mother works in administration.

They first met in passing, ages ago, when Serena asserted herself against her parents, to refuse their protection. They insisted that if she proved capable of defending herself, she wouldn’t need to keep a guard. Thus, she began to take self-defense classes, one of which was taught by Layla’s eldest brother, and Layla happened to drop by one day, causing them to meet.

Amusingly, Layla hadn’t even recognized Serena. She paid little attention to royalty or nobility and therefore barely knew what the Ruling Two looked like and didn’t even know the names of their heirs. She only noticed Serena because she was hilariously clumsy, but had the most beautiful head of hair.

Friendship came first. It later evolved to more…