Tuesday Tales: Writing Flower

Welcome to Tuesday Tales, a weekly blog featuring diverse authors posting excerpts from their works in progress based on word and picture prompts. I’m pleased you stopped by today. This week’s word prompt is flower. My snippet is from a medieval romance featuring a knight and a lady caught in times of  turmoil and war. I’m excited to work in my favorite reading genre. Enjoy the other authors of Tuesday Tales.

The growing strength of the afternoon sun at last persuaded Alis to curtail her walk and return indoors. With her uncle’s guards maintaining their proximity, any pixyish thoughts of escape were at the moment out of reach. “For your own well-being, my dear,” he had declared. True as rain, and pigs fly as well.

She turned toward the keep at the same moment a small group of village youngsters came flying over the hill toward her. The eldest, still only a mite, ran straight at her. “Lady, lady!”

Laughing at their boisterous activity, she gathered him by his elbows and swung him around before setting him down. “Pietre, how you startled me.”

The other children hung back, but Pietre turned his great brown eyes toward her. The tyke’s grubby hands bespoke his morning labor in the field. “Lady, I have something for you.” He crushed a scrap of cloth within her palm as if it were a secret and then with great ostentation and a little bow presented her with the item in his other hand, a rather wilted ox eye daisy.

By then the guards had gathered closer. “Begone, ye rag tags. Think ye the lady cares for your puny weed?”

Fanning her skirt, Alis put herself between the guards and the children. “Thank you, Pietre. This flower is more beautiful to me than all the tended buds in his lordship’s garden. Did you know the daisy makes a merry tonic and even has the power to call forth the mighty thunder? You chose wisely with your boon, and I have a treat for you as well.”

Ignoring the guard’s grunt of displeasure, and secreting the scrap of cloth from Pietre within her sleeve, Alis gave him a wrapped tartlet filled with nuts and sweet meats. “I know I can count on you to share. Now run along and enjoy it well before supper.”

Once the children were safely over the hill, Alis continued toward the keep. Inside she had to force herself to walk calmly toward the solar. For once, the room was empty, perhaps already too hot for her cousins. Her hands trembled over Pietre’s scrap of cloth. It was dirty and tattered, but looked vaguely familiar. Why, her lace! She unfolded it with care, and into her palm tumbled a number of dried blue petals. Forget-me-nots! Reese!

I hope you enjoyed the snippet based on the word prompt flower. Thanks for stopping by. Return to Tuesday Tales.

Cheers & Happy Reading!

Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance

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