snippet post

[dragonlady7]

writing, i swear i will finish this, the witcher

via https://ift.tt/32ZxfKW

i swear to y’all i’m making progress.

i took yesterday off for vaccine side effects, and for a bit of it i was self-satisfiedly playing hooky, but then it hit me kind of hard and i had to lie down. i have taken three naps in two days, and one of those days i worked nine hours, so.

but i did get a bunch more written, particularly on this Ciri story, on which I am so close to getting to the like action plot sequence where it’ll progress a lot faster. (Crucially, which will have a Witcher or two in it, which I find I’m impatient for.)

“Marvellous,” the Crown Princess said. She turned her attention back to the Emperor. “You said there was some matter of the grain trade that you wanted my advice about?”

The Emperor raised an eyebrow. “I wanted to advise you,” he said, “upon the situation, so that should it arise again after my departure you have an established precedent to guide you.”

“Ah,” the Princess said brightly, “I see. Well, you’d better tell me, then. You know how I dote upon your wisdom.”

“How,” the Emperor said levelly, “is it, that your grandmother has been dead for ten years, and you still can do such a perfect impersonation of her?”

“I have many talents,” the Princess said. “But don’t waste my time, you know how much I have to do this afternoon. Explain to me how grain trading works here in these barbarous south lands.”

[…] At the conclusion of the matter, the Emperor leaned forward slightly, steepling his fingers on the desk in a gesture Luliana was startled to recognize as one the Princess used sometimes. “Had your Eskel any other news to share?” he asked.

The Princess gave him a considering look, hard to read. “Nothing of note,” she said.

“Any plans for a visit?” The Emperor tilted his head slightly. “Or any news of the others?”

She shook her head. “Not much,” she said. “I’d hoped for more. But I know they can look out for themselves.”

“It would be a trivial matter to locate any of them at any time,” the Emperor said, “using means already easily available to you.”

The two held eye contact with one another for a long moment. “You know why I don’t,” she said.

After another moment, the Emperor looked down, mouth set and something about his gaze going inward. “Perhaps I do,” he said. He waved a hand, the same imperious gesture he’d used at the beginning of the conversation to interrupt the Princess, but something about it, something in his lack of eye contact, indicated an uncertainty that hadn’t been there before. (Your picture was not posted)