It’s almost time for the reading period for Sword & Sorceress 32 to open, and I want to try for inclusion again. I’ve had good luck with the Warrior Pimchan and her household, so I’m going to continue her adventures in this story. Nadia, the child who has grown up to be Pimchan’s housekeeper, has become a character I like, so Nadia is in it, too. If S&S declines the story, I’ll just keep writing these two’s goings-on until I have enough for a collection. I probably have enough for a small collection, now.
Petitioning Pimchan
excerpt from “Hostage” (WIP)
by Marian Allen
Nadia greeted her at the compound’s entry with a jerky bow and a shifty glance, at once defiant and hesitant.
“What have you done?” Pimchan saw no point in circling the outcropping; better to charge in and have it over with.
“Lek is waiting for you in the Chaos Garden.”
“Lek? Who’s Lek?”
“The old man who sells roast chestnuts. Used to.”
“I thought he went to live in the country. With his younger brother, I think.” Pimchan made no move to leave the entry. She had no intention of meeting anybody just now without knowing as much as possible about what lay behind the meeting.
“He did, but his brother drowned while fishing, and Lek couldn’t make it by himself. His brother’s daughter and her husband took over and threw him out.”
“And he wants me to do something about it?” She really must make herself more forbidding; she couldn’t have everyone in the village and surrounding countryside coming to her hoping she would carry out their petty vengeances.
“He wants to move in here.”
Pimchan prided herself on seeming composed at all times, but she felt her jaw drop. “He what?”
~*~
Yeah, no. Or is it no?
Let the adventure begin!
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character is asked to host someone they would rather not.
MA
