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Interesting… Here’s a first draft bid with a few current WIP character…

 

Character 1

He’s back.

My heart fluttered, yet the pit in my stomach grew. Where the tales true?

I’d cried at his wife’s funeral, but to hear what he’d done in the vaelintrien capital? Even if they were our enemy, no one deserved that. I still couldn’t believe it. But where’d he been all this time?

When I’d asked fa- … I mean, counselor Shemokeen,  about it, the only thing he’d said was he could ‘neither affirm nor deny said rumors’.

I thrust my fingers into the earth and pulled out a few strands of grass by the roots.

I hated it when he was like that.

Feeling the essence of the small seed within the soil cupped in my hands, I closed my eyes and built the image within my mind.

A small, green strand grew from amidst the halms of grass and split into thirds. The outer edges grew into lustrous, thin leaves that glistened in the dim fire’s light, while the middle stem grew and widened into a bud.

My thoughts challenged my concentration.

Why would I be promoted to this position of royal vedette if he insisted on keeping me in the dark? Did he not think it was pertinent? I mean, how could I trust myself if I couldn’t trust…

The bud that had begun to bloom in my hand tightened, and the stem drooped to match my mood.

I guess I’d just have to learn for myself. The man I used to know just wouldn’t do something like that. He wasn’t capable of such evil. He wouldn’t betray my trust…

 

Character 2

“Reporting in, sire.”

I stopped just outside the range of the light, not wanting the camp’s fire to effect my night vision.

The civilian woman scanned the forest for me, but the king turned his head toward me immediately. How’d he know?

“Yaxkin, I warned you about this.”

He always seemed to know.

Kneeling, I siphoned my emotions and cleared my mind. With two fingers, now white as paste, I placed them upon my chest and bowed my head.

“My apologies, my liege.”

“Very well. Report.”

My lord king was kind, but much too forgiving. That’s why brother always took advantage of him.

I grasped the hem of my pants as I tried not to glance over at the female sitting at the fire.

It wasn’t proper. Ladies like that should be protected, not flaunted about where armed conflicts could arise at any moment.

“Preparations are ready, sire.”

“And the men?” asked the king.

The woman was staring at me.

My hand twitched. Maybe it was the fire that danced upon her blackened hair, but she reminded me of mother. Brother said he had no memory of her, but I never believed him. After all, he’d lived with her for just as long as I had. But, that was the way of the tribe.

“They are in position, my liege.” I gazed up at my benefactor.

We could never repay the king for his benevolence. Most men looked upon our likeness with disdain.

A flight of emotions erupted inside me, and I strained the contain it.

Indeed, not many were welcoming to our particular skill set.

“Very good,” said the king. “Fetch a stretcher for the general, and we shall head out as soon as they’re ready.” He nodded his head in the direction of the fire.

If the king willed it, so shall it be done. Even if it did churned my stomach…

“Yes, my liege.” Lowering my head, I released the essence, and a familiar warmth swirled along the base of my skin, spreading throughout my body.

I rested my hand on the nearest tree as I took one more glance at the lady.

The woman’s mouth gaped open, and the white of her eyes shimmered in the face of the flames.

Peering at my hand, I smiled as the dark browns and greens mingled upon my epidermis.

I stalked forward, confident I had disappeared from sight.