Meredith Mansfield, Author

I’m still mired in surgery on WAR OF MAGIC.

So here’s a deleted snippet (that was set up for a scene that’s been moved.) Enjoy:

Vatar ambled across the main market square of Caere, not really looking at any of the wares being offered for sale. In his mind, he was already bending the gold and silver wire he’d just purchased at his guildhall into a gift for Thekila. He’d spent days perfecting the complicated woven knot—meant to symbolize their bond—in cheaper copper.

Maybe he’d give that first version to his young daughter, Savara. It was the kind of thing the little girl would like and it could as easily represent the twin bond that was developing between her and her brother, Zavar. Of course, he’d have to have something for Zavar, too. He knew what kind of gift Zavar would ask for, but he was much too young for edged weapons. And Zavar wouldn’t take to jewelry of any kind. And yet the gifts had to balance. Hmm. He’d have to talk to Thekila about that. Perhaps something promissory, like a hilt for the—unsharpened—short knife Zavar could have in a few years, worked with the same pattern. Vatar could fit a wooden blade in the hilt for now.

The image of the half-planned work shattered at the sound of a panicked scream nearby.