Rowan and Ash - Chapter One

Hey all! So I'm trying to ease my way back into posting - no promises as to frequency, since there's still a lot going on IRL (work is crazy and my husband is still having health issues) BUT I have this sitting on my computer so I thought I'd share. As mentioned in my previous post, I can't really tease much more from An Iron Blood Tale: Soot and Blood without dropping major spoilers, but I have been pecking at this little side project on those days when I need a break from AIBT, and it's been fun so I figured why not post it. (If you're wondering, AIBT is still my main project, but I won't be ready to start posting anything from that for some time yet.)

This is very much a side project, the premise just popped into my head one day and I started jotting it down. It's whumpy slavefic, so please mind the content warnings. I may eventually start posting this on AO3? But I'm still kinda undecided on that so we'll see! For now I thought I could at least share it here on tumblr. _____ Content warnings: whump, slavefic, m/m master/slave dynamics, captivity & restraints, self-harm, emotional distress, size difference, nudity but nothing nsfw happens Rating: mature Word Count: 2,220

_____

"He did it to himself," Sefton was whining, yet again, as they walked down the hall. "I won't have those ridiculous unfetterates reporting me to the Civil Ministry. I have witnesses. I didn't touch the brat. He simply went mad."

"Yes, you've made that quite clear, Lord Sefton."

"Heavens knows what set him off. I've done nothing but spoil the pet."

"Mm. Slaves can be unpredictable."

"Well, I've never in all my years—nothing like this!"

They came to a closed door towards the end of the hall, plainer than the rest in Sefton's sprawling home, and stopped. "He's in here, then?" Rowan asked, glad to change the subject. It would forever be the worst part of his job, listening to nobles moan about the shortcomings of their bondslaves like it was somehow the property's fault rather than the owner's. A common pitfall in his line of work, of course, but nonetheless exhausting. "Shall we see him? I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle."

Writer facepalm of the weekend:

You know, Kate, I see what you were going for . . . but NO.

The Queen of Lies Finale: As Boundless as the Sea

Chapter 44 is now on ao3.

Previous: Chapter 43, Love's Heavy Burden | Masterlist

❄️ It's DONE! Thanks for coming along on the ride. I appreciate every single one of you! 💕

❄️ In honour of reaching the end, I've launched my author newsletter. Sign up here if you're curious about THE MARK OF THIEVES (the upcoming novelization of the story formerly known as TPOT). You'll get a free short story—"The Perfect Mark"! (Cover under the Read More!)

Day 3 of hyping myself into finishing (well, posting) the finale!

As you can imagine, this chapter is straight-up sappy and romantic. I love every word of it. 🥰

The Queen of Lies: masterlist | ao3 | previous chapter — Love's Heavy Burden

Coming this week, I stg.

Made multiple teaser pics in celebration of the finale. (But also as motivation to make sure I don't slack off 😂.) So — be prepared. There will be more teasers. 😅

The Queen of Lies: masterlist | ao3 | previous chapter — Love's Heavy Burden

Two commissions completed for @little-peril-stories ! Meet Will and Bree from her amazing book, The Prince of Thieves.

Commissions are still open! More information here.

Thank you so much again, @actress4him, for these lovely portraits! I'm so grateful for your time, effort, attention to detail, and talent. You're amazing! Thanks for making my first-ever commission a wonderful experience! 💕

Jada's commission details are here!

WOW it has been a year and two days since I updated this story, where has the time gone? Like the last piece, this one was initially meant to be more comedic, and swiftly ended up not that way. I’m learning to let the story dictate what it wants to be instead of trying to force it.

Warnings: slavery, historical whump, class differences, one-sided flirtation, somewhat dubious touching

Taglist: @gottawhump @smellofsnoww @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @annablogsposts @bees-andbees @shywhumpauthor @whump-in-the-closet @whump-me @chaoticdreamers-world @maracujatangerine @i-eat-worlds @thecyrulik @erdarielthewhumper @pigeonwhumps @whatwhump @amazingmagda @imaginativemind29new @clairelsonao3 @vampiresprite

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Sunlight and Embers: Gift

They settle into a type of rhythm after a few weeks. Danil is quiet, shy. He always keeps an eye on Janos’ hands as if he’s waiting for him to strike out with them. But he no longer flinches at every move the blacksmith makes. Once or twice, Janos has even seen him smile.

Janos has gotten used to having another person around. Twice in the first week, he forgot that Danil was there and accidentally left the boy without food overnight. But now he always remembers, and Danil has begun to gain a little weight as a result. He has a long way to go before he’s back to being relatively healthy, but he looks less starved. And he’s gotten stronger. Janos has learned to choose tasks in the forge that Danil can manage, and he’s learned that offering a simple “good work” when Danil finishes them helps ease the boy’s fear like nothing else.

Maybe this isn’t so bad, Janos decides. I didn’t like this plan, but it isn’t so terrible after all.

i love you female characters who make selfish choices they know will be bad for everyone. i love you female characters who think they're making the right choice but make things worse. i love you female characters who are making the right choice but noone else understands it.

Me, finally going into The Queen of Lies to fix up the finale so I can post it by my self-inflicted deadline: *unintelligible squealing*

My husband: *suspicious, vaguely annoyed sideways glances*

Me: IT’S JUST SO CUTE!

Him: Hmm… *goes back to eating his soup, leaving me to suffer in cuteness alone*

I need to go to bed, but the "last day" conversation rewrite in TMOT has taken a turn and MADE ME CRY.

literally me every single night

been building a collection of posts from like minded individuals

I finally got to the piece from the teaser!

Warnings: the usual fear and angst, prison whump, environmental whump, gut punch

Taglist: @gala1981 @violets-whumperflies @little-peril-stories @wounds-seen-and-unseen @smellofsnoww @zeiniszein @alivenova @stradaniye @kabie-whump @worstcasescenariolullaby @cinnamon-roll-whump @tori-artemis

Previous | Next | Masterlist

Crown Traitor

Part Four: Welcome to Sabyl

Anatol didn’t see Sabyl until they arrived there. He’d expected the cart to turn a corner and suddenly be facing some huge, imposing stone fortress, some impenetrable stronghold with walls and towers and turrets. Sabyl did have walls, but not the kind he was expecting.

Sabyl’s walls were mountains.

Anatol had slept most of the way through the second leg of the journey, exhausted by grief and fear. He only woke up when the light vanished, sending the entire cart into nearly pitch blackness. He sat up, confused and afraid. What happened? Where are we?

And then, as his eyes adjusted, he saw the rock surrounding the cart on all sides. A tunnel. Somehow, there was a tunnel through the mountain, and the cart was heading through it- heading to Sabyl.

And when it finally broke out into the white winter light again, all Anatol could do was stare.

The Queen of Lies double feature: A Death-Marked Love! & Love's Heavy Burden

Chapters 42 and 43 are now on ao3.

A Death-Marked Love!

Love's Heavy Burden

One chapter left!!! 😱💕🥰

Previous: Chapter 41, I Defy You, Stars

Masterlist

✨ @starlit-hopes-and-dreams | @clairelsonao3 | @gala1981 | @pleasestaywithmedarling | @kixngiggles ✨ Please let me know if you'd like to be added or removed!

linktree 🌳

Hi all! I've been kind of absent here since most of the writing I've done lately is fanfiction. However, I've been working on some of my own stories lately and I'd like to start posting one or two of them! I'd like to see which ones you all might be interested in. Feel free to send me asks for more information or a snippet for any of these too! Summaries are below the poll.

Here are some summaries:

In the Shadow of the Tower: This is a close to being finished story that is told from the perspective of a husband and wife who learn they can talk to each other telepathically. They start off as a normal American couple but then Andy is kidnapped and disappears off the face of the Earth, quite literally. A desperate father finds Kiera and tells her that Andy has been taken to a different realm as a prisoner, as has his son. He thinks that they are being held together and hopes that by teaching Kiera to speak telepathically with Andy, they can figure out a way to rescue the both of them. Meanwhile, Andy finds himself in a dungeon cell being tortured, which he learns is a way to unlock certain powers that some people have. This one features several side love stories, some torture, and fun powers and fight scenes.

Brinnande's Story: Brinn is a seventeen year old pyrokinetic (controls fire) caught up in a battle between two factions, one who wants to bring a tyrannical rule to the world and the other that is trying to stop it. In her world, pyrokinesis is a secret that only those who have it know about it. She was found and began training with the group trying to stop the tyrants when she was in early middle school and has developed a fair amount of skill. However, her world is turned upside-down when her best friend (and secret crush) Matthew is mistaken for her and kidnapped by the tyrants. She has to find a way to rescue him without support from her group who deems the mission too risky. This one has some dungeon whump and a lot of healing after.

The Mer Story: Kai, the sixteen year old adopted son of two marine researchers, moves to an island in the middle of the ocean. There he becomes friends with two other teens (Mano and Keala) and they learn that they are all half mer and can shift between the two forms. Unfortunately, an unethical research group learns about them and to save his friends and all their families, Kai decides to sacrifice himself as a research specimen. This one has some fun lab whump and if it isn't chosen now, I will definitely be posting in May!

Jessie's Story: Jessie stumbles on a mafia hotspot and is kidnapped to keep her silent. They decide to keep her alive as a bargaining chip. She is eventually rescued by a band of previous victims of the mafia group and is adopted into their company. Her biggest goal after that is to figure out a way to safely reunite with her family, since she knows that they will be closely watched in case she tries to make contact. This story is set in a country where the government is extremely unstable and corrupt and the cities and towns are largely run by various criminal outfits. Some of the main features of this story are being tortured in a basement, found family, and seeking healing and peace.

The Servant King: This is my least developed story that I'm putting here. It's about a prince whose parents were killed in a coup when he was still a child. The head cook saved him by disguising him as one of her servants and raised him in the castle. As he grows older, he begins to take after his father, the slaughtered king. The usurping king decides that the boy will have to be killed because of his resemblance and so the cook tells him he has to run. He does and takes with him one of the maids, with whom he has fallen in love. Together they flee for the far off land of his uncle, where he hopes to find safety and potentially support to retake his kingdom.