Continuing on from my novella series of retold fairy tales. This is the first one, based on Beauty and the Beast.
MC Nyah spotted a large army outside her village. Last week the villagers tried to hide, but three men rode into the village before they could all be protected. This picks up where last week left off.
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Frightened cries rang out from the villagers. The men wore chain mail vests over leather tunics and horned helms that hid their faces. Their swords were sheathed, but it was obvious they were prepared for battle if necessary.
“Hail!” the man in the middle called out in an accented voice, “I am Brandulfr Gudrodarson, leader of this army. We are in need of a town out of which to base our operations. Cooperate with our demands, and we will leave you unharmed.”
My heart leapt into my throat. Based on the accent and Father’s stories of his travels, this man was a barbarian from across the North Sea, an enemy of my country and not to be trusted; what business could he have here?
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Oh – a barbarian – the best kind for a woman’s heart to tame. :-)
I think that this is going to be a version of the Beauty and the Beast. Great snippet!
Ohhh, intriguing scenario. Is he the beast? Great snippet and set-up of the conflict.
It’s not looking good for her!
Uh oh, this sounds pretty dire and probably going to get worse. But I’m highly intigued of course…excellent excerpt, love his name.
“Cooperate and you won’t be harmed” is never the sort of promise that bodes well. The people with the weapons get to decide how to define cooperation, after all.