Sneak Peeks

I'd like to thank everyone for coming out for the featured authors. It was a geat success for everyone involved. For the next few weeks, I'll be giving sneak previews of some of my wip's. There will be more chances at prizes as well. And now...The very beginning of Fate of the Archer...let me hear what you're thinking...

Fate of the Archer by Jennah Sharpe

The full moon, a perfectly formed shining orb hanging in a velvety blackness, tinted the pines with silver and the lake with shimmering magic. In this eerie version of twilight, Thera bathed, naked and alone. She liked nothing better than to float on the rippled lake, staring up at the endless void of stars and space. Her ebony hair flowed out to all sides as she gazed up, her fingers trailing over the surface of the cool water.
When, finally, a shiver of cold went through her, she aimed for shore. Climbing through the cattails and grasses, she emerged from the lake as if she were a water sprite. She imagined herself that way. A mythical creature, free to pop in and out of life as she chose.
Instead she had just this one night. One night to enjoy the pleasure of this world. One night to pretend she wasn’t cursed, to bask in the moonlight.
For the rest of her life, she was indebted to the Fates. Her mother had bargained her life for a few extra moments with her lover before he was to be killed in battle. In those few moments of ill choosing, Thera was conceived and from that moment on, she was at the beck and call of the three fates, a messenger, a servant, striving every moment to fulfil her duties as the Fates wove, cut and knotted their tenuous threads. Unable to leave their posts as they created the fabric of mortal life, Thera brought them honeyed drinks and sweets. With her perfectly clear voice, she sang to them and sometimes told them stories she’d heard in the pavilions of the other gods. This kept them entertained and for that, she was granted this one night of freedom every month.
Thera did not care for humans. She’d been granted immortality and her time did not flow in the same manner as those who would die at the hands of the Fates. They did, however, live as she wished to. They lived their lives in blissful ignorance of any constraints, or so she imagined.
As she climbed from her pool, she caught sight of a movement in the bushes.
“Who’s there? Come out,” she called, shivering as the cool night air brushed over her damp skin.
“I wasn’t hiding,” said the man who emerged from the brush. “I was simply watching a heavenly maiden. Are you a nymph who might steal me into her waters?” he teased, his voice smooth and dripping with sex appeal.
I only wish, she thought as she watched the graceful movements of this man. He couldn’t be human, not with all that muscle, not with those perfectly blue almond-shaped eyes. She moved closer to him. The dark shadow of whiskers was so tempting. She reached out to brush her fingers along his jaw.
“I am no nymph and I can do you no harm, but I could have been,” she teased. “Why were you watching me? It’s past the midnight hour. Shouldn’t you be indulging in some human woman as the gods usually do on beautiful nights such as this?”
The man narrowed his eyes. “The gods?”