My favorite online space is my writing community, The Habit. Besides being an incredibly encouraging, thoughtful group, The Habit is full of incredible writers. I’ve often thought that I’ve gotten spoiled by the treasures I’ve been able to read there, many of which haven’t been published elsewhere. A couple years ago, we started having in-person retreats, and one of the weekend events is a reading night. It’s been a huge hit, and when one of our members suggested hosting a virtual version of this, we all jumped at it. She and a couple others gathered submissions, created a program, sent out recipes we could make to accompany the event, and we all showed up for a night of narrative essays, poetry, and stories.
I dug back into my writing and pulled out two short connected pieces that I had written as exercises for one of our writing classes, and I thought you all might enjoy reading them. The characters are side characters from my Daughter of Arden Trilogy, but this particular tale doesn’t effect any of the events in the books, though it does reflect the characters well. The first part is from Donal’s perspective, and the second is from Ehun’s:
Donal’s Knife
Donal stared over the low garden wall to the road far below him. His birthday knife stood in the verge, point buried in the turf, its curved hilt upright in the air. It still quivered from the force of its fall.
“Donal, you’re an idiot,” the boy muttered to himself. He scowled down at his knife, wishing he’d paid attention to where the wall was before he’d practiced flipping the blade. He glanced behind him, up to the castle at the top of the terraced gardens, then turned back and leaned over the stone wall.
If only the road weren’t so far below! He’d risk jumping down if it were closer. He chewed his lip and looked up to the castle again. It would take at least ten minutes at a dead run to go up through the castle and around the outside of the garden wall to this spot. Who knew what vagrant might pass during that time and steal his lovely knife.
Donal groaned and peered over the wall at the distant glimmer of the knife’s brass handle. It had the perfect curve for hanging on the hook in his room. Father had had it made so for that very purpose.
“Oh!” Donal shot upright and slapped the pockets of his tunic. Did he still have twine there from fishing in the harbor yesterday? He shoved his hand into the upper pocket and pulled out a fishing hook. Another pocket revealed the lure Traana had lent him—he’d better get that back to her or she’d murder him. Finally, in the last pocket, his fingers closed on a string and he yanked it out with a shout of triumph, only to relapse into another groan. It was string, sure enough, but no longer than his forearm.
Down on the road someone coming up from the harbor whistled a sailing tune, and Donal’s knife shone like a little beacon.
The Care and Growing of Knives and Boys
Ehun whistled as he trekked the road toward the castle. The spring sun warmed his head and lifted his heart, for the Dranneth winter had been long and cold. He missed southern Arden! But Aunt Nel was safe here in the castle kitchens, and today was baking day. She was sure to have a loaf of his favorite sweet bread for him. He couldn’t complain.
A flash of light caught his eye and he glanced to the base of the cliff that rose to the castle garden wall. Another flash and he spotted its source: a shiny brass hook stuck upright in the turf. Puzzled, he approached it and realized it was the handle of a knife. He yanked it from the earth and he recognized it. Steward Holden had commissioned it for his son Donal, and had tasked Ehun with the job.
Ehun hefted the blade, admiring its balance. He flipped it and caught it by the handle while he searched the empty wall above him. Just then the thud of feet and scud of pebbles pulled his attention to the road and he saw Donal round the corner of the castle cliff. The younger boy, face red and breath rough, skidded to a halt when he saw Ehun.
“Ehun!” he gasped, gray eyes homing in on the knife. “Thank the Mighty One you found it.”
Donal reached for the blade, but Ehun pulled it back.
“Hold on,” he said. “I found this blade growing here on the edge of the road. I picked it!”
Donal stared at him. “Ehun, what are you talking about? That’s my birthday knife! Knives don’t grow in the ground.”
Ehun flipped the blade again and grinned. “In Arden they do.”
Donal scowled. “That’s ridiculous. Arden’s not that different from Dranneth. Besides, that’s mine.”
He grabbed for the knife, but the taller boy lifted it out of reach.
“Well now,” Ehun said, “I’ve lived in Arden and you haven’t, so who are you to say what grows there? And if it’s yours, why was it down here, sprouting so nicely?”
Donal opened his mouth, then paused, eyes shifting to the ground.
“I dropped it,” he muttered.
“Careless thing, to drop your new knife over the cliff like that.”
“Well it wasn’t supposed to drop. I was too close to the cliff wall.”
“It just slipped out of your sheathe?” Ehun pressed.
“No. I—I was looking at it.”
“And it fell out of your hand over the wall.”
“Um….” Donal bit his lip then looked at Ehun, eyes pleading. “Ehun, you can’t tell. I was trying to flip it—like you do! But I missed and it went right over.”
Ehun nodded and held the blade out to Donal, hilt first. “It’s a good thing you missed. Did you think what could happen if you’d caught it, but by the blade?”
Donal’s eyes widened and he blanched. He gingerly took the knife and slipped it back in its sheathe.
“Don’t tell my parents—please,” he said faintly.
Ehun weighed the boy, then smiled. “Only if you promise to let me teach you how to flip it safely.”
Donal’s face lit up. He nodded vigorously and the two set out on the road around to the castle gate.
“Ehun,” Donal said, “what kind of seeds do Arden knives grow from?”
Check out Daughter of Arden at Bandersnatchbooks.com, along with other great titles.
You can find links to more of my writing at A Shaft of Sun Through the Rain and my old blog, Willing, Wanting, Waiting.
What a fun story, and I'm so glad you shared it here! I was so disappointed to have to miss the Habit Showcase, and even MORE disappointed when it wasn't recorded! Glad to have a snippet of it here : )
That was such a great gathering.