Shieldmaiden ~ WIP Fantasy

My current work in progress is a F/F fantasy romance set in the highlands of Scotland when dragons ruled the air, marauders ruled the north sea, and kings were a dime a dozen.  The Heroine, Bryn, a young woman from a displaced Druid clann, comes into her own while wielding a sword to protect her love, the Princess Thalynder; thoroughly unaware that she is a Princess in her own right.   The two women, accompanied by a Captain of the King’s Royal Guard and the Princess Thalynder’s Dragon Meydra, set off on a journey to the Standing Stones of Stenness, located on the island of Orkney.  On the island, Bryn hopes to find answers to her questions about her ancestors and why they left the island.  Princess Thalynder hopes the journey will bring out her own true love, unaware of Bryn’s love.  Dancing between friendship, sex, and love, the two learn things about themselves that bring them closer together, only to discover a secret, set in the ancient Stones, that will change their lives forever.

Excerpt from Shieldmaiden

The sun was beginning to rise and the day promised to be clear and warm.  Meydra was awake long before the sun cleared the horizon and sat very still while her two charges slept peacefully against her chest.  Bryn was holding Thalynder and sometime during the night their legs and arms became entwined.  They both looked quite content.  Meydra smiled at the two and wondered if she should tell them the quest would be in vain.  She knew where Thalynder’s true love could be found, but she also knew that Bryn wanted desperately to see the Stones at Stenness.  The problem did not lie with the true love, it lie with the Stones.  In Stenness, Bryn would learn the truth about who she was and why she had to give up her dragon.  Meydra was not sure she was ready to tell that story to Bryn.  It would change many things and for the moment, Meydra liked things the way they were.  No, she decided, “I will not tell them.”

“Tell us what?” Bryn asked quietly.

“That the sun rises and you will be missed in the Keep,” Meydra whispered.

Bryn hugged Thalynder closer to her.  “I like it right here,” she said.

“So do I,” Thalynder replied with a little morning yawn.  Thalynder turned in Bryn’s arms to face her bedmate.  After a momentary hesitation and a little inhale of breath, Thalynder kissed Bryn’s mouth.

Bryn felt Thalynder’s mouth on hers and her body immediately responded.  She pulled Thalynder tight against her and slipped her hand behind Thalynder’s neck.  She returned the kiss, letting it linger until Thalynder wanted her to stop.  She moaned softly against Thalynder’s mouth.

Thalynder broke the kiss, but did not move.  She looked at Bryn and smiled, then reached up and ran her hand over Bryn’s neck.  “You are blushing my Bryn,” Thalynder said.

“That was a nice kiss, Lynder,” Bryn replied, and took Thalynder’s hand in hers.  “Why did you kiss me?”

“Because you looked so soft and beautiful in the dim light,” Thalynder said.  “And, I’ve never kissed a woman before.”

“Neither have I,” Bryn said.  Her voice was soft and her lips wet, and she realized that her mouth was not the only thing that was wet.  She blushed again, and felt the need to tack a different direction.  “Have you kissed a man?”

“Yes, many times,” Thalynder laughed.  “The male attendants my father had chosen to be my playmates when I was younger were anything but chaste.”  Her breath touched Bryn’s face.  “Have you not kissed a man, Bryn?”

“Only once,” Bryn replied.  “It was part of my instruction.”

“Oh, yes, I forgot, you druids have other areas of instruction,” Thalynder said and now her voice was thick.  “Someday you should instruct me.”  She leaned up and kissed Bryn again, this time she pushed her hand against Bryn’s breast.

Bryn’s body responded before she could think.  She returned the kiss with more desire, allowing her tongue to brush Thalynder’s lips.  She arched her back and pushed her breast hard against Thalynder’s hand, and ran her bare foot up Thalynder’s leg.  They continued to kiss and when Bryn moved to touch Thalynder’s neck, and began to undo the laces at the top of her dress, Thalynder abruptly stopped.

“No, my Bryn,” Thalynder said.  “Enough instruction for one day.”  Thalynder moved to sit up, and put back on her shoes.

Bryn rose to sit next to Thalynder.  She was winded from the excitement of having Thalynder in her arms, but began to realize it was all a game to Thalynder.  Thalynder’s inquisitive nature, her persistent quest for adventure; were her only feelings for Bryn at that moment.  Bryn sighed.  Something she had dreamt of doing for many years had happened, and it was all a game.  She lifted her tunic off the ground and shook it out before placing it over her head.  She got it over her head, and then stood with her back resting against Meydra.  Thalynder was standing at Meydra’s tail looking out over the grassy meadow between garden and Keep.  Bryn looked longingly at Thalynder’s back.  “At least I held her close,” she whispered.

Thalynder turned to look back at Bryn.  “Come on Bryn, I’m hungry and we have to prepare for our journey.”

Bryn kissed Meydra’s cheek and heard the little moan of pleasure as it rose deep inside Meydra’s throat.  She patted her shoulder, then trotted after Thalynder.  She glanced back over her shoulder as she walked under the linden arch, and watched as Meydra lifted effortlessly into the air; the only sound coming from the wind as it moved beneath her wings.