Many apologies for missing last week–4th of July weekend came with a few evil day job responsibilities, so signing up completely slipped my mind.
This snippet is from Warlock’s Pawn and continues from the last one (click on the SFFSat tag at the bottom of the post to read past snippets). Warlock’s Pawn is a fantasy romance inspired by The Arabian Nights. It was released last month and is available on LSBooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ARe, and Kobo.
In the previous post, Duncan and Alia discussed veils, reflections and obedience.
Her returning gaze was pensive. “The rules that govern the temple are in place for a reason. Females of noble blood born after the family’s heir are sent to live a life of confinement and celibacy. Before this tradition came into being, blood coated these sands from countless wars of succession.”
His eyebrows rose as her words confirmed his suspicion. “Does Radan know he has an oracle for a child?”
Her small teeth clamped down onto her lower lip. “He has no offspring but the princess. Those who serve the goddess forfeit all ties to the world.”
SFFSat is a group of writers sharing snippets from both published and unpublished works of science fiction and fantasy. You can read more about the group by clicking the banner to the left, as well as follow links to the other participants. Any comments are much appreciated!
Tara Quan 
A very complex social structure – a nice minefield for your characters to navigate.
Kind of a rough deal for everyone but the first born child, I’d say…good snippet.
Gee, no pressure! Some nice insight into the world’s social structure.
Interesting and insightful. I love her subtle body language…shows lots.
Wow. You really do develop a sophisticated world. Each week you unveil a new level. Complex and engaging characters to boot! Great stuff!
Thanks!
Considering that is some societies they wind up killing everyone bu the successor, that’s one way of doing it bloodlessly. What happens if the acknowledged heir dies?
The “heir to spare” is brought out of the temple to take their place. I’m toying with a short story spin-off idea with that premise…
I was wondering the same thing as Sue Ann! Awesome snippet!
I love every knew scrap I learn about this world and this world. You’ve created something so intricate, it is truly fantastic and realistic all at once. Very enjoyable! Can’t wait to read it in entirety.
😀
That’s quite a sacrifice when choosing to serve the Goddess – forfeiting the world. I’m not sure I would be able to make that kind of commitment, so I’m curious to see what kind of character does. Great snippet! Thanks for sharing!
Wow, that sucks! Bad luck to be born after an heir then.