Prompt: tenderness by in_the_blue. 100 Word Stories
Technically, these prompts are freely available from in_the_blue, but since she’s my beta and one of my dearest online writer friends, the community counts for my 365 Challenge. A double-drabble of 200 words.
Liana Mir
Liana Mir reads, writes, and wrangles the muses from her mundane home in the Colorado Rockies and, occasionally, from the other side of the Barrier.
Series Listing
409 S
409 W
459 S
461 S
489 S
496
496 AU
509 W
510 S
514 W
517 S
517 S
519 S
Story Within a Story
Story Within a Story - 508
Story Within a Story - 510
Story Within a Story - 517 W
A Letter to Fellow Historical Intern, Whom I Named Huerél
Tenderness
Renaiven was known as a harsh man, but almost no one knew why.
489 S
Vardin Science Fiction Fantasy
Flash Fiction Short Story
Vardin Science Fiction Fantasy
Flash Fiction Short Story
Renaiven was known as a harsh man—for the severity of his punishments within the Hunter’s Guild, for how he trained fighters with fatal precision as if they were responsible for their own life, for his merciless and uncompromising approach to guarding Vardin, willing to sacrifice anything at all.
When he stepped inside his home, a tiny child unaware of his reputation ran giggling to his knee and raised her arms with delighted smile.
“Rose.” He caught her in his arms tenderly and held her close, burying his face in her auburn hair. Over the tiny head, he could just glimpse her mother standing in the doorway, watching him. “Do you know I love you?” he asked.
“Of course, I do, Daddy.” She kissed him on his cheek, heedless of the emotion swirling inside him.
Renaiven was known as a harsh man, but no one but his wife knew the real reasons why, knew that he would sacrifice anything at all to avert the dark futures he had seen with his gifts and in visions, anything to save this tiny child and the nation that birthed her.
He held her and, for a while yet, refused to let her go.
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Vardin Science Fiction Fantasy
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I love the little glimpses this snippet gives into the whole Vardin universe, so subtly and without fanfare. It's a great way to tempt people into reading more without giving all of it away.
Thank you! Sometimes I wonder if I am too coy, and this piece... Well, I am glad you like it. It is indeed a glimpse.