WIP Wednesday - First Mataras: Irene

 Like a bee to honey

Irene found new reasons to be impressed by the Kalquorian band when she entered the club, and not just because they were all wearing very small, very tight black shorts. Sherv had joined Rusp in drumming…pounding, she amended…and he was nearly as good as his Nobek bandmate, who was nothing short of phenomenal. Sweat flew off the pair as beat out complicated rhythms that put Irene in mind of tribal sounds. Near them, Jemi’s trasbu snarled and growled in perfect accompaniment to the primal tempo, accentuating what the pair did rather than stealing the limelight. The Kalquorian audience gathered close to the stage stomped and clapped and grunted along, and the ovation was thunderous at the song’s end.

Irene found a table near the back, where the shadows were deepest. Even so, Sherv, Rusp, and Jemi seemed to catch sight of her at once in her Odeergin disguise. She thrilled as their handsome faces beamed delighted grins.

The show continued for another hour, and she was glad she’d managed to catch the final half, far more than what she’d seen the night before. It solidified her opinion that though what they played had no resemblance to opera, they were talented. Sherv made the best possible use of his voice’s limited range, and she wondered how he’d sound if his vocal cords were healed.

She rose as soon as the band took their bows. Sherv caught her eye and jerked his head, his smile hopeful.

Irene nodded and headed backstage.

Releasing Summer 2023

Where we first met Irene: Clan Companions: Matthew is on sale!

Amazon, Amazon UK, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and print

His past demons have returned, and only a Kalquorian clan can save him.

Matthew Larsen should be happy. Reunited with the Nobek he fell in love with years ago, welcomed into a clan determined to give him a better life, he has everything he never imagined possible. However, he’s haunted by the hellish past and certainty it will reclaim him.

Nobek Kom spent years searching for Matt. Their reunion and his clanmates’ acceptance of the troubled Earther seemed to be all that stood in the way of the perfect future. His Earther love isn’t so easily rescued, however. Even a warrior can’t protect someone against his nightmares.

Dramok Avir and Imdiko Masok are devoted to the beautiful Earther Kom brought home. Loving such a gentle soul isn’t a problem. Saving him from monsters, real and imagined, is another matter when Matt’s worst fears come true and the terrors of the past rise once again to drag him into the abyss. 

Buy now:

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WIP Wednesday - First Mataras: Irene

 Love at first sing

The human opera was every bit as good as the few Kalquorian moteho performances Jemi's parents had taken him to when he was a kid. It didn’t matter he couldn’t decipher all the lines they sang. The gist of the story was recognizable: a woman of low rank and a suppressed people rose to become empress and save her race from a ruthless enemy. The costuming and set were as elaborate as moteho stages. It was familiar, and he didn’t feel as confused as he’d expected to when they’d sat in their seats near the back of the theater.

He was impressed by the male lead, who played the emperor Xerxes. The man’s voice was awe-inspiring, and had been the first reason Jemi had been brought to unaccustomed silence. The man’s rich tones were certainly on par with the baritones he’d heard in moteho. His was a presence that filled the room, and Jemi was rapt when he was on stage.

The female lead, a curvaceous, lovely woman, was talented too. Maybe the underlying fire and flare Jemi detected in her personality didn’t quite fit the role she played, especially when she pleaded with Xerxes to save her people, but there was no denying her voice was impressive.

At least it was, until he heard Irene.

Hers was a secondary role, a part of the show’s subplot of another low-ranked woman desperate to save her brother from execution by the villain. She had only one song in the whole performance in which she sang solo…

…but her singing eclipsed the remainder of the show.

Jemi sat in slack-jawed wonder as Irene’s voice soared. Every note was a drop of purest gold to his ears. Chills raced up and down his spine as she sang her hope for her brother and her people, of a god’s love despite the hardships they faced. Jemi didn’t know anything of this god, but he was certain he beheld a goddess on that stage.

She was almost as beautiful as her voice. High cheekbones, dark, slightly up-slanted eyes, a slender nose, all combined to give her an arresting appearance. Her long, mahogany hair, glinting notes of gold under the lights, hung loose to her elbows. She wore loose, pale robes, but unlike the Odeergin cape of the night before, they had no hope of hiding an impressive, statuesque figure. She was every inch as impressive as any of the few Kalquorian women Jemi had seen.

And that voice…that incredible voice…

Releasing Summer 2023

Where we first met Irene: Clan Companions: Matthew is on sale.

Amazon, Amazon UK, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and print

His past demons have returned, and only a Kalquorian clan can save him.

Matthew Larsen should be happy. Reunited with the Nobek he fell in love with years ago, welcomed into a clan determined to give him a better life, he has everything he never imagined possible. However, he’s haunted by the hellish past and certainty it will reclaim him.

Nobek Kom spent years searching for Matt. Their reunion and his clanmates’ acceptance of the troubled Earther seemed to be all that stood in the way of the perfect future. His Earther love isn’t so easily rescued, however. Even a warrior can’t protect someone against his nightmares.

Dramok Avir and Imdiko Masok are devoted to the beautiful Earther Kom brought home. Loving such a gentle soul isn’t a problem. Saving him from monsters, real and imagined, is another matter when Matt’s worst fears come true and the terrors of the past rise once again to drag him into the abyss. 

Buy now:

Amazon, Amazon UK, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and print