quotes

Yes! I finally got around to getting some snippits from book II of the Shadow Trilogy together for your pleasure. Just a little random taste of what I’ve been working on, and I’ll probably post some quotes and excerpts from the sequel and Rising Shadows in the future, too. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Calm down, Matthews, she chided herself. You’re being ridiculous. She turned around and began to jog down the narrow street toward the main square. Glancing over her shoulder as she moved, she ran straight into something hard. Strong hands gripped her upper arms to keep her from toppling backwards and pulled her close, over compensating for her lost balance. Sarah had to lean back slightly to look up at the man who held her, and the action caused the hood to fall back. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up into Will’s startled blue eyes.

Chapter 11: “Well, my lady,” Damien said smoothly, still appearing comfortable and unaffected by her silence. “Now it’s your turn.”

Sarah eyed the Spaniard warily. “My turn for what?”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice, golden eyes gleaming with mischief. “It is your turn to tell me who you really are.”

Chapter 19: She waited in the darkness. Nothing. The absence of noise was more ominous than the ones Sarah had braced herself for. She shivered at the cold wind that whistled softly in the tunnel directly ahead. It moved toward her, curling through her hair and touching her body with icy fingers as it brushed past. A whip snapped somewhere down the way, and she started. Her breath caught when she made out the faint sound of the lifeless, almost inhuman moan that rode on the breeze coming from what she imagined must be the torture chamber. Sarah felt chilled to the bone at the hollow sound of someone too weak to cry out and stood frozen in wide-eyed horror.

Chapter 22: Swallowing the desire to express her confused feelings about him, Sarah said, “I want us to be friends.” She was relieved when she didn’t stammer over the words.

Will’s chest swelled with air, and his lips parted as it escaped his lips in a shaky breath. His nod was almost imperceptible. “As you wish,” he said. Then he launched himself over the ledge. Sarah’s eyes widened in alarm, and she ran to the window to peer down at his retreating form as he quickly scaled the walls of the castle. With shaking fingers, Sarah closed the window screen to keep out the cold that seemed to have found its way into her bones. Now she was alone in her new home with the necklace and the single rose as her only companions. Her breathing was the only sound in the room—that and three words that played themselves loudly in her head: As you wish.

Chapter 32: Guilty sorrow tightened Sarah’s chest. She tore her eyes away from her hands, which had been covered in blood moments before, and looked up at him. He was watching her closely, eyes searching her face. “But it’s my fault she’s dead,” she whispered brokenly.

His expression softened. “How could it be your fault your friend was killed?”

“Because the arrow was meant for me.”

Chapter 35: Will surprised her by pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly against his chest. But even as he held her close and told her everything was going to be all right, Sarah couldn’t shake the feeling that a storm was coming, and if they couldn’t fight it together, it was going to tear them apart.

The week of Gentleness brought to mind a few ideas; it reminded me of Kindness and Goodness, so once again I was faced with the dilemma of trying to come at this week from a different angle. I mean, it’s singled out like the other eight Fruits, so obviously there is a reason for that. My problem was figuring out just what that reason was, exactly. So I went back to my mental checklist, going over the similar characteristics, and somehow the term “meek” popped into my head as a synonym. But, stubborn as I am, I pretty much shrugged it off, because that adjective brings to mind one word: weak. And I did not think that you all would take too kindly to me telling you to be weaklings, and it just didn’t seem right.

“The meek shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5

But meek was the term that kept showing its face in the pile of Kindness, Goodness, Love, and Patience. So I did a little research and was reminded of the verse above. I still wasn’t getting it. Okaaaaay, so we let ourselves get plowed over and stand down, and that means we’re deserving? That did not seem right (I’ve learned during this challenge to trust my gut and keep digging; I usually discover what I’m looking for). Then I looked up the definition of Gentle. The first few definitions didn’t surprise me much (kind, amiable, moderate, etc.). But then it stated that Gentleness implies being of good birth, honorable, respectable, to ennoble; dignify. All right, I could deal with that. And then it defined Gentle in a way that really threw me: entitled to a coat of arms. Are you trying to tell me that by being meek and Gentle—weak, by my assumption—one is actually embodying strength? Ka-pow! That was my mind being blown. The two seem completely opposite to me, but there it was. Then I looked at this verse again and realized that different translations make it clear that if God’s people are humble and honorable servants, then He will give the earth to them. I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty hefty promise.

Being Gentle doesn’t mean that you have to by weak or feeble-minded. No. It means embodying a Gentle strength that that will win battles and rule nations—some of the greatest wars are not always fought with brute force. Gentleness also requires you to put your Kindness and Love and Goodness back into practice, but I also think it means that you have to use wisdom to know when to remain silent and when God is calling you to act.