Snippet

From Connie's FaceBook page.

Today's snippet is brought to you by the beach, my go-to spot for R&R&W. Yes, I know that A Demon's Due is the next book up, but I'm sneaking time away to write some on MindSighted, Book 1 of the BlackWing Pirates series. Here's a snippet:
note: this takes place roughly thirteen years after WhiteWing ends:
alert! If you haven't read WhiteWing yet, there are spoilers (at least one) ahead

Quin
"We just received this transmission from Queen Lissa," Dena, who now worked as my personal bodyguard, brought a comp-vid to me.
"What is it?" I asked, taking the comp-vid from her hand.
"Somebody she wants you to look at," Dena shrugged.
"No doubt," I said dryly, after seeing the image on the comp-vid. "Does Lissa know he holds an obsession?"
"I think she's puzzled by that," Dena acknowledged. "Terrett says the same thing."
"Remind me to have a conversation with my Sirenali," I shook my head. "He could have sent mindspeech."
"Maybe he didn't want to skew whatever you might see in this one," Dena suggested.
"Possible," I agreed and went back to the image. "He's so heavily obsessed, I can't even get his name," I frowned. "Have they checked his prints and everything else?"
"The records indicate he's a dead man," Lissa folded into my study. "As in doornail dead. He no longer recognizes the name he was born with, either. Says his name is Prak, no last name given."
"And no idea what the obsession is, I suppose?" I handed the comp-vid back to Dena.
"None," Lissa said. "He booked passage through a third party to be smuggled onto Pyrik. We've already gone looking for that third party; he was found dead on Veechee. We wouldn't have had his name except the smugglers knew it and had taken bookings through him before."
"That doesn't sound good," Dena said. "You think this Prak killed the one on Veechee after arranging the trip?"
"Kooper doesn't think so—the murder was too recent—as in the body was still warm when they got there, and Prak was already onboard the ship."
"Then Prak may have allies," I said.

Lissa
"Did you find out anything else?"
"No."
"I'll look into that," I said. "Our biggest worry is Amlis and his load of insecurity."
"Yeah."
"I'd consider asking Quin to heal him, but she may not want to get that close. They have issues from the past, and I'm not sure she even wants to see him."
"What the hell did he do to her?" Winkler was ready to slap him into next week—Quin was one of the gentle souls, and any mistreatment raised his hackles.
"Bree says he had her beaten because she spilled his food—her way of attempting to tell him it had been poisoned."
"Hmmph." Winkler wanted to growl, I could tell. "I think I could show him a bad time," he said.
"Rodrik delivered the beating."
"Two at once. Not a problem."
"Honey, you can't go around beating every ruler or politician that's fucked up. You'd never have any time off."

Randl
"Where did the weights come from?" I asked. On a flagstone-covered square at the center of the courtyard lay several racks of weights. Travis and Trent hadn't wasted time calling us out of bed, either.
At least the courtyard was shaded; the sun would have blinded the others. I already had that affliction, but it could still damage what I had.
"From the weight store," Travis laughed at my question. "Come along, my lazy crew. It's time you discovered the pleasure of aching muscles."
"I have some from yesterday," Sabrina grumbled behind me.
"No complaining," Trent barked. "First, we'll stretch, to keep the aches at a minimum. Then we'll start out light and work our way up. You need arm strength and upper body strength if we're expected to turn out a fighter who can take down something stronger than an eight-year-old."
"An eight-year-old what?" I heard Sabrina's soft mumble.

King's Palace, Karathia
Bel Erland
"Ready?" I asked Morrett. Dad wanted both of us with him during the Conclave. Garwin Wyatt had sent mindspeech, asking when we'd be there. He and Dormas were already at the hotel in Mer'bali, Pyrik's capital city.
We'd have three guards, Granddad and a scribe with us, to represent Karathia. People—especially those without power, generally kept their distance. Granddad could play the role to the hilt, too, as Gran often said. He'd stride through hotel lobbies and ballrooms alike, his robes billowing about him, as if he were the grandest warlock anyone would have the fortune to see.
Dad would hide a smile and follow in Granddad's wake.
I was looking forward to meeting Quin and Justis for dinner when they arrived; Mer'bali was famous for its seafood dishes. I doubted they'd come close to Mom's, but she planned to meet us, too, as she was the Queen of Kifirin.
Dad and I were both surprised when she took the throne of Kifirin so willingly, after Jayde and Garde went crazy and tried to destroy the planet.
She'd named Lexsi her heir, though, and that was the best choice. Lexsi was a guli, and she and Kordevik could cut through the bullshit of any argument and hand your ass to you before you understood it had been removed.

"Young one?" Karzac the physician stood before me. I blinked, bringing myself away from my thoughts to focus on him.
"Sir?" I croaked as green-gold eyes gazed into mine. I blinked again while he studied me curiously, like a bird who'd found an unlikely creature in its nest. Then, he tapped a finger to my forehead and that's the last I recalled until the following morning--Randl