Soon

Ahhh, it’s finally happened! Dwr: People in the Water is now available for purchase! Head over to The RAD Store NOW to order your copy! Both paperback and ebook versions are available, so you have no excuses here, people. The ebook is also available on Amazon, but it’s less expensive if you get it direct from RAD Writing. You didn’t hear that from me, okay?

Today, we’re continuing in our week of giveaways! I had so much fun with Monday's, and I can’t wait to see what comes of this one!

To refresh your memory… all week long, instead of our regular posts, I’m going to be sharing mini excerpts from my books (Coetir, Cedwig, and Dwr). Then, at the end of the day, I’ll 1) ask you a question about said excerpt, 2) ask you to share a post for me, or 3) ask you to write a review and post it online. You’ll all then have twenty-four hours from the time of that post to perform said task, and out of those of you who complete it, I’ll choose one to win a FREE autographed and personalized copy of the book in question!

Seriously. This week is so freaking cool.

Now that Coetir day is over, let’s get on to Cedwig!

Soon

A Cedwig Excerpt, by Rani Divine

© Copyright RAD Writing, 2016

“Come,” Eirian said, gesturing to the horizon. “It will be dawn soon.”

My heart sank. I didn’t want to go back to the clearing, to the people who had filled my life up to this point. I didn’t want to work alongside Carol, to wash clothes and cook dinners and take care of the men. I wanted to stay here, with Eirian. I wanted to learn about the Cedwig, about the Dewin and the Vartes. My mind spun with all my imaginings about these people, all the questions I held about them. I needed answers, and I knew that I wouldn’t get them when I went back to Papa.

If it were up to him and the others, I would never have left the clearing in the first place. But deep in my heart, I knew that it would be best to return. If I were to stay, my people would fear for my life. They would search the woods, and they would tear down everything in their paths in an effort to find me. I knew Jonas well enough to know that. If anyone went missing, even me, he would search the woods until he found them.

I nodded, and Eirian released all but my hand.

“Let me show you something,” he said.

He helped me up onto his back, my arms grasping around his shoulders and my legs holding tight to his waist, and he ran. Just like I had seen the others do in the tops of the trees, Eirian ran. His feet landed lightly everywhere they found purchase, propelling him at a speed faster than humanly possible. Wind breezed through my hair, over my skin, the sensation like nothing I’d experienced prior. He climbed up into the highest branches at the same rate, his tail helping to balance us along the way. Even with me on his back, he was fully capable of traversing the whole of the woods at this pace, so that the cliff disappeared behind us at a nearly alarming rate.

My eyes scanned over everything we passed, over the tops of the trees, the animals resting in the vines, the moonlight bouncing off the leaves and shimmering in the night sky—all of it a blur, and yet my eyes were able to pick out even minute details of the things we passed.

We even moved close to another Cedwig, sitting at the top of a tree, staring up at the moonlight. The woman glanced at us and smiled, and Eirian said something to her in his language, words that I doubted I would ever understand. He’d only spoken it to me once before, and even then it had sounded impossible to decipher.

Within moments, we stood in the trees just beyond the clearing my people now possessed. From where we stood I saw them, still sleeping in their circle. Even the guards were still unconscious, unaware of the fact that I’d left them during the night.

The sky began to lighten. There was no point in hoping that my people would sleep through the first few hours of day. Jonas insisted that everyone be up at dawn and that they work until the light had faded from the sky. After all, it was the only way that we would have homes built before winter set in. No one knew how cold that time of year would be.

“I should go,” I whispered under my breath, my arms still holding tight around Eirian’s shoulders.

He nodded and slowly climbed down through the branches, dropping to his feet in what looked like the exact place he’d found me.

I slid down off his back, and he turned to face me. “Thank you,” I breathed, smiling sadly up at him. My brow furrowed as his skin lightened in the ever-brightening light.

Eirian reached up and pulled a flower from one of the vines. He wrapped the stem tightly around and around something else he’d found in the trees, and fastened the bracelet around my wrist. “I will return, young one,” he told me. “Remember.” He smiled.

My eyes were fixed on the bracelet that now adorned my wrist. “It’s beautiful,” I said.

He laughed lightly and ran his fingers through my hair. “Go back,” he said. “I will return.”

I looked up at him and smiled brightly. “When?” My brows rose.

“Soon,” he replied. “I will give you a sign.” He lifted my hand and played with his homemade jewelry, his eyes still staring straight into mine. “Go,” he breathed.

I nodded slowly and stepped away from him, my heart tearing as I did so. The trees were more home to me than this clearing would ever be. They were safety, shelter, security. They were home. Even without Eirian, I had always felt at home within the trees, entrapped by the vines and tangles of branches. Nothing could reach me, when I was deep enough in the trees. Not even Jonas’s rules could find me when I was there.

My feet deftly carried me back over the tops of my people, until I settled back in beside Carol.

Almost as soon as I laid my head down and closed my eyes, the guards stirred. They wouldn’t tell Jonas they’d fallen asleep.

I slipped Eirian’s bracelet from my wrist and placed it in the pocket of my dress. No one could know where I had been. I didn’t know what would happen if they found out, and I didn’t want to test it. For now, it was safer for everyone to think that I had been here, beside Carol, all night long. But in my heart, I knew where I was meant to be. The forest called to me from all around, begging me to return to its arms.

“Soon,” I whispered under my breath.