Frozen Milk? (Snippets and more!)

A Noble Warrior, book 10 in the Cornerstone Series, has hit its halfway point! And passed the halfway point. Already.

Which is not looking good for the word count. XD

Anyways…to celebrate, I thought it would be fun to share a short post of completely out-of-context snippets from the first half of this lovely Nutcracker retelling. With no other explanation. *Puts on innocent author face*

Hope you enjoy!

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“Is it true that the Eisybians have created a way to turn milk…into ice?” 

…that was the strangest way I had ever heard my old country’s creamy invention described. 

I snorted. “Have they created a way to turn Ninari milk into delicacies? Yes. Solid ice…” Wrinkling my nose, I shook my head. “Does that even sound appetizing?”

“I thought it sounded odd.” Fritz exchanged a glance at Marie and she shook her head, averting her gaze.  

“What?” I looked between them, raising an eyebrow behind my mask. 

“Nothing,” Marie interrupted quickly as she waved a gloved hand.

Fritz grinned. “The idea intrigued us both, but Marie has yet to stop talking about this frozen milk.”

“It was just a whim.”

“A whim that you have yet to stop talking about.”

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Slowly, I undid the ribbons holding my own mask to my face. I slid it off, a soft breeze brushing against my skin as I exposed my upper face to the sun. 

A chill ran down my spine. I was unmasked. Exposed. I had nothing to hide behind. 

I scrambled to hold back the past with a weakening grasp, hardening the walls between me and the man I used to be. Contrary to what the Mouse King thought, that prince was long dead. The burden of his title had crushed him even before the coup wiped out his family.

Exchanging masks with Fritz, I fingered the dark cloth, the silk threads catching against callused fingers no longer suited for such finery. 

One identity for another. Each a mask, each a cover. 

I slid on the new mask, the cool silk settling against my face as a weight settled on my shoulders. I could do this. I could hide from the Mouse King again.

---

I don’t remember turning. The trees around me blurred as I plowed through the underbrush, all stealth forgotten as I raced to escape. 

Black appeared on my left again.

They were closing in around me. 

I sucked in a breath, ducking a branch, my boots slipping across mud and fallen leaves. 

Run. 

I had to run.