This week we’ve got two themes because somewhere in the process, I duplicated today with Dialog and Openings – so you may get a little bit of each as you read everyone’s entries. I’ve decided to go with dialog!

This is a passage from RELENTLESS after Roman and Abbie have had to stop seeing each other.

FEDERATION CHRONICLES: RELENTLESS by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2009, Lauren Dane
All rights reserved, Penguin Group International

Blearily, Abbie watched the vid screen in her living room two weeks later.

“Abbie, turn it off,” Nyna warned.

“I can’t! Nyna at least I can look at him.”

“Not like this. Come on. Why don’t I just poke you in the eye? We can just go straight to the horrible pain part and skip watching this.”

Unable to help herself, Abbie laughed at her sister. “Shut up. I’m trying to hear them fawn over Roman.”
She turned back to catch a tall, genetically perfect woman deliver a sugary, peppy, fannish bit about Roman:

House Lyons’s handsome leader, Roman Lyons has never commented one way or another about his involvement with barrister Abigail Haws but it’s clear he’s moved on.

Roman Lyons is being close mouthed about it except for one brief statement acknowledging that he was indeed looking for a wife. It’ll be nice to grow old with a woman to take care of him after all these years of raising his sons alone.

Perfect Polly there smiled dazzlingly into the screen and Abbie curled her lip as she shut the feed down.

“I’ve never seen a woman I wanted to shove into the meat grinder more,” Nyna said. “Well, until we see the hag Roman will marry. We will tear her to bits, of course.”

Abbie sighed and went to sit back next to her sister.

“I feel sorry for her. Whoever she is. Can you imagine just being traded off like that? Like you’re a sack of grain or a pretty bauble?”

“That’s well and good, Abbie but she’s getting in your way. Roman loves you. Marcus says he’s miserable and is terribly grouchy all day long.”

“Even worse then. Being married to a man who loves another woman! And good. He should be miserable. I’m miserable. I’m miserable because he made me love him and there he is all pretty and cultured and even if he doesn’t love this woman he will make her feel cherished and she’ll be the one next to him at night where I should be. And I can’t all because my father wasn’t Ranked.”

She stood up and began to pace.

“I ask you, Nyna, how fucking fair is that? I’ve been good. I’ve helped people. I’m working to make the ‘Verse a better place. I never railed against my fate after the attack. I deserve this man! And she’s going to have him. Why?”

“Finally. Gods, I’ve been wondering when you’d get mad. Watching you mope around for the last nearly two weeks has been ridiculous. Get mad. It is stupid. It’s fucked up.”

“And then, the AC was supposed to meet to tell me what was going on with our proposal but that got delayed because of the trials and this damnable mess. You’d think fucking me was as bad as a mass execution. I am a good person! I don’t need to have people shoving cameras in my face asking me how good Roman was in bed.”

“You did show remarkable restraint by not shoving that camera up his ass.” Nyna put her feet up on the low table in front of the couch.

“It’s not fair!” Abbie pounded her fists against her thighs. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone and it has to be the one man I can’t have? Why? What did I do? His precious Familial system! It’s hateful and backward and I hate it! I hate it. I hate his duty. I hate his honor. His resolve to do the right thing. Well, I’m the right thing. He says he loves me. I believe he loves me. But he walked away. Am I not allowed to have this one thing? Is he not allowed? Is that what this is about? He’s had everything with sparkles on top his whole life so now when there’s something he really wants he’s being punished somehow?”

She bent, resting on her haunches and screamed, low and guttural. And collapsed on the floor.

“I hate this time in my life.”

“You deserve to. Abbie, you’re such a good person. If anyone in this ‘Verse deserves happiness, it’s you.”

Abbie heaved a breath and sat up. “I’m over it now. Not really, I’m lying, but I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Nyna snorted. “Fine. Why don’t you tell me what you said to Dai to make him keep his mouth shut. I know you had words. It got around.”

“It doesn’t signify. It needed saying. It’s over. So far he’s keeping out of my way so hopefully he’ll continue with that. Anyway, why are you here? The arguments in Jaron’s trial start tomorrow. Doesn’t Marcus need the company?”

Don’t Forget to head over to the blogs of the other Snippeters today to see what they’ve got to say!

Beth Williamson
Cynthia Eden
Elisabeth Naughton
Eliza Gayle
Jaci Burton
Jody Wallace
Kelly Maher
Lacey Savage
Lauren Dane
Marissa Scott
McKenna Jeffries
Michelle Pillow
Moira Rogers
Sasha White
Shelley Munro
Sylvia Day
Taige Crenshaw
TJ Michaels
Victoria Janssen
Vivian Arend