Rainbow Snippets: You understand?

Because it’s celebrate pride month, I’m taking a short break from focusing solely on To Poison a Prince snippets to show pieces from across my stories in the theme of coming out to their partners…

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This snippet is from Someone Else’s Shoes. Originally published in the USA Today Bestselling anthology, Once Upon Another World, it’s being released on its own in November 2021. This story is a lesbian retelling of Cinderella set in the spellster universe.
The snippet itself is after Alla and Princess Viktoriya properly meet at the ball…

“Truthfully,” the princess whispered, drawing closer as if divulging a great secret. “There was another aspect to this night that wasn’t announced. My father wanted me to wait until I had found a wife to bear my children, but my mother saw this as an opportunity to see what fish are willing to bite now that I am of marriageable age.”

Alla’s heart sank at the bitterness in Princess Viktoriya’s words. If her stepmother knew the truth behind tonight, the woman would stop at nothing to see one of her daughters was chosen. It wouldn’t matter to her that neither Tamara nor Natalya liked women in that fashion. “Poor Vik,” she murmured.

Princess Viktoriya hummed her agreement, her lips flattening into a thin line. “Mother thought it better I face the whole court as the princess I am rather than the prince they thought they had. At once.” She shook her head. “They still insist I marry a woman. Because, you know, carrying a child is something I can’t do myself.” Her tone seemed cheerful and flippant enough, but the smile she gave Alla didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Alla had never given any thought to having children—at least, not beyond what her stepmother might do to them if she did. And when the only option to her was to proposition a serf or servant? It certainly wasn’t happening.

She gently laid her hand upon Princess Viktoriya’s knee. “I’m sorry. Truly. I’ve never considered how hard it must be to know the future of a whole lineage rests on you.”

“Do your shoulders not bear the same weight?”

Alla shook her head. “My lineage is nothing in comparison.” Or at all. So few of noble breeding would look to muddy their line by introducing elven blood into it.

Princess Viktoriya patted Alla’s fingers and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Truthfully, I don’t mind the marrying part. Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I don’t find my own gender attractive.” She leant back, resting her hands behind her to keep from falling off the bench. “You understand?”

With her face heating, Alla tucked her hair behind her ear. She did indeed. Quite a bit.

And there you have it. I’ll be back next weekend to share more snippets from my other books. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

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