Colorweaver (Book 1) Antagonist POV Fic


(It’s been something like two years since I wrote any new words. I’ve worked on the series off and on, but struggled hard with brain fog, and narrative? Wasn’t happening. But I’m back to working on book 1 and I have a sneaking suspicion that this draft is going to need a lot more pantsing than I, as an obsessive planner, have used before. Today I pushed myself to start at the very beginning, before book 1 actually starts, to pull this from the antagonist’s POV. Probably all spoilers, but eh, that’s okay. I’ve never hid that Feren was the antagonist lol)

Feren scowled at his once-muse from the other side of the street. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t trying to hide. Adair was the most oblivious person on the planet. Besides, flirting with that dopey-looking Protectorate would take all of his focus. Once Adair got on a roll with his puns, he wouldn’t stop for anything. Feren knew this all too well. He was also pretty sure he knew the Protectorate, but not well enough to remember his name. This guy truly was a nobody.

The Protectorate laughed, obviously trying to get Adair to take him upstairs. Feren’s scowl turned into a glare. Adair was his, even if he technically wasn’t.

Feren had done everything right. He kept an eye on Adair to make sure none of his dates or friends– it was never easy to tell which, with Adair– took advantage of his naivety. He gave Adair space. Not that all the space was intentional. It had taken Feren weeks to find out that Adair was working on his grad project in Silveridge. He’d only found out because something tugged at him one night. He’d dropped the mop in his hands and rushed out the door to see Adair munching away at something as he turned the corner. So Nina had known Adair was around and hadn’t bothered to tell him. Typical.

Somehow he always knew when Adair was close. Once he’d assumed it was a sentinel link forming early, but that was disproved when Adair broke up with him. Not the first or second time. Feren still held out hope then. But by the fifth time, he knew. Whatever it was that connected him to Adair wasn’t a link. Nina would call it obsession and she would be wrong. It was simply watching out for someone he cared about.

So Feren gave Adair time to come to his senses and come back, like he’d always done before. Only this time he didn’t. He was avoiding him. He had to be. That was the only explanation for not staying at the Artisans’ guild, where Feren studied. Why pay for a room to rent when the guild was free? Who was paying for it, anyway? Amateur artists couldn’t earn money, or at least they weren’t supposed to. They were supposed to save their weaving for their project. Adair could be selling his mundane art, but frankly he wasn’t that good. Feren could have done better, given the chance. If Nina was giving Adair money for something stupid like this, Feren was going to have words with her. They barely made ends meet at the cafe as it was. Sure, it looked like it was bustling, but it was just a place where low-ranking Protectorates– like the loser Adair was grinning at– hung out. She could have been assigned a better place where Feren wouldn’t have to work if she’d just waited a few more years. But no. She jumped at the promotion as soon as she’d reached novice.

It wasn’t fair. Feren should have had weaving like Adair and Nina. He came from a long line of Colorweavers and Savorweavers, after all. He didn’t really want the stupid power and it seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth, but it would have meant more status than working as a glorified busboy and barista. And Adair had no right to be seeing other people, not when he knew Feren was right here. Well, not right here, right here. Feren checked again. No, he and the Protectorate were still giggling.

The flirting didn’t matter because Feren had a plan. It was foolproof and a perfect way to get Adair to stay in Silveridge longer, which would give Adair time to come to his senses. If he could take Adair’s project– only to keep it safer than those useless Protectorates could– Adair would see that he needed a reliable muse to look out for him. He had a plan laid out and everything. It would just be a simple matter of disabling the inn’s alarm system. This would be a cinch. For once, Feren being so weaving-null that he practically came around the other side would be something other than a flaw. All he had to do was wait for Adair’s "friend" to leave.

CONVERSATION

2 comments:

  1. I'm excited to see where you take this, this seems so interesting.
    -Quinley

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! The outline for my rewrite is coming along well, so I'm hoping I can make some good progress with the book.

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