Rainbow Snippets–Rebellion

The next few weeks I’m focusing on getting my historical novel – Rebellion, ready for publishing: finish edits, write blurb, plan out Authors Note…. Then, all I need to do is decide on the publishing date and book in promotion.

This week’s snippet comes from Rebellion, set during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1900) – Qing Dynasty China/Late Victorian.

Blurb:

1899, political tensions are rising with the emergence of the Boxer Movement in Northern China, straining ties between the Chinese Imperial Government and the Eight Nations with stakes in the country. As a Captain in the Royal Marines, Alfred Cartwright is deployed to Shanghai, where he discovers more than he’d dared to dream of – Love. Not even the struggles with language or the fear of reprisals if their relationship is found out, can stop Alfred from falling for the Chinese man he encounters. But as the ant-foreigner sentiment of the Boxer Movement grows in strength, their relationship will be put to the test.

Where do Alfred’s loyalties lie? With the man he loves or his country, as they stand opposite each other on a battlefield neither can escape.

TW: References to war

Washing off the smell of battle brought him some relief, his skin no longer caked in mud and blood of others. The battle never strayed too far from Alfred, even from inside the wood panelled office he could hear the anguished cries and groans of the wounded – dying – soldiers inside the fort. Sounds that mingled with the thunder of cannon fire outside. His eyes closed, head resting on the back of the chair and the events of the last few days flashed through his mind. Images of horror jolting him awake, dry heaving and coated in cold sweat. Heart pounded. Breath ragged. Alfred struggled to calm down, to try and sleep again.