Thursday 2 April 2015

B is for Boyar


For this year's A-Z Challenge I have selected a word from the dictionary for each day and written a story around it with a 100 word limit. For extra interest I have chosen words that are unknown or unfamiliar to me. All definitions are from the Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus 2007 Edition. Today's word is Boyar.

Boyar: A member of the old aristocracy in Russia, next in line to a prince.

Mikhail moved along the palace walls, only thoughts of vengeance in his mind. His childhood friend had received the medals even though he, a lowly boyar, had defeated many more foes. Not to mention the fact the gallant prince had won the heart of Natasha, his childhood sweetheart.

The scene in the chamber made him gasp, first in shock, then in relief. Alexander had seen what a maggot he truly was and done the deed himself!

“Alexander!” Natasha rushed in and gaped first at the corpse and then at Mikhail. His grin turned to a grimace and he backed away.

42 comments:

Heather R. Holden said...

Ooh, love today's entry. It's so wonderfully dark!

Melissa Sugar said...

Very fun story. A dead body always stirs things up. You already have letter B up and I barely got letter A before midnight. It was a rough day. This word is also unknown or unfamiliar to me. Okay, it's unknown. I admit it. I like learning new words, though.

Laura Clipson said...

Oh dear, I imagine Natasha's not happy!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Nick - these are good ideas for the A-Z - I didn't know Boyar either - but your story line is 'oh dear' .. lots to continue on with .. cheers Hilary

Bish Denham said...

Interesting theme! If only all maggots would take care of themselves... :)

betty said...

Had not heard of the word boyar before, so neat to learn a new word and then to read your story. Gallant of Alexander to realize his short comings and then take care of the problem himself.

betty

Tasha Duncan-Drake said...

New word for me - sounds like it should be a good sounding word. I get the feeling Mikhail might be in a bit of trouble even if he didn't kill Alexander.
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

cleemckenzie said...

Another word I'd never heard of!

Jennifer Hawes said...

Great new word. Russia has a fascinating history.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

There went his chances with her!

Keith's Ramblings said...

I like little dark stories like this! And I learned a new word! A really worthwhile visit.

Sophie Duncan said...

You taught me a new word. Heading off to kill a rival sounds like something very Russian to do :)
Sophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
FB3X
Wittegen Press

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Interesting idea to improve our vocabularies! Boyar is probably not a word I will use though. Nice teaser story!

Intangible Hearts said...

Very exciting. Can't wait to see the movie!

Chrys Fey said...

I like vengeful characters. ;)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

What! You're stopping there?

Unknown said...

Whoa! What happened to Natasha?

David P. King said...

I know little and Russian history, but I did know about that word! :)

Anonymous said...

Great story. Sad it's so short.

~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

Anonymous said...

The <100 word challenge is very difficult! And 26 of them. Did you write them way ahead of time? Great job!

djinnia said...

Arg! You killed me! I want more. How could you stop there?

fantastic word and fantastic story!

Julie Flanders said...

I want more too! What a powerful and dark snippet.
Your theme is so ambitious, I'm looking forward to your words/stories!

M Pax said...

Wowza! There's an interesting castle. Untethered Realms

Nick Wilford said...

Heather - Thanks! Dark is good.

Melissa - It was unknown to me, too!

Laura - Indeed not.

Hilary - Thanks, yes I might consider carrying on with some of the stories.

Bish - Quite!

Betty - Thanks. Mikhail's problems are just starting though!

Natasha - It doesn't look good for him.

Lee - Same here!

Jennifer - It does! No research here but I think stuff like this went on.

Alex - Yes, bad timing for him.

Keith - Thank you!

Sophie - They're very passionate.

Nick Wilford said...

Mary - Thanks!

Intangible - Wow. There's a thought!

Chrys - They're very interesting.

Susan - Sorry!

Anne - I'll leave that up to you. ;)

David - Well done, sir!

Patricia - Thanks! Sorry it's short.

Zooey - Kind of, I only started last week and still got half to do!

Djinnia - Thanks! I'm floored by your comment.

Julie - Thanks very much!

Mary - Yes, a place of dark deeds.

J E Oneil said...

Nice one. And another new word for me.

loverofwords said...

Of course I love this story since my name is Natasha. Sigh.

Sharon Himsl said...

Ooh, that got my blood going....and I learned a new word too. Fun theme!

Jean Davis said...

Hey, a word I knew, yay. Poor Mikhail, even when he gets his way, he's still screwed.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Cool entry for today! Wow, I really want to know more!

Anonymous said...

A brilliant word to pick for B! I'm enjoying these explorations. :)

Susan Kane said...

Such a story that leaves questions hanging unanswered. The best kind of stories.

Thanks for commenting at my site!

Christine Rains said...

Oh oh! Intense and dark. I'm liking it. :)

Angela Brown said...

And thus I am hooked and interested in what happens next. Loving this theme.

Cortney Pearson said...

Ooo, gripping! I *love* this theme--I'm a huge fan of words and love learning new ones! Kudos to you, can't wait to see what's next! :D

T.F. Walsh said...

Great theme and word today:) Oh, I like the excerpt. Nice and dark... just how I like my stories.

Mark Koopmans said...

WOW... that's taking A-Z to a new level... and well written to you :)

PS: Sorry I blew helping out on your cover release... We literally were moving from Hawaii to Virginia... so my sincere apologies.

Best wishes, Nick, with the rest of the dictionary!!

Holly Jahangiri said...

I am so stealing your theme, next year! This is too much fun. I hope you're having as much fun with the writing as I am with the reading. :)

I can't help but think of the opera Boris Gudonov whenever I see the word "boyar."

"Feed us, feed us..." In this case, more words!

Unknown said...

So, Alexander...why did he kill himself before doing the deed with Natasha in the bedchamber? Got me perplexed, but I like the story Nick.

Trisha said...

So much action in such a short snippet! Very cool.

I really want to read on though, and find out what happens next! ;)

Mina Burrows said...

Wonderful. Just wonderful!

Sarah said...

Oh my! One can only imagine what the punishment could be for such a crime. Good word and good story!

Sarah from Scribbles and Shorts