A Queer-er Shakespeare
by
Size: 6.00 x 9.00 in
Pages: 130
A storm at sea leaves twin hearts broken... and when the twins enter town, they leave broken hearts in their wake.
Trouble is brewing in Illyria. Steadfast and stubborn Duke Orsino won't take no for an answer from Countess Olivia, yet Olivia's proud heart beats only for Cesario. The catch? Cesario used to be known as Viola.
Viola lost her twin brother Sebastian at sea and entered Orsino's household disguised as a man. Now, Cesario is falling for his master, the duke – while helping Orsino court Countess Olivia! Is it because Cesario used to be Viola that he is falling in love with a man? And if so, why does he vow that the dead will walk the earth before he answers to Viola?
Outside of town, a man who wears Cesario's face is recovering from long illness, cared for by the darkly handsome sailor and war veteran Antonio. When this stranger, so recently recovered, decides to travel to Illyria, he walks into a love triangle he never could have imagined. And Antonio will take his life in his hands to follow the man he has come to love.
Will Illyria still be standing when the storm-lost twins are done with it?
The strands of passion and destiny lead to strange places; find the impossible happily ever after in this retelling of Shakespeare's classic queer love story. Discover, in a story that has enthralled audiences for ages...
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Genres:
Pairings: M-M, M-M-F
Heat Level: 1
Romantic Content: 4
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Bisexual, Gay, Polyamorous, Transgender
Protagonist 1 Age: 18-25
Protagonist 2 Age: 26-35
Protagonist 3 Age: 18-25
Tropes: Class Differences, Fairy Tales Revisited, Love Triangle, Mistaken Identity, Office / Workplace Romance, True Love, Wide-Eyed Innocence
Word Count: 35000
Setting: Illyria
Languages Available: English
She had to do something, Viola knew. No matter how she wished to fall into grief like the countess, she was a young woman, unmarried and alone, in a foreign country.
The thought of being alone, forever bereft of her brother, brought forth an idea: a dangerous, glorious, heart-shaking idea. Viola leaned in towards the captain and spoke softly, letting the sounds of sea and gulls hide her voice from the nearby sailors. "I prithee, and I'll pay thee bounteously: conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent." A disguise she was well familiar with, for often had she and her brother tricked their tutors and parents so. "I'll serve this duke."
READ MOREThe captain, of course, was shocked and shook his head in immediate rejection, but Viola pushed on. "Thou shall present me as an eunuch to him: it may be worth thy pains; for I can sing and speak to him in many sorts of music. That will allow me very worth his service." This stopped the captain, caught hold in his mind. For all men have their weaknesses. Viola sought to arouse his ambition, to have the count in debt to him for presenting a new addition to the count's court. But it was a far different weakness she touched on. A weakness, a dream perhaps, that the captain would share with no one alive and very few among the dead.
Viola saw the captain's reluctant agreement, if not the reason for it. She looked out over the sea, reminding herself of the disaster that could await even the most well-provisioned voyages. "What else
unmarried and alone, in a foreign country.
The thought of being alone, forever bereft of her brother, brought forth an idea: a dangerous, glorious, heart-shaking idea. Viola leaned in towards the captain and spoke softly, letting the sounds of sea and gulls hide her voice from the nearby sailors. "I prithee, and I'll pay thee bounteously: conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent." A disguise she was well familiar with, for often had she and her brother tricked their tutors and parents so. "I'll serve this duke."
The captain, of course, was shocked and shook his head in immediate rejection, but Viola pushed on. "Thou shall present me as an eunuch to him: it may be worth thy pains; for I can sing and speak to him in many sorts of music. That will allow me very worth his service." This stopped the captain, caught hold in his mind. For all men have their weaknesses. Viola sought to arouse his ambition, to have the count in debt to him for presenting a new addition to the count's court. But it was a far different weakness she touched on. A weakness, a dream perhaps, that the captain would share with no one alive and very few among the dead.
Viola saw the captain's reluctant agreement, if not the reason for it. She looked out over the sea, reminding herself of the disaster that could await even the most well-provisioned voyages. "What else may hap to time I will commit;" she nodded to herself, then looked back to the captain, "Only shape thou thy silence to my wit."
Taking a deep breath and sending a prayer winging to the heavens, he committed himself. "Be you his eunuch, and your mute I'll be:" he swore. "When my tongue blabs, then let mine eyes not see."
They gazed at each other a moment, each in their own way casting a coin in the air and trusting to fate and the other that it would land aright.
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