Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Blog, page 43

BOOK TOUR LAUNCH!!!

And Prism Book Tours launches Starflower!!! You do NOT want to miss out on this. So head on over to the beautiful Colorimetry blog for the official launch and get a preview of all the fun things to come.

Also, how does this look to you . . .


 Or even this?    These are the first and second prizes for the Grand Giveaway being offered with this tour! So be certain you enter your name!  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/18d8bf112/



Read-along: Chapter 2

Welcome back to the Christmas Read-along! We are just about to meet the hero in Chapter 2, so things are getting exciting.

If you would like to eligible for the giveaway at the end of the week, here's what you have to do: Answer at least one question for each day's reading (you can go back to answer from previous days if you're just joining us now). All those who leave an answer each day will be entered in a drawing. The THREE winners will be selected on Sunday. I will be giving away copies of my other three novels, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, and Starflower.

Back to the chapter . . .


CHAPTER TWO

The Hero:  Here, at the beginning of chapter 2, we meet our hero! A stranger to Una, he pulls her out of her the dangerous vision of the Dragon, making her drop the dragon scale. Then he turns furious on Torkom and puts him in his place. Hoorah for heroic introductions! The first name--or title--we hear for this character is, "Eshkhan" as spoken by Torkom. Torkom is the only person in this novel to call our hero by that name . . . but later on, in Veiled Rose and Moonblood, we hear it again.

Torkom's price: What a different story this might have been had Torkom received the price he demanded from Una! Can you imagine--those of you who've already read the story and know how it plays out--what could have taken place if Torkom had gotten hold of Una's ring? Interesting to speculate . . . But, thank Lumé above, our Hero prevented this from happening, and Torkom gave Una the vision for free.

Una's embarrassment:Una is pretty harsh to our hero at first, partly because she knows he's right, I think. She should never have foolishly entered Torkom's den. But a girl like her really does hate to be corrected! So she puts on her Proud Princess act . . . and totally makes a fool of herself! Complete with red blotches, of course.

And I really love when she returns to father and says, "Take us home. I am done with the market. It's a silly place full of silly people." Really, the only silly person is Una herself. And she knows it. Oh, poor embarrassed girl!

Aethelbald: And here we learn Our Hero's name: Aethelbald . . . possibly the most oddly horrendous name a hero could boast.

When I first began drafting Heartless, I wanted some very silly reason for Una (a very silly girl) to set her heart against the prince. So I decided to give him a singularly un-heroic name, a name a girl really can't take seriously. Ethelredcame to mind at first, but I ended up preferring Aethelbald because it means "noble and bold." Behind the strange sound, it's actually a very heroic name that suits Our Hero rather well. He is noble and he is bold, far more noble and bold than anyone else in this book. But it will take Una a good chunk of novel before she begins to appreciate this truth!

Paying respects: Prince Aethelbald announces his intention of "paying his respects" to Fidel and, most particularly, to Princess Una. Everyone knows exactly what that means! And Princess Una, overcome with how badly she's behaved (and totally unwilling to admit it), not to mention learning Aethelbald's unromantic name, is horrified. The idea of romantic suitors is so much more appealing than this sudden reality!

Nurse: This next scene with Nurse and Una discussing Prince Aethelbald was one of the first scenes I ever wrote for this novel, way back in the first draft. It didn't change a great deal from that draft to this. I always enjoyed the dynamic between Nurse and Una. Nurse's pragmatism serves well to highlight Una's over-the-top dreaminess. And I do enjoy watching poor Una being put together for the feast, with the fake curls and that awful dress.

My Personal Favorite Lines:

In truth, he was the most unnoticeable man Una could recall ever seeing. Though, a reasonable side of her added, she might have seen one without noticing. (p. 33)

Of all the curses in Una's young life, the very worst, she believed, was her tendency to break out in red blotches across her face when flustered or embarrassed. Especially on her nose. This was enough in itself to make her believe in Faeries, bad ones, who were neglected on dinner party lists and showed up at christenings full of vengeance and cackling, "She shall burst forth in blotches, brilliant glowing ones, at the least provocation." (p. 33)

Una closed her eyes and wished that the ground would open and swallow her up. The nature of the universe seemed to be against her, however, and no sudden chasms rifted the turf beneath her feet. (p. 34)

Prince Felix muttered, "Aethelbald? I don't think we can forgive that." (p. 35)

Una could not remember ever seeing her father, whom she imagined had been born a king complete with a beard and a gold crown on his head, at a loss for words. (p. 35)

Another pause followed--one of those pauses in which everyone feels the need to insert something profound, but no one can think of anything more profound than "So, yes. Anyway." (p. 35)

"I'm Felix, crown prince and all that, heir to the throne, though Una's older. Don't elt her fool you. She'll pretend she's all right with the royal succession being what it is, but you get her in the right mood and--"
"Felix!" Fidel and Una said, though in rather different tones. (p. 35-36) Iubdan's beard! I had forgotten what a stinker that Felix is!!!

Una's mind had reached a mental wall several sentences back, and was only just now getting up the speed to vault it. But instead of making a graceful leap, her mind crashed headfirst into the wall, scattering bricks and uttering one long, silent Nooooooo! (p. 36)

A buzz of activity percolated through Oriana Palace as hasty preparations were made to feast the Prince of Farthestshore and his entourage, due to arrive at sundown. The best silver was polished, the chandelier was refitted with new candles, and even the great tapestry in the King's Hall was taken out into the courtyard and beaten until the guardsmen standing at their posts were coughing and filmed over with dust. (p. 37)

"This Prince Aethel-whatsit. He's stodgy, is he?"
"Prince Aethelbald is nothing if not stodgy."
"Is he heavy?"
"Well . . . no."
"Flat-footed?"
"Not exactly."
"Hard to digest?"
"Stodginess is as much a state of mind as anything, Nurse." (p. 37-38)

Nurse was a practical woman to whom a romantic gesture equated picking up one's own dirty socks and washing one's hands before dinner. And while there was perhaps a certain romance in these, Una failed to appreciate it. (p. 38)


Questions for the Text:

1. So if the guy was perfectly lovely in every other respect, but his name was Aethelbald . . . how would you react?

2. In the scene between Una and her nurse, there is a reference to a famous character . . . a character who doesn't feature in this book save as a name. Did you catch it? Who was it, and why is he/she important? (And what do you think Monster's reaction to that reference meant?)

3. What were some of your favorite lines?

Reader Question:

1. How did you come up with the idea for the Wood? -- AC

The idea for the Wood sprang from my desire to have a classic Faerie Wood such as you see in traditional fairy tales. What fairy tale is complete without some mysterious forest for Snow White to flee into and discover seven dwarves? For the handsome prince to ride into and find the sleeping beauty? It seemed an absolute narrative necessity.

Goldstone Wood developed a life of its own as I continued to write about it, however. And it has a rich and interesting history only hinted at in Heartless. Though how it came by its name is mentioned in Heartless. It's such a brief mention, you might miss it! But it's there. And someday, I hope to tell the story of how Goldstone Wood came to be called Goldstone Wood. For most of the Faerie folk, it is simply the Wood.

Read-along: Chapter 1

Continuing the Heartless read-along! Remember, if you haven't read it already, you can get it for free e-book download until the end of the month. Snatch it up while you can!

There will be questions at the end of each segment, and there will be giveaways at the end of each week. If you would like to be eligible for a giveaway here's what you have to do: Answer at least one question each day of the week. Everyone who does that will have their name entered in a drawing, and the THREE winners will be selected each Sunday. I'll be giving out copies of my three other novels, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, and Starflower.


CHAPTER ONE

Dialogue: This chapter opens with an amusing dialogue between Una and her nurse, in which Una bewails the lack of romance in her rather boring life, and Nurse ventures her opinions on romance. I really loved using this scene to establish Una's character. She is a sweet, romantic, dreamy girl with quite a streak of immaturity in her outlook. Which makes sense given her status as a sheltered princess!

Nurse acts as a great foil to Una, being in many ways her polar opposite. Her pragmatism serves to highlight Una's dreamy silliness to comedic effect.

Desires: Fiction is all about establishing your protagonists desires . . . and then throwing absolutely everything you can in the way of achieving those desires! Una's desire for romance in her life--which becomes her primary goal for the first half of this novel--is clearly set in place within this first scene. Now that her desire is prepped, we get the fun of watching it thwarted!

Descriptions: I have never liked the tendency of writers to define their characters by what they look like. I wanted Una to be such a distinct personality that my readers would form a clear picture in their minds of what theybelieved her to look like without any help on my part! I gave little quirks--she breaks out in red blotches when embarrassed, and her hair never stays in place. To me, that was more than enough to form a solid picture in my head!

But, by about the seventh draft of this novel (and at my editor's request), I finally caved and blessed Una with honey-colored hair. I don't think I ever gave her an eye-color though . . .

Lifestyle: Although Una is a princess, and Oriana Palace is quite sumptuous, she doesn't live as opulent a lifestyle as one might imagine. She doesn't have a host of ladies-in-waiting, just her one nurse, and she attends classes with her brother. She's spoiled for sure, but nowhere near as spoiled as she might be!

Monster: Five years since the prologue, we find Monster firmly established within Oriana Palace as the princess's pet. His ongoing war with Prince Felix provides some comic moments as well. I suspect Felix gave the cat his name, too! I doubt Una would have named him "Monster." I like how she talks to him, though she doesn’t really believe he understands her. I talk to my pets all the time!

The history lesson: Una and Felix's history lesson is a fun little tidbit, hinting at things to come later in the series. They are studying the rise of Corrilond in the year of the Sleeper's Awakening during the reign of Abundiantus IV. Corrilond, we learn later, was destroyed  five hundred years ago by a dragon the Bane of Corrilond . . . destroyed so completely that some people even wonder if it ever existed! But it's still in their history books at least.

The Twelve-Year Market: And here the magic begins to happen! The Twelve-Year Market was actually a bit of a late-comer in the drafting process as well. Originally, the story opened with Prince Aethelbald simply arriving at Oriana Palace to "pay his respects," and the first chapter ended with his surprising proposal. But I decided I wanted to bring in a little more magic and mystery surrounding him.

Magic has not been a prominent force in Parumvir for many generations by the time this book takes place. But when the Prince of Farthestshore makes it his business to step out of the Wood Between into the mortal world, other Faeries get excited and decide to bring the market back as well! It was tremendously fun to explore the various folks and their magical wares through the eyes of Una and her brother. Some things were unique to this world, while others--like the seven-league boots--are familiar to fairy tales.

The unicorn fry: Considering we meet much a older, more frightening unicorn later on in the series, the unicorn fry here in the first chapter of Heartlessseem a bit out of place. But years ago, I read a theory (not one I believe, but an interesting theory) that the unicorn legend developed out of narwhale sightings, which would mean that the first unicorns were sea creatures. It took only a few leaps and an imaginative jump before sea unicorns (which I pictures looking much more like sea horses than narwhales) emerged in my mind. And I was just tickled by the idea of people having bowls of sea unicorns like we would have bowls of goldfish! I mean, wouldn't that be fantastic?

Time: In this chapter we are first introduced to the Faerie folk's notion of time. For mortals, year follows year, hour follows hour in a natural progression. For Faeries, this isn't so. The old man with the alabaster jars everyone, "Unicorn fry, fresh from the sea, caught just this morning--or last century, depending on your view." King Fidel tells Sir Oeric that it has been at least two hundred years since a Twelve-Year Market was recorded in Parumvir . . . to which Oeric replies, "But only twelve years as my folk count it."

Later on, Time and its manipulation beyond the mortal world is going to be a very important theme! So keep your eyes open.

Characters: We meet several more important folks in this chapter, including King Fidel, Una's father, and Sir Oeric, one of the knights of Farthestshore. Oeric plays a major role in Moonblood, but he only has a small part in this book. I liked bringing him into the tale, though, because he's character I've written about since long before I ever dreamed up Heartless! He has a long and interesting history, which I hope to someday be able to share with all of you. I will drop little hints now: His story connects with Abundiantus V, the Sleeper's Awakening, and the naming of Goldstone Wood.

Curious yet?

Malgril and Julnril: The two dwarf brothers who made the silver-wrought figurines that move . . . do you know, I'd forgotten all about putting them into this novel? They and their workmanship were characters who featured in short-story ideas I played around with back in high school, and I have some faint ideas of playing with them in later Goldstone Wood tales. But I had forgotten that they had found their way into Heartless! That made me smile.

The Seven-League Boots: Poor Felix. He ends up the butt of quite a number of jokes in this story! One of the biggest--and most popular--being this funny little scene where he stops by a cobbler's stall and tries on a pair of seven-league boots. Stamping his feet to see how they fit, he inadvertently takes a step . . . and ends up seven-leagues away! Good thing Sir Oeric was around to fetch him back again.

Torkom the Fortune Teller: With Torkom, we have our first real glimpse of goblins in the universe of Goldstone Wood. And an unusual glimpse it is, hinting at things to come in later books. Una sees him as small, huddled and fanged one moment, then beautiful and elegant the next. Those of you who have read later in the series can guess that Torkom is wearing, at least partially, the enchanting veils of Arpiar. But he is outside of Arpiar, so they don't work very well, leaving his ugly goblin self exposed.

And it's interesting to note that Sir Oeric, who is also a goblin, doesn't wear any disguises at all, but is simply ugly. Yet he is far more trustworthy than Torkom!

Una's ring: Another important feature of this novel is glimpsed in this scene. Una wears a ring of clustered opals given to her by her mother, which Torkom immediately recognizes as "A gift of the heart." Foreshadowing!!!!

Una's Fortune: The scene where Una glimpses "her fortune" in the dragon scale was a later edition to the story. In early versions, I merely had her grab the scale and burn her hands, but she did not see the image of the Dragon. In one of the later drafts, I decided to give us our first glimpse of the Dragon much earlier--here in chapter one--and go on to have him appear in her dreams from  time to time. Created a stronger sense of building tension, I thought.

My Personal Favorite Lines:

Nurse, who had long since ceased to function as a real nurse and these days played the part of maid and busybody to her princess, wielded a brush with the tenderness of a gardener raking last year's dead leaves, making every effort to tame Una's honey-colored hair into an acceptable braid. (p. 15)

To pay their respects, according to the definition given the phrase by the courtiers of Oriana Palace, was a tactful way to say, investigate marriage possibilities with the resident princess. (p. 16)

With that, she turned on her heel and marched down the corridor, the blind cat trotting behind, unlike a dog in every way because, of course, he wasn't truly following her. He merely happened to be going her way. (p. 17)

"Nothing ever changes, Monster."
"Meeeaa."
Una looked down her nose at him. "You're not just saying that, are you? Trying to make me feel better?"
"Meeaa."
"I knew it." (p. 17)

Monster took a moment to rub a cheek against the young prince's knee before dodging Felix's backhand and arranging himself on the windowsill to catch the sunlight. (p. 17)

Out of the Wood they streamed in parade--carrying with them the scent of dusk, the sound of dawn--and they arranged themselves upon the lawn outside the walls of the city of Sondhold, in the shadow of Goldstone Hill. (p. 19)

The hubbub bubbled all the way to the crest of Goldstone Hill and flowed on into the palace, where Princess Una sat with her nose in her history text, wallowing in academic misery. Dates and battles and dead king's names swam before her eyes while spring fever, cruel and demanding, picked at the back of her brain. (p. 22)

Questions for the Text:

1. Una is asked to make a bargain at the twelve year market, a bargain which, come Moonblood, Lionheart will actually make. What was this bargain?

2. If you could purchase anything from this Twelve-Year Market, which of the Faerie wares described would you choose?

3. What were some of your favorite lines in this chapter?

HEARTLESS Read-Along: Prologue

Today marks the beginning of the chapter-a-day read-along of Heartless! I thought  this might be a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season with all of you. If you haven't read Heartless yet, be sure to grab a copy and join along. It's available for free e-book download until the end of the month, so get it while you can!

I am really looking forward to this. It has been several years now since I actually sat down and read the book. I'm excited to revisit Una and all her various adventures.

There will be questions at the end of each segment, and there will be giveaways at the end of each week. If you would like to be eligible for a giveaway here's what you have to do: Answer at least one question each day of the week. Everyone who does that will have their name entered in a drawing, and the THREE winners will be selected each Sunday. I'll be giving out copies of my three other novels, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, and Starflower.

Also, if you have any questions yourself, feel free to ask in the comments. I will try to answer them over the next couple of days.

And now, time for the story . . .

PROLOGUE

Two Children: Those of you who have been following my series will know that I always love to explore into my characters when they were children. Children are so much more honest than adults. They are who they are, good, bad, or mischievous. I really enjoyed the opportunity in this prologue to glimpse Una and Felix in an unguarded moment of play. No one is watching them . . . at least, so they think.

The opening: I wrote many, many drafts of this novel before it finally went to print. This prologue was actually added rather late in the process, only a few months before printing. I wanted a chance to  properly introduce the Wood itself, not to mention Monster.

Monster: One of the most popular characters in the series makes his first appearance here in the prologue! The blind cat emerging suddenly from the Wood, distracting the two children from their purpose of crossing the Old Bridge. Was it chance? Or was it protection against things neither Una nor Felix could guess?

The mood: This opening segment is full of dreamy, fairy-tale writing. My hope was to create a mood of childhood magic . . . that delicious sense that the world is full of mystery and danger, but not a too-present danger.

The siblings: Una and Felix have quite the teasing dynamic here! Una's a bit bossy, sending her little brother on various errands. (This may or may not have been based on my own life . . . just don't ask my little brothers!) And Felix is such a stinker, startling her and trying to steal her journal . . . and making fun of her poetry! What a pill. Though, one can't help but think her poetry might deserve it . . . 

The wood thrush: One of the most important recurring themes in this story makes a quiet entrance here in the prologue. Who would have guessed how important the wood thrush would become from this first little mention!

Time Period: Despite the fairy tale setting--and some of the marketing for this book which has presented it as a medieval fantasy--there are plenty of little details throughout the book that imply this story is not set in a medieval time period. In this prologue, for instance, Una uses a pencil when writing in her journal. She also wears buckled shoes with heels.

My Personal Favorite Lines:

"Faithful gremlin . . . you must seek the fabled Flowing Gold of Rudiobus, lost somewhere in this raging river." She indicated the stream that trickled down the side of Goldstone Hill. Raging river it was not, but facts never stopped the course of Una's imagination. (p. 8)

He flopped down at her side, grinning, and held a glob of mud under her nose.
"Eeeew, Felix!" She pushed his hands away. "Stop it!"
"It's all that was left," he said.
"All that was left of what?"
"The Flowing Gold," he said. "I think it got melted by a dragon." (p. 10)


"I'll brush her fur and give her a good meal--"
"He doesn't need a good meal. He's heavy!"
"She's blind and lost," Una snapped. "She needs a good meal. Isn't she lovely?"
"He's ugly." (p. 13)
(I still giggle at Una's assumption that Monster is a girl!)


Questions for the Text:

1. This section served the purpose of introducing the personalities of Una and her brother. What did we learn about Una's personality in this prologue? How do you think this revelation (or these revelations) set up for Una's later adventures?

2. This one is for those who have read further into the series. There are two major references to items that will be important in later books. Can you name those two items and the books they feature in?

3. What were some of your favorite lines from this scene?

Prism Book Tours

My dear readers, it has been a little while! I am excitedly getting things ready for the big Christmas Read-along, and sadly haven't had a moment to turn to other blogging. But it will all be worth it in the end!

In the meanwhile, I want to take a moment to enthuse about another fun event coming up in December . . .



The wonderful, exuberant, lovely Laura of Colorimetry has just started a new Blog Tour service, Prism Book Tours.   And Starflower has the wonderful good fortune of being the first novel to enjoy one of her tours! Starting December 3rd, you're going to want to visit Colorimetry and begin the epic adventure this tour is sure to be.

What will it include?

Interviews and guest posts written by yours truly.

Exciting snippets from the novel itself with titles such as, "The Kiss By the River," and "Bring Her To Me Alive."

And, most fun of all, some really fun sneak peeks of things to come in Dragonwitch next summer!

I've been working with Laura back and forth this week getting things finalized, and it's going to be so much fun!!!

So mark your blog-reading calendars for December 3rd. And tell your friends!

Christmas Read-Along!

Now that the Fan Fiction contest is over, and all the submissions have been featured (and enjoyed!), it's time to start looking toward new things for this blog. Some of you may have noticed the advertisement on the sidebar, but for those of you who haven't  . . . here's what's coming up next!

 So grab your copy of Heartless and get ready to join me for a fun time this holiday season! If you haven't read it yet, Heartless is available for FREE as an e-book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, so all of you e-readers out there should snatch it up. There will be opportunities throughout the month to win copies of Veiled Rose, Moonblood, and Starflower as well, so you definitely want to keep checking back every day. If you are a blogger, feel free to share this poster around and alert your friends to this upcoming event. Everyone is welcome! The more the merrier!

Fan Fiction Contest

Note from the Judges: "Some clever rhymes and a nice storytelling flow here!"


 
When Una Came of Age
By: Molly
 
When Una came of age,
Suitors came on her life’s stage,
Among them a dreaded prince.
 
That dreaded prince
(Whom Felix fenced)
Was the Prince Aethelbald.
 
That lovelorn prince
She had hated since
The day that she had met him.
 
Princess Una said
“I refuse to wed
That odd Prince Aethelbald.”
 
Her loathing grew 
After quite a few
Restless, hot nights.
 
During those nights,
Una’s ring became tight
And singed her finger.
 
Prince Aethelbald tried
To help her fried
And aching dainty hands.
 
But Una did not relent
To this poor kind gent
And instead walked away.
 
She soon fell in a trance
Of sighing romance
Swooning for the king’s jester.
 
The jester, she found out
Though people thought him a lout
Was Prince Lionheart in disguise.
 
She gave him her ring
(And inside, it made him sing!)
And joyfully, he departed.
 
But he soon betrayed
Una, that fair maid
And gave her ring away.
 
Una finally became
No longer quite so tame
When she became a dragon.
 
But lo and behold,
That prince so bold
Rescued Princess Una.
By the prince’s arts,
He changed her heart
Formed it like his own.
 
Una relented,
Formally repented
And gave up her hardness of heart.
 
So Una finally married
And then she got carried
To Aethelbald’s kingdom.
 
And so it ends
All become friends
And live Happily Ever After.
_________ And with that "Happily Ever After" we come to the end of the Fan Fiction submissions. It's been so much fun to share in all this wonderful writing talent. I hope you, dear readers, have enjoyed it half as much as I. Thank you again to all of the participants. May you be blessed and encouraged in your endeavors!

Les contes de la Forêt de la pierre dorée

I am so pleased to be able to introduce the French language editions of Heartless and Veiled Rose! Allow me to present: Coeur perdu and Rose voilée. 

Aren't they gorgeous? I love these new covers, so elegant and fairy tale! I've created two new pages for these books, one for Coeur perdu here, and one for Rose voilée here. Be sure to check them out.  Une fantaisie intemporelle qui vous enchantera! I happened to have a handy Frenchman available to model the books for me . . .    Rohan grew the mustache for Halloween, and I thought it was adorable, so he kept for a few more weeks. Just long enough for a French-edition photo shoot.  (He doesn't really smoke. The cigarette holder is merely a prop.) Be sure to tell any of your French-speaking friends about these books. If you studying French in school, you might want to pick up a copy for yourself! (It's been a while since college French for me, but I've been enjoying picking my way through a paragraph or two . . .) Enjoy! 

Fan Fiction Contest

A Note from the Judges: "This charming story made me smile and laugh—it is sweet and so very fairytale! I love the beautifully detailed illustrations."



____
  na’s hands worked quickly as she braided her hair. She sat gracefully on a golden throne in the middle of a court room, every eye was on her, but she was not conscious for her thoughts darted from place to place, trailing through majestic wood and fairy-tale castles, when an idea struck her. Smiling, Una inquired of her husband, "May we travel through the faire lands and see its wonders? It would be a wonderful way to celebrate our wedding."


 This is the beginning of Una and her husband Aethelbald's holiday... and a very adventurous holiday it was.  _____
  he trip was organized and two weeks later Una, Aethelbald and a company of knights set out for their holiday and into the Wood Between. Soon they came to the Haven. As they walked through its halls, its high ceiling drew her up to the sky, the complacent blue stretching far and wide. Majestic trees either side stretching out over to its neighbor.

Una's smile grew when she saw a lady around the corner. As she led Aethelbald on towards the lady of the Haven, she became aware of the stern face the lady carried.    "What trouble causes you to frown, Imraldera? What news do you have for me?" inquired Aethelbald."My prince, I'm afraid Eanrin has got himself into much trouble. He has insulted Ksathral, emperor of Kaardotha, and is going to be hanged!" answered Imraldera."We will go to Kaardotha and rescued Eanrin", replied the Prince. So as soon as they arrived, they left with the good wishes of the Lady of The Haven and a ginger cat to rescue. ____ hey travelled far through the forests of Goldstone till they came to a clearing in the wood. There they found a dark glimmering pool. As Una stared into her reflection on the glass-like water her husband gently held her hand and said "Jump into the portal." Aethelbald slowly walked to edge of the pool with her. Her hand tightened around his and as she sucked in one last breath of air they jumped and were submerged in water, drowning out all noise from the outside world. As she sank deep into the pool, all feelings were lost to her except the constant hold around her hand and a cloud of blue that surrounded her. Her lungs started to burn as she struggled to get up to the surface. Slowly she saw light from above and as she burst out into the open she saw a marvellous sight.

 
Where once had been a small pond surrounded by birches was now a laughing water fall; but as she looked more closely she saw it turn into a nymph, it's eyes sparkling with amusement. Above it was an entire village of cat people; amber cats, beige cats, chestnut cats, all kind of browns cats in colourful garments. The sight of a nymph was weird enough but a village of cats quite took her by surprise. Still hand in hand with her husband they slowly climbed out of the river.   Suddenly, a shout from overhead called out, "Intruders, intruders, arrest them immediately!" Soon her, her husband and the knights of farthest-shore were surrounded by cats in red and purple robes. Una's eyes rested on a figure in the middle of the party, his commanding posture singled him out as the leader and before she had time to examine him more, his voice shouted over to them "What business do you have in Kaardotha?"

Her husband replied, "I have to talk to Ksathral, on urgent business."
"Take them to the emperor, he will decide what to do with them," the cat commanded.____  nawalked through the colourful village, her husband by her side. As they came to the town square they saw a gathering of cats and in the centre was a wooden stage with steps on its left. There, in the middle of the stage, was the emperor and beside him was Eanrin ready to be hanged! Una rushed toward the gathering but was stopped by the mean faces of several guards. She watched in horror as the cord was pulled onto the cat's neck. She stared back to her husband a silent cry slipping through her lips. Then she heard her husband’s voice erupt in anger.  "What right have you to hang one of my knights?" he cried.  The emperor caught by surprise turned around to question the one who opposed him. "Who dares question my authority? This cat has insulted me in front of all my court, by law he is condemned to death!" he shouted. "He is my knight and all he does is on my forehead. What will appease you to let him go?" Aethelbald retaliated. "I will think about it." the emperor declared.   Two weeks later Sir Eanrin was out of jail. The emperor, although still mad, let them go and he returned to the Haven, safe and sound for now. ___

"My tongue was too quick, for that ancient cat. He locked me up, for my poetic words. But then came my hero, with his lovely wife. With a handful of words, he set that cat right. So ye old sing with a thankful note, To my dear old master for the debt I owe." - Sir Eanrin, a ginger cat if ever there was one. Of course Eanrin wrote this before he found out that in exchange for his life he had to clean the whole town square of Kaardotha.  Poor ginger cat!


 

A Gift Draconian

In October, our dear friends Kirsten and Lazaro went on an Epic European Tour . . . and while they were away, I got to babysit their fur-babies, Mya and Max. Which was totally fun, because Mya and Max were some of my very first rescue kittens, and I love to go see them all happy, beautiful, and grown-up in their loving home!

Kirsten and Lazaro asked us what they could bring back for us from Europe as a thank-you for watching over the kitties. I thought about it a little bit, but couldn't think of anything particularly fabulous. "Maybe a tea cup?" I suggested. I like collecting tea cups.

And I thought no more about it.

Well, just the other day, Kirsten and Lazaro stopped by and brought us what they picked out instead. And let me tell you, tea cups only wish they could be this awesome!

Dragon Goblets!!! One for me, one for Rohan . . . with tails that form a heart, because it's more romantic that way! Aren't these absolutely stunning? Look at the detail!   Rohan says we'll have to drink blood out of them, or something. I'm thinking possibly hot cider (I try to keep my draconian pastimes confined to the written-word). Thank you so much, Kirsten and Lazaro, for the most fabulous gift ever! This little writer of dragon stories is utterly thrilled. And when my new writing study is finished, I'm going to put these on prominent display!