“I am not certain as to what you are referring,” said Helen.
Jezebel frowned, and the many wrinkles on her plump face turned down as well. “You know there is considerable support for the expansionist movement, yes?”
“We believe your opposition to the movement is what prompted the attack,” said William.
“Ah,” said Helen. They weren’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. There wasn’t much else that would spur one of her brothers to kill her. But these two probably didn’t know that her brothers were responsible. All the same, she guarded her tongue. Until she knew their true loyalties, she saw little reason to give them information needlessly.
“I’m surprised you needed us to tell you,” said Jezebel. “A queen should know her court better.” The woman had never been short of criticism.
Helen gave a squinting smile. “I will take that under advisement. Can you tell me who leads the expansionist movement?”
“I’m afraid not,” said the duchess. “There are at least a dozen council members supporting it, all of equal standing.”
From the corner of her eye, Helen saw Mehlsanz phase through the wall. She decided to thank the duchess and the King for their information and return to the drawing room, reaper in tow.
‘You really think your husband did it?’ said Mehlsanz. ‘He seems like a decent man.’
‘I must be certain. I never gave it much thought before--and perhaps I should have--but I recall William being initially reluctant to marry me.’
‘Oh? And you weren’t?’
‘I... quite fancied him.’
‘Aha.’
‘He has never been terribly affectionate. But then, neither have I.’
‘Y’know, I had an arranged marriage, too. Though, I was a slave, so my parents didn’t really have a say in it, either.’
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
well thats awkward for mehlsanz...
ReplyDeleteAlso where on earth is garovel from? hes thousands of years, but most European civilizations weren't established till at least 3,000 years ago...
Where, indeed.
DeleteThe story/story-teller says that Garovel knows a few hundred languages, stating that almost each one took (Hectors words) one hundred years to learn, maybe Garovel is from the early era of the European civilization? he could well be older than that as far as we know
DeleteAwkward as Hell, Mehl...thanks
ReplyDeleteI like Helen. She seems a strong, focused character. Actually, Lynnette strikes me the same way. I hope this is a habit of yours, creating good female characters.
His female characters remind of the ones Brandon Sanderson writes in a way: strong, sharp, witty and observant. Did you get any inspiration from there, Author-san?
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of Sanderson's stuff, actually. I hear lotsa good things about him, though.
ReplyDeleteI tried to read The Way of Kings recently, but I found it pretty difficult to get into. It's just a personal thing, I think. His text strikes me as very long-winded, which is something I've always had trouble with as a reader.
Ow, The Way of Kings just happens to be where everything from his previous books (and everything from his verse) starts to come together, so it's not really the best place to start. I began with his Mistborn trilogy. Well, it is indeed a matter of taste (although I'm a huge fan xp). Back on topic: I love your characters. Every last goddamn one of 'em. I thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteHaha, The Way of Kings is basically the worst book you could have tried reading. I never had a problem myself, but I've seen otherwise passionate Sanderson fans complain about that particular series being too slow.
ReplyDeleteI personally would recommend Warbreaker or Elantris to start.
I'd actually say the Emperor's Soul is the best one to start with. It's quick, imaginative, and won a Hugo.
ReplyDeleteHaven't read it yet, but I was going for something shorter instead of a full series, so it sounds like a good recommendation!
ReplyDeleteI had absolutely nothing to contribute to this conversation that spawned off my comment :(
ReplyDeleteTypo:
ReplyDelete"She decided to thank the duchess and the King for their information and return to drawing room, reaper in tow." → Isn't it "returned"?
Ah, perhaps I'll give the Mistborn trilogy a shot then.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying. :)
In this instance, "return" is referring back to "She decided to," so it is correct as is.
ReplyDeleteWeirdly, though, "returned" would also be considered correct here, just with a slightly altered sentence structure.
Probably an exaggeration on hector's part, as that would make Garovel 30,000 years old, but yeah. Also keep in mind that this isn't actually Earth, or at least isn't our universe's Earth. Europe doesn't exist here.
ReplyDelete