I have been wondering about a question I have had for a while. In one the outtakes (Annobeunna's Tale) Drochondeur is mentioned as Lord Annobeunna Master of the Household. In that outtake Annobeunna was going to give him to the High King as a gift, but Vieliessar refused. In chapter 15 (The Hero's Tale) in Crown of Vengeance, Drochondeur was mentioned as Master of the Household for Vieliessar. A lot that was implied more then stated, but I was wondering how that changed?
I can not say the exact page, because the Nook version page, does not match the Hardback. It was really one sentence in the scene before the skirmish with Inglethendragir.
I checked through the uncut manuscript, and I didn't find anything either. I suspect I'm missing a scene where Annobeunna consults her steward, who then goes to Vieliessar's household of his own free will.
I'm not sure how much of the following made it into the book. I regretted cutting it...
#
The end of the day's march came with a strange abruptness. It was only when Annobeunna saw the ranks of komen before her narrow and re-form that she realized the wagons ahead of them were gone. Then most of the remaining komen spurred their mounts forward, and as they wheeled left and right, she could see the bones of the High King's encampment already laid out.
"Rithdeliel...?" Lord Vieliessar said, speaking her first words in many candlemarks.
"I know not," he answered, as if a true question had been asked.
"But they will know at the horselines," the silver-masked woman said. Her name, Annobeunna knew now, was Eletehradan, and she was, as she appeared, a mercenary—though she must be a former mercenary, as Lord Vieliessar required fealty of all who rode with her. "Come, my lord. We shall discover where your pavilions are set."
It was relief to give Eingall into the hands of the Keindostibaent ostler who had tended him since the day he was foaled, and quiet comfort to stand in encampment streets and see Keindostibaent's pavilions set as they had been ever since she could remember. It was satisfaction to send Drochondeur, Master of her Household, to say to Dathoreth Lightbrother's servant that he must find some other place to set his master's pavilion, for he was no longer welcome in her presence. And it was pleasure beyond naming to enter her own pavilion, to be greeted by her own servants and to have her Arming Page assist her in removing her armor as wine was warmed for her to drink and camp robes were presented for her approval by her Mistress of Chambers. She recalled that she was to dine with the High King this night, and so ordered her gown and jewels brought instead, and a bath prepared. She did not have the finery she might have commanded at Keindostibaent Great Keep—that loss was bitter—but she would do her best to show her new liege-lord proper respect.
"Here you are, my lord," Mistress Drianneredil said, hurrying back into the pavilion followed by several servants carrying chests. "It was fortunate indeed that you sent me for them when you did. There is not a household servant in the whole of the army save yours—and Landbond think nothing breaks," she finished with an irritated huff.
Annobeunna beckoned her over. Drianneredil gestured to the servants with her to carry the chests into the sleeping area, and tugged at the arm of the last so he would set the chest near Annobeunna's feet. Annobeunna pressed her palm into the silver oval on the chest's lid and heard it click as the spell unlocked. Dathoreth had set the locking spells on all her chests, she remembered—well, she would give another of her Lightborn his post and have the spells redone.
"No servants? Where are they?" she asked, as Drianneredil lifted out the first jewel case for her consideration. The High King's colors were green and silver; she wondered what she owned that was green. Keindostibaent's colors were sable and blue, so most of her jewels were blue as well.
"They are dead, my lady," Drianneredil said, managing to sound both shocked and surprised. "Lord Vieliessar's wagons were taken, and all who were not on the field were taken with them. The High House lords slew many."
"That is against the Codes of War!" Annobeunna exclaimed.
"Oh but no one follows the Codes of War now, Mother. Not the Twelve—and certainly not the High King." Princess Sangochon stepped through the doorway of the pavilion, still wearing her armor.
"Don't hover," Annobeunna said irritably. "Adanbern, see to Princess Sangochon's armor—I don't suppose you know where your Arming Page is?" she added.
"I don't even know where my pavilion is," Sangochon said. "Or when—if! —it will manage to appear. Perhaps we are all expected to sleep in the mud."
"Don't be ridiculous, darling, the ground froze solid moonturns ago," Annobeunna said automatically. "Oh yes, yes, those, fine," she said to Drianneredil, waving the case of blue-green gems away. Pirozaduta—called the "sky stone"—were the closest thing to green she suspected she had among her jewels, and Drianneredil would dawdle all night over dressing her if Annobeunna allowed it. "Where are your brothers?" she added, and Sangochon shrugged sweepingly.
"The Alliance slew the households of all who ride with the High King," Drochondeur said. "All," he repeated with a strange emphasis, and Annobeunna turned her head to look at him. Drianneredil had moved behind her to begin the task of undoing her elaborate war braid; she clucked her tongue, knowing it was beneath Annobeunna's princely dignity to notice.
If the very Landbonds of the domains which have sworn to Lord Vieliessar are here, would she have left the children of her lords behind? "They would not make war on children!" she said in horror.
"None who escaped saw children slain," Drochondeur answered with careful precision.
But a youth who had leaped the fire, or a maiden who had flown her kite three seasons before, was permitted to act as a Page of Battle, and under the Codes of War were not children: they must give parole if they were captured, nor would they be returned to their own lands unless their ransom was paid. Annobeunna closed her eyes at the horror of it. "Let that word be carried to the rest of the Thirty, and the Twelve will find no allies here," she said grimly.
"I fear for all of us under your protection, my lord," Drianneredil said mournfully (she had the knack of hearing nothing but that which affected her directly), "for we are surely at the mercy of this host of great princes who will seize us and bear us away."
"If they seized you, at least I wouldn't have to listen to you prattle," Sangochon said nastily.
"Worthy opponent," Annobeunna said crisply, for she would not rebuke a Princess of the Line Direct before her servants. "A komen's honor, whether prince or lord, lies in offering battle only to worthy opponents, for who will value a victory too easily gained?"
Sangochon set her jaw. "I suppose I should go see where 'Rovi is," she said grudgingly, as Adanbern drew out the pin that held the last piece of her armor in place.
"Put on a robe before you do," Annobeunna said. "I don't want you wandering the camp in your aketon as if you were a starving mercenary." She gestured toward her sleeping chamber, and Sangochon heaved a long-suffering sigh and trudged in that direction.
She returned a few moments later wrapping the sash tight on Annobeunna's favorite chamber-robe; deep blue velvet lined with soft black stonefox pelts. Annobeunna thought of telling Sangochon to return it undamaged, but such an admonition would probably only make her daughter find some mud to roll in, even if she had to order the Lightborn to conjure it first. And in truth, after the news she had just received, even the destruction of a favorite robe seemed less important than it would have on another day.
"Discover what you can of what transpired while the Twelve held the High King's people," Annobeunna said once Sangochon had left. There were a dozen servants in her pavilion, but she spoke for Drochondeur's ears. "If any saw all of what happened, I wish to speak to them."
"T't," Drianneredil said, giving Annobeunna's hair an unnecessary tug. "Surely such plotting and prying is work for such as Lord Vorcamion, not a mere servant."
"And if Lord Vorcamion was likely to gain the answers I want, I would ask him," Annobeunna said, stifling a sigh. Drianneredil gave herself fine airs—she had been born and raised at Court, though her mother had been Lightborn—while Master Drochondeur's family had merely served Annobeunna's family since the founding of Keindostibaent. They'd both been members of Annobeunna's household since before she became War Prince, and their rivalry was unceasing. She wondered if it would matter any longer. "I am sure you have pinned and braided everything you can possibly pin and braid, Drianne. Now find me something to wear—and send someone to the High King to discover when I am to arrive."
#
She dismissed Celeroviel and Selasorin at the door of the High King's pavilion. Theirs had been a courtesy escort merely, for Lord Vieliessar had sent Lord Gatriadde—Gatriadde Mangiralas, though it was his twin who had been Heir half a year past—to show her the way. When she told them they had her leave to depart, only Celeroviel looked disappointed. It was the difference between Selasorin and his elder sister; he still believed people would come and demand to tell him what he needed to know; Celeroviel liked to know things just to know them. Undoubtedly she'd be waiting in Annobeunna's pavilion after the feast was over.
Though it had been barely two candlemarks since Annobeunna had first stepped into her pavilion, the whole of the encampment was in place. She wondered with a feeling almost of dread what the morning would bring, for to strike an encampment was a longer business than to set it. Undoubtedly she would hear an entire story-cycle of complaints from Drianneredil come next sunset, and as many from her lords, who would surely be similarly plagued by their servants. But that was a trouble for tomorrow, not today.
She'd expected to find Lord Vieliessar's pavilion filled with the nobles of her court, and had welcomed it as a chance to learn more of the alliances she must make and where the threads of true power lay, but when she stepped inside, Lord Gatriadde, having delivered her, made his bow and took his leave, and she found only two places set at the table.
"Come. Sit. I do not keep great state," Lord Vieliessar said. She was dressed with shocking simplicity, in a tunic and leggings that would not have looked out of place on one of Annobeunna's stable servants, and her hair hung loose. Suddenly Annobeunna was very conscious of her silks and jewels.
"I—" she began. She hesitated, and forced herself to plunge on. Even if it was in rebellion, Keindostibaent was a rich gift, and she would hope that would matter. "Drochondeur told me you no longer have proper servants because of the Twelve, and that is not fitting. Allow me to make you a gift of him. He will serve you well."
"You are generous, Lord Annobeunna. But people are not to be given as gifts," Lord Vieliessar said quietly.
"Forgive me," Annobeunna said, bowing her head. "I meant no disrespect."
"Nor have I taken any. I know I ask much of my princes and lords komen. Many think me foolish, and say I would turn all the Fortunate Lands into the Sanctuary of the Star. I do not know that this would be such a bad thing—but my way is a new thing. And to ease your mind further, I am not entirely averse to gifts—and you have tendered me a generous one." (...)
1. How long did it take you to develop your voice and style? And how can I as a writer develop mine? 2. Also, do you plan your book ahead of time using a certain story structure, or do you just set your fingers in gear and just fly?
Dear Jonathan: It took me many years, and much writing, to develop a personal style. Oddly, one of the best ways to do it is to deliberately imitate another author's style--many other authors, actually, one after the other. By paying such close attention to an author's style, and trying to duplicate it, one learns a great deal about style in general, and begins to evolve one's own.
I plot my books out in advance, first writing a short outline, then a long outline, and then breaking the book down scene by scene. However, this is more of a suggestion than a map: when the story takes off in a direction I haven't predicted, I follow it to find out where it's going.
Every writer writes differently, and the tricks and methods that work for one may not work for the next. The best thing for a beginning writer to do is try them all, and not be afraid to toss the ones that don't work for them, no matter how famous and how respected the writer is who swears by them.
Dear Sue: There should be a map at the front of the hardcover of Crown of Vengeance. The scale is rather large, but it should give you an idea. If you can't find it, let me know: I may have a copy of it around here somewhere. I find maps indispensable for visualizing a story, but I am hopelessly inept when it comes to drawing them. We must all thank Tor for their yeoman efforts at translating my incoherent scribbles into something that makes a bit more sense.
While the landscape has changed a great deal between Vieliessar's time and Kellen's, you might also find it useful to know that Armethalieh was built on the site of Daroldan Great Keep.
1. Did the "Grand Windsward" of Vieliessar's time eventually constitute at least part of the Elven Lands visited by Harrier and Tiercel? 2. Is the shrine around which the Sanctuary of the Star is built the same one that Savilla would try to use? 3. Will Sentarshadeen be built within House Caerthalien's lands? (Based on what you said about Armethalieh, I assume so.) 4. Does Kindling correspond to Groundhog Day? 5. What happened to Lady Amintia? Was she still available by the time Cilarnen returned to Armethalieh or had she been "quickly married" as Lord Volpiril said he would recommend? 6. Are the Dragon's Gate and the Gatekeeper the same pass? 7. Was Kareta hoping that she and Harrier would develop the same kind of relationship that her father and Kellen had? (Also, we know her father was Shalkan; was her mother Shalkan's lady-love Calmeren?) I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with the number of questions I have. Thanks again for this opportunity
Not at all! I’m very fond of the world, and I enjoy answering questions about it. And with that said…
1. "Okay. You're right about that. But I don't see any Wildmages around here. Do you? So we go north, cross the Mystrals, reach Ysterialpoerin – in another couple of moonturns – don't find a Wildmage there, either – keep going – cross the Bazrahil Range, go through the Gatekeeper Pass - if we're lucky enough to manage to get there before winter sets in, cross the mountains of Pelashia's Veil, and reach the Elven Lands (…)”
So it seems to me that from what Harrier says, the Elven Lands of his time are in the Grand Windsward, though they also seem to have reclaimed Celephriandullias-Tildorangelor as well, which would make the mountains called Pelashia’s Veil the same ones that Amretheon High King knew as the Teeth of the Moon.
2. No: Savilla is using the Delfier Shrine, which was once a part of the Flower Forest Delfierarathadan near the Western Shore.
3. Yes. Elven civilization after Dragon Prophecy and before “Glories of the Autumn” is mostly concentrated in the Western Lands (though of course they maintain a presence east of the Mystrals and will be concentrating more on that area as the millennia pass).
4. More or less: it’s a festival in the early spring to celebrate the fact that the days are getting visibly longer.
5. The Lady Amintia was married to someone else. Just as well, as she was really very conventional, and Cilarnen returned to Armethalieh a very different person than he was when he left. It took him many years to find a true love, and when he did, she was not from Armethalieh at all.
6. No: the Dragon’s Gate is in the Mystrals, the Gatekeeper Pass is either in, or east of, the Bazrahils. I think it’s the one the Elves of Vieliessar’s time know as Traitor’s Gate, which would put it on the far side of the Arzhana plateau.
7. Kareta’s mother was indeed Calmeren. As for the relationship she was hoping to develop with Harrier…I would say it was heavily influenced by the fact that Shalkan’s descendents always felt a need to watch over Kellen’s descendents.
Like Chichiri, I too would like to know if there is a way to write to Tor to "encourage" them to work on Blade of Empire sooner rather than later.
Also, should there be any significant cuts to BoE, any chance they'll end up here once the book is released? And if so, could you let us know where it had been cut so we could read it together with the rest?
If there are significant cuts to BLADE, I will post them here if it's a matter of removing a whole chapter or something similarly long, and I can certainly tell you, in that case, where it came from. But cutting for length is often a process of removing single sentences and sometimes phrases, and then overwriting to make the cuts invisible. In that case, I'm afraid your only hope is to wait for the rights to revert and the Expanded Edition to appear.
If that's what happens, I will certainly post a list of facts that got lost in the shuffle. Fair enough?
Hi! I'm very glad to hear Blade of Empire is on its way! My questions are: 1. What is it like to publish with another author? Do you work together or take separate passages to write and come together to edit and put them together? 2. Will there be another book in the One Dozen Daughters series? Thanks!
1. I enjoy writing with a partner because it gives me someone to talk about the story with who is also shaping the story. Usually, Ms. Lackey gives me a handful of elements, then I go off to plot it. She reads that, adds more elements, and I do the scene-by-scene breakdown, which she also reads. Then the writing starts. Sometimes she suggests a scene, and sometimes she writes one, which I drop into the manuscript in the appropriate place. I do the first draft, she tweaks it, and then it goes off to Tor. Tor has notes at that point, so it comes back to me for the revision draft, with input from Ms. Lackey.
2. There are certainly more books plotted in the "One Dozen Daughters" series, but Tor has not yet requested another one.
In Crown of Vengeance, there is the paragraph where Vielle wakes from a dream of the past. She is wondering why the High King and his queen's children would have to flee from the royal city. It's mentioned that they are considered tainted and unclean. My question has to do with that, why did the ancient elves believe Pelashia's children were tainted?
You mentioned in an earlier post that Tor planned to release a novella taking place within Crown of Vengeance are they still planning to do that? Or has the idea been Scrapped?
Once again I love this World you created and could not get enough of it.
Thank you so much! I do, too (that's one of the reasons the books are as long as they are).
I have no idea, actually. It's been a very long time since we've discussed the matter. There's a possibility that the opening of BLADE will also be published as a separate novella: it depends on how they feel about the book's length.
Firstly I would like to say that I really love the prologue to Crown of Vengeance, it is incredibly well written and just "feels" right. As good as it is on its own if you have never heard it read in the Audiobook by narrator Christopher Lane, you seriously should because it is made even better. That being said I have a questions about some things from the prologue.
1. I have assumed that the Obsidian room and blade are the same here and in the first trilogy, is this in fact the case? And if so has everything else in the World Without Sun remained similarly unchanged in that period of time?
2. Where exactly does the World Without Sun exist? I was given the feeling that it is either far underground or some kind of overlapping hell dimension type deal. If it is the former is it possible to accidently stumble upon it?
3. When Light creates the different types of life, three types are mentioned; Green life, red life, and silver life. I took green life to mean plants and red life to be beasts such as wolves, squirrels, fish, and that sort of creature. I took silver life to mean elves and unicorns for certain, but are there other kinds of silver life? What about creatures that exist later but have comparable intelligence to elves and unicorns like humans, centaurs, and sprites? What about the beastlings and dragons are they all considered silver life too? Or do all those exist instead as red life?
Well since I posted these a couple days ago I ended up finding the answers to my third question. Whether I had simply somehow missed the information in my previous readings or had forgotten the knowledge since my last one I do not know. I would also like to clarify my second question, I know that the Obsidian Mountain exists physically in the Bright World, but from the vastness that is described in the books it seems to me that the World Without Sun could not be contained in just Obsidian Mountain. As for my third question about silver life, in Interlude Two it is mentioned that centaurs, bearwargs and a few other species were at least partially silver life, and that unicorns are the embodiment of the Light itself rather than silver life.
Are any of your Obsidian books to be found in e-book format? I have more books in my reader than on my bookshelves, closets, end tables, guest room......
Hope you don't mind but I will go ahead and answer. Yes, the Obsidian books can be found as e-book. I know that both Barnes and Noble and Amazon has them. They recently came out with an Omnibus version of both Obsidian and Enduring Flames. Where all three books are in one volume. I will assume it is found with other e-readers, but I am only familiar with the Nook, and have a passing glance at the Kindle.
At the beginning of each of the Chapters there are many passages from seemingly important Elven texts, do any of these exist in their entirety or is there more to them that we have not seen? Similarly I would ask if there is a complete form of the Song of Amrethion? If there is would it be possible to post it here if it does not appear fully in a future book?
There is certainly more to the Elven texts than you have seen so far, and more excerpts will be appearing as chapter epigrams in forthcoming books. None of these books exists as a complete manuscript, but that is not to say that it couldn't happen.
As for "The Song of Amrethion", it does not exist in its entirety. As the full poem cycle contains significantly more words than the entire unabridged Oxford English Dictionary, it is something that is unlikely to ever exist as anything more than various excerpts...
Spoilers contained within for those of you who haven't perhaps finished CROWN. I noticed that some sort of relationship between Gunedwaen and Harwing Lightbrother was mentioned twice in CROWN. First it is mentioned that Gunedwaen had found his heart-twin in Harwing, and later Gunedwaen makes Harwing his heir when Gunedwaen goes off to kill Ivrulion. What is the nature of their relationship? At first I thought it might be a bond, but then there would be no point in making Harwing Gunedwaen's heir if they would both die together? Perhaps the answer lies in some of the portions cut by Tor or maybe the two were simply close. Is there any definitive answer you may give?
I can. And in fact, the relationship takes center stage in BLADE and SCOURGE, but it won't affect their readability if I answer this now.
Gunedwaen and Harwing were lovers.
Marriage in the Fortunate Lands (aka Jer-a-kaliel, or "Land of the Strong Hearted") is about making alliances and creating a line of succession. For the second reason, it's almost always between men and women, but other love relationships do exist, can be formalized, and are also legal contracts allowing for the transmission of property. For some reason, I cannot easily locate the name of Dendinirchiel Ulillon's Consort Prince, but something that never made it into even the first draft is that their marriage was purely a matter of alliances, and not her first by any means, and he occupied his time with a succession of [male] favorites.
Whether same-sex Soulbonds are possible is something I will not know until the information appears in a story, but I can state that they are unknown to the people of Vieliessar's time, for whatever that is worth.
How do you write in a co-authorship? Do you ever have conflicting ideas with Mercedes Lackey about how you want the story to go? How often do you both have a different vision for the books you write together?
In these particular collaborations, we work together to produce the short outline, the long outline, and the scene-by-scene breakdown. By that point, most of the plot and characterization beats have been worked out, and we're both on the same page as regards where the story needs to go. If there's something in particular that she wants to happen, she tells me, and if there's something in particular I want to happen, I tell her. In most cases, those things don't conflict with each other, so they both go in.
First question I have been wondering is, how old is Ancaladar? During the Obsidian trilogy he is at least 1000 years old since he was around during the previous war. Its never specifically stated whether there were or were not bonded dragons in the time between the first and second war but I would like to assume not. I think its roughly 10k years between the the first and second wars and there could have been elves still bonded many hundreds of years after the first war. Soooo I think he could be as much as 11k years old when Kellen first meets him. Probably off but interesting to think about.
Also I would like to know what the writing process is like since you and Mercedes Lackey are co-authoring the book. Thanks for your time, eagerly awaiting Blade of Empire!!!
Between the First Endarkened War (the one Vieliessar is fighting), and the Second Endarkened War is roughly 10,000 years. From there to Kellen's time is, I believe we established, another thousand years.
An Unbonded dragon is immortal; in Bonding, they link their lifespans to those of their Bondmates. Since Ancaladar was Unbonded until he met Jermayan (we'll leave out the comming of the time when Three Become One, which effectively increases a dragon's natural lifespan infinitely), he could certainly be far older than eleven thousand years. And we might even find out in a book or two...
As for the process of co-writing a book with Ms. Lackey, I have to say it's very smooth. Generally we work out the plot and the outline together, and post sections to each other as we write them. I assemble them and do the final and revision drafts.
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merlinscribe) wrote2016-05-01 10:41 pm
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(Anonymous) 2016-05-04 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)I can not say the exact page, because the Nook version page, does not match the Hardback. It was really one sentence in the scene before the skirmish with Inglethendragir.
Thank you for your time
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I'm not sure how much of the following made it into the book. I regretted cutting it...
The end of the day's march came with a strange abruptness. It was only when Annobeunna saw the ranks of komen before her narrow and re-form that she realized the wagons ahead of them were gone. Then most of the remaining komen spurred their mounts forward, and as they wheeled left and right, she could see the bones of the High King's encampment already laid out.
"Rithdeliel...?" Lord Vieliessar said, speaking her first words in many candlemarks.
"I know not," he answered, as if a true question had been asked.
"But they will know at the horselines," the silver-masked woman said. Her name, Annobeunna knew now, was Eletehradan, and she was, as she appeared, a mercenary—though she must be a former mercenary, as Lord Vieliessar required fealty of all who rode with her. "Come, my lord. We shall discover where your pavilions are set."
It was relief to give Eingall into the hands of the Keindostibaent ostler who had tended him since the day he was foaled, and quiet comfort to stand in encampment streets and see Keindostibaent's pavilions set as they had been ever since she could remember. It was satisfaction to send Drochondeur, Master of her Household, to say to Dathoreth Lightbrother's servant that he must find some other place to set his master's pavilion, for he was no longer welcome in her presence. And it was pleasure beyond naming to enter her own pavilion, to be greeted by her own servants and to have her Arming Page assist her in removing her armor as wine was warmed for her to drink and camp robes were presented for her approval by her Mistress of Chambers. She recalled that she was to dine with the High King this night, and so ordered her gown and jewels brought instead, and a bath prepared. She did not have the finery she might have commanded at Keindostibaent Great Keep—that loss was bitter—but she would do her best to show her new liege-lord proper respect.
"Here you are, my lord," Mistress Drianneredil said, hurrying back into the pavilion followed by several servants carrying chests. "It was fortunate indeed that you sent me for them when you did. There is not a household servant in the whole of the army save yours—and Landbond think nothing breaks," she finished with an irritated huff.
Annobeunna beckoned her over. Drianneredil gestured to the servants with her to carry the chests into the sleeping area, and tugged at the arm of the last so he would set the chest near Annobeunna's feet. Annobeunna pressed her palm into the silver oval on the chest's lid and heard it click as the spell unlocked. Dathoreth had set the locking spells on all her chests, she remembered—well, she would give another of her Lightborn his post and have the spells redone.
"No servants? Where are they?" she asked, as Drianneredil lifted out the first jewel case for her consideration. The High King's colors were green and silver; she wondered what she owned that was green. Keindostibaent's colors were sable and blue, so most of her jewels were blue as well.
"They are dead, my lady," Drianneredil said, managing to sound both shocked and surprised. "Lord Vieliessar's wagons were taken, and all who were not on the field were taken with them. The High House lords slew many."
"That is against the Codes of War!" Annobeunna exclaimed.
"Oh but no one follows the Codes of War now, Mother. Not the Twelve—and certainly not the High King." Princess Sangochon stepped through the doorway of the pavilion, still wearing her armor.
"Don't hover," Annobeunna said irritably. "Adanbern, see to Princess Sangochon's armor—I don't suppose you know where your Arming Page is?" she added.
"I don't even know where my pavilion is," Sangochon said. "Or when—if! —it will manage to appear. Perhaps we are all expected to sleep in the mud."
"Don't be ridiculous, darling, the ground froze solid moonturns ago," Annobeunna said automatically. "Oh yes, yes, those, fine," she said to Drianneredil, waving the case of blue-green gems away. Pirozaduta—called the "sky stone"—were the closest thing to green she suspected she had among her jewels, and Drianneredil would dawdle all night over dressing her if Annobeunna allowed it. "Where are your brothers?" she added, and Sangochon shrugged sweepingly.
"The Alliance slew the households of all who ride with the High King," Drochondeur said. "All," he repeated with a strange emphasis, and Annobeunna turned her head to look at him. Drianneredil had moved behind her to begin the task of undoing her elaborate war braid; she clucked her tongue, knowing it was beneath Annobeunna's princely dignity to notice.
If the very Landbonds of the domains which have sworn to Lord Vieliessar are here, would she have left the children of her lords behind? "They would not make war on children!" she said in horror.
"None who escaped saw children slain," Drochondeur answered with careful precision.
But a youth who had leaped the fire, or a maiden who had flown her kite three seasons before, was permitted to act as a Page of Battle, and under the Codes of War were not children: they must give parole if they were captured, nor would they be returned to their own lands unless their ransom was paid. Annobeunna closed her eyes at the horror of it. "Let that word be carried to the rest of the Thirty, and the Twelve will find no allies here," she said grimly.
"I fear for all of us under your protection, my lord," Drianneredil said mournfully (she had the knack of hearing nothing but that which affected her directly), "for we are surely at the mercy of this host of great princes who will seize us and bear us away."
"If they seized you, at least I wouldn't have to listen to you prattle," Sangochon said nastily.
"Worthy opponent," Annobeunna said crisply, for she would not rebuke a Princess of the Line Direct before her servants. "A komen's honor, whether prince or lord, lies in offering battle only to worthy opponents, for who will value a victory too easily gained?"
Sangochon set her jaw. "I suppose I should go see where 'Rovi is," she said grudgingly, as Adanbern drew out the pin that held the last piece of her armor in place.
"Put on a robe before you do," Annobeunna said. "I don't want you wandering the camp in your aketon as if you were a starving mercenary." She gestured toward her sleeping chamber, and Sangochon heaved a long-suffering sigh and trudged in that direction.
She returned a few moments later wrapping the sash tight on Annobeunna's favorite chamber-robe; deep blue velvet lined with soft black stonefox pelts. Annobeunna thought of telling Sangochon to return it undamaged, but such an admonition would probably only make her daughter find some mud to roll in, even if she had to order the Lightborn to conjure it first. And in truth, after the news she had just received, even the destruction of a favorite robe seemed less important than it would have on another day.
"Discover what you can of what transpired while the Twelve held the High King's people," Annobeunna said once Sangochon had left. There were a dozen servants in her pavilion, but she spoke for Drochondeur's ears. "If any saw all of what happened, I wish to speak to them."
"T't," Drianneredil said, giving Annobeunna's hair an unnecessary tug. "Surely such plotting and prying is work for such as Lord Vorcamion, not a mere servant."
"And if Lord Vorcamion was likely to gain the answers I want, I would ask him," Annobeunna said, stifling a sigh. Drianneredil gave herself fine airs—she had been born and raised at Court, though her mother had been Lightborn—while Master Drochondeur's family had merely served Annobeunna's family since the founding of Keindostibaent. They'd both been members of Annobeunna's household since before she became War Prince, and their rivalry was unceasing. She wondered if it would matter any longer. "I am sure you have pinned and braided everything you can possibly pin and braid, Drianne. Now find me something to wear—and send someone to the High King to discover when I am to arrive."
She dismissed Celeroviel and Selasorin at the door of the High King's pavilion. Theirs had been a courtesy escort merely, for Lord Vieliessar had sent Lord Gatriadde—Gatriadde Mangiralas, though it was his twin who had been Heir half a year past—to show her the way. When she told them they had her leave to depart, only Celeroviel looked disappointed. It was the difference between Selasorin and his elder sister; he still believed people would come and demand to tell him what he needed to know; Celeroviel liked to know things just to know them. Undoubtedly she'd be waiting in Annobeunna's pavilion after the feast was over.
Though it had been barely two candlemarks since Annobeunna had first stepped into her pavilion, the whole of the encampment was in place. She wondered with a feeling almost of dread what the morning would bring, for to strike an encampment was a longer business than to set it. Undoubtedly she would hear an entire story-cycle of complaints from Drianneredil come next sunset, and as many from her lords, who would surely be similarly plagued by their servants. But that was a trouble for tomorrow, not today.
She'd expected to find Lord Vieliessar's pavilion filled with the nobles of her court, and had welcomed it as a chance to learn more of the alliances she must make and where the threads of true power lay, but when she stepped inside, Lord Gatriadde, having delivered her, made his bow and took his leave, and she found only two places set at the table.
"Come. Sit. I do not keep great state," Lord Vieliessar said. She was dressed with shocking simplicity, in a tunic and leggings that would not have looked out of place on one of Annobeunna's stable servants, and her hair hung loose. Suddenly Annobeunna was very conscious of her silks and jewels.
"I—" she began. She hesitated, and forced herself to plunge on. Even if it was in rebellion, Keindostibaent was a rich gift, and she would hope that would matter. "Drochondeur told me you no longer have proper servants because of the Twelve, and that is not fitting. Allow me to make you a gift of him. He will serve you well."
"You are generous, Lord Annobeunna. But people are not to be given as gifts," Lord Vieliessar said quietly.
"Forgive me," Annobeunna said, bowing her head. "I meant no disrespect."
"Nor have I taken any. I know I ask much of my princes and lords komen. Many think me foolish, and say I would turn all the Fortunate Lands into the Sanctuary of the Star. I do not know that this would be such a bad thing—but my way is a new thing. And to ease your mind further, I am not entirely averse to gifts—and you have tendered me a generous one." (...)
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Writing Craft
(Anonymous) 2016-05-05 02:09 am (UTC)(link)1. How long did it take you to develop your voice and style? And how can I as a writer develop mine?
2. Also, do you plan your book ahead of time using a certain story structure, or do you just set your fingers in gear and just fly?
Jonathan
Re: Writing Craft
I plot my books out in advance, first writing a short outline, then a long outline, and then breaking the book down scene by scene. However, this is more of a suggestion than a map: when the story takes off in a direction I haven't predicted, I follow it to find out where it's going.
Every writer writes differently, and the tricks and methods that work for one may not work for the next. The best thing for a beginning writer to do is try them all, and not be afraid to toss the ones that don't work for them, no matter how famous and how respected the writer is who swears by them.
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Maps of the lands
(Anonymous) 2016-05-12 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)I've tried to sketch one out as I've read the books, but I know I'm not getting this correct.
And this is merely my personal mind-set. I'm a field biologist and I always have a map in my head of where I am (even if it's a land set in a story).
Thanks for any light you can shed -
Sue
Re: Maps of the lands
While the landscape has changed a great deal between Vieliessar's time and Kellen's, you might also find it useful to know that Armethalieh was built on the site of Daroldan Great Keep.
Re: Maps of the lands
Re: Maps of the lands
Re: Maps of the lands
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Re: Maps of the lands
(Anonymous) 2016-05-16 10:05 pm (UTC)(link)Looks like the US...
Re: Maps of the lands
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(Anonymous) 2016-05-16 04:29 am (UTC)(link)2. Is the shrine around which the Sanctuary of the Star is built the same one that Savilla would try to use?
3. Will Sentarshadeen be built within House Caerthalien's lands? (Based on what you said about Armethalieh, I assume so.)
4. Does Kindling correspond to Groundhog Day?
5. What happened to Lady Amintia? Was she still available by the time Cilarnen returned to Armethalieh or had she been "quickly married" as Lord Volpiril said he would recommend?
6. Are the Dragon's Gate and the Gatekeeper the same pass?
7. Was Kareta hoping that she and Harrier would develop the same kind of relationship that her father and Kellen had? (Also, we know her father was Shalkan; was her mother Shalkan's lady-love Calmeren?)
I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with the number of questions I have. Thanks again for this opportunity
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1. "Okay. You're right about that. But I don't see any Wildmages around here. Do you? So we go north, cross the Mystrals, reach Ysterialpoerin – in another couple of moonturns – don't find a Wildmage there, either – keep going – cross the Bazrahil Range, go through the Gatekeeper Pass - if we're lucky enough to manage to get there before winter sets in, cross the mountains of Pelashia's Veil, and reach the Elven Lands (…)”
So it seems to me that from what Harrier says, the Elven Lands of his time are in the Grand Windsward, though they also seem to have reclaimed Celephriandullias-Tildorangelor as well, which would make the mountains called Pelashia’s Veil the same ones that Amretheon High King knew as the Teeth of the Moon.
2. No: Savilla is using the Delfier Shrine, which was once a part of the Flower Forest Delfierarathadan near the Western Shore.
3. Yes. Elven civilization after Dragon Prophecy and before “Glories of the Autumn” is mostly concentrated in the Western Lands (though of course they maintain a presence east of the Mystrals and will be concentrating more on that area as the millennia pass).
4. More or less: it’s a festival in the early spring to celebrate the fact that the days are getting visibly longer.
5. The Lady Amintia was married to someone else. Just as well, as she was really very conventional, and Cilarnen returned to Armethalieh a very different person than he was when he left. It took him many years to find a true love, and when he did, she was not from Armethalieh at all.
6. No: the Dragon’s Gate is in the Mystrals, the Gatekeeper Pass is either in, or east of, the Bazrahils. I think it’s the one the Elves of Vieliessar’s time know as Traitor’s Gate, which would put it on the far side of the Arzhana plateau.
7. Kareta’s mother was indeed Calmeren. As for the relationship she was hoping to develop with Harrier…I would say it was heavily influenced by the fact that Shalkan’s descendents always felt a need to watch over Kellen’s descendents.
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(Anonymous) 2016-05-16 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)Also, should there be any significant cuts to BoE, any chance they'll end up here once the book is released? And if so, could you let us know where it had been cut so we could read it together with the rest?
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If there are significant cuts to BLADE, I will post them here if it's a matter of removing a whole chapter or something similarly long, and I can certainly tell you, in that case, where it came from. But cutting for length is often a process of removing single sentences and sometimes phrases, and then overwriting to make the cuts invisible. In that case, I'm afraid your only hope is to wait for the rights to revert and the Expanded Edition to appear.
If that's what happens, I will certainly post a list of facts that got lost in the shuffle. Fair enough?
Multiple Questions
(Anonymous) 2016-05-31 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)1. What is it like to publish with another author? Do you work together or take separate passages to write and come together to edit and put them together?
2. Will there be another book in the One Dozen Daughters series?
Thanks!
Re: Multiple Questions
2. There are certainly more books plotted in the "One Dozen Daughters" series, but Tor has not yet requested another one.
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(Anonymous) 2016-06-05 12:38 am (UTC)(link)no subject
HINT: Pelashia Celenthodiel is not who everyone thinks she is...
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(Anonymous) 2016-06-08 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)Once again I love this World you created and could not get enough of it.
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I have no idea, actually. It's been a very long time since we've discussed the matter. There's a possibility that the opening of BLADE will also be published as a separate novella: it depends on how they feel about the book's length.
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Questions and Stuff
(Anonymous) 2016-07-20 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)1. I have assumed that the Obsidian room and blade are the same here and in the first trilogy, is this in fact the case? And if so has everything else in the World Without Sun remained similarly unchanged in that period of time?
2. Where exactly does the World Without Sun exist? I was given the feeling that it is either far underground or some kind of overlapping hell dimension type deal. If it is the former is it possible to accidently stumble upon it?
3. When Light creates the different types of life, three types are mentioned; Green life, red life, and silver life. I took green life to mean plants and red life to be beasts such as wolves, squirrels, fish, and that sort of creature. I took silver life to mean elves and unicorns for certain, but are there other kinds of silver life? What about creatures that exist later but have comparable intelligence to elves and unicorns like humans, centaurs, and sprites? What about the beastlings and dragons are they all considered silver life too? Or do all those exist instead as red life?
Re: Questions and Stuff
(Anonymous) 2016-07-22 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)I would also like to clarify my second question, I know that the Obsidian Mountain exists physically in the Bright World, but from the vastness that is described in the books it seems to me that the World Without Sun could not be contained in just Obsidian Mountain.
As for my third question about silver life, in Interlude Two it is mentioned that centaurs, bearwargs and a few other species were at least partially silver life, and that unicorns are the embodiment of the Light itself rather than silver life.
Re: Questions and Stuff
Re: Questions and Stuff
E-books
(Anonymous) 2016-07-20 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)Can't wait for your next brainchild!
Sending blessings to you & yours.
Re: E-books
(Anonymous) 2016-07-21 12:21 am (UTC)(link)Marie
Re: E-books
Re: E-books
Texts and Lore
(Anonymous) 2016-07-22 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Texts and Lore
As for "The Song of Amrethion", it does not exist in its entirety. As the full poem cycle contains significantly more words than the entire unabridged Oxford English Dictionary, it is something that is unlikely to ever exist as anything more than various excerpts...
One Dozen Daughters
(Anonymous) 2016-07-25 03:26 am (UTC)(link)Re: One Dozen Daughters
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(Anonymous) 2016-07-30 09:15 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
Gunedwaen and Harwing were lovers.
Marriage in the Fortunate Lands (aka Jer-a-kaliel, or "Land of the Strong Hearted") is about making alliances and creating a line of succession. For the second reason, it's almost always between men and women, but other love relationships do exist, can be formalized, and are also legal contracts allowing for the transmission of property. For some reason, I cannot easily locate the name of Dendinirchiel Ulillon's Consort Prince, but something that never made it into even the first draft is that their marriage was purely a matter of alliances, and not her first by any means, and he occupied his time with a succession of [male] favorites.
Whether same-sex Soulbonds are possible is something I will not know until the information appears in a story, but I can state that they are unknown to the people of Vieliessar's time, for whatever that is worth.
Possibly more than you want to know...
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Two random questions
(Anonymous) 2016-09-10 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)Also I would like to know what the writing process is like since you and Mercedes Lackey are co-authoring the book. Thanks for your time, eagerly awaiting Blade of Empire!!!
Re: Two random questions
An Unbonded dragon is immortal; in Bonding, they link their lifespans to those of their Bondmates. Since Ancaladar was Unbonded until he met Jermayan (we'll leave out the comming of the time when Three Become One, which effectively increases a dragon's natural lifespan infinitely), he could certainly be far older than eleven thousand years. And we might even find out in a book or two...
As for the process of co-writing a book with Ms. Lackey, I have to say it's very smooth. Generally we work out the plot and the outline together, and post sections to each other as we write them. I assemble them and do the final and revision drafts.