Whats Next - Part Two

What’s next?

Part Two

As well as following the story of Eveline and her guardians in Book Two: Arrow of Time, I will be following the story lines of several new characters who hail from Eveline’s homeland. Book One: The Prophecy opens the doors to some of the characters that I will be writing on behalf off, for instance Galean and his family and Anvin the High Priest of Meer. This was a hard decision to tackle, mainly because the scope of the book is enormous which is why I am dividing it into two parts: The Dragons Egg and The Return of a Queen. As I have already mentioned, last year I finished writing what I thought would be book two in the series: King of the North, however after spending a good several months thinking and planning, I feel it is right to slot King of the North as Book Four in the series, for several reasons, but chiefly because I wanted to introduce you all to some amazing characters and some amazing story lines that take place during Eveline’s quest to journey to the island of Anglesey. In a way, I am setting the reader up for Book Four, a book that will be centered on the great war of the North. A great war has many triggers and Book’s Two and Three will explore many of them, through the eyes of various characters, some peasants and others noble men and women, many with varying different perspectives and motives and as I have been simply planning and researching, I have spent time with these characters and their stories and have become enchanted by them and so I believe it is only fair that I allow my readers to become enchanted by them as well, in order for them to fully grasp the internal problems of Meer. It is a vital component to what will occur later down the line and many of the characters and their actions will account for a great many things that will come to pass in the future. It also gives me a chance to take my readers on a historical and social tour of Meer, so that they can better understand the people, the politics, the royal court, religion, divides and alliances. So without further ado, let me introduce you to some new characters.

·       Anvin – Anvin is the High Priest of Meer and lives on the secretive and ancient island of Summe, which lies about a hundred or so miles from the Western Kingdom of Taer (Refer to my post on maps for a general idea). Anvin is also the High Priest of the Summerian people and son of Merlin. He is an incredibly gifted wizard among many other things, most importantly a leader. He will play a main and prominent role throughout the series and will act as a mentor to Eveline (Celestine). Together he and the High King of Meer must work together to fight off the threat of war, but most importantly they must safeguard Eveline upon her return and keep her hidden from the black witch.

·       Aabe – Aabe is the only son of Anvin and is a highly gifted and intelligent young man, who wishes to become a master of Keys. He is also a conflicted character, who feels drawn to the role of becoming a master of Keys, yet who feels drawn to his best friend Evalean. His future and Eveline’s have been tied together since time itself and his role in the series is not as one would expect.

·       Mathilda – Is the true heir to the Kingdom of Taer, now ruled over by Ravan, once a nobleman who had her mother murdered. Mathilda is no ordinary women and spends most of her time, training other young women on the island of Summe. She is an orphan who knows only who her mother was and has been raised by Anvin with whom she is very close to and his son. She is opinionated, hot headed, loyal, and intelligent and rejects the traditional social customs of women, preferring to dress akin to soldiers. Her greatest weakness is her self-doubt and this will cause her trouble as she tries to reclaim her kingdom.

·       Morad – An orphan of a terrible famine that swept through the northern kingdom of Galgor. He is the eldest brother of Evalean and best friend of both Aabe and Mathilda. He is known for his incredible ability as a swordsman and commands his own legion of soldiers. Despite his greatness as a soldier, he struggles to command respect personally due to his arrogant nature and inability to be empathetic towards others. His story will be very interesting to follow.

·       Evalean – Younger sister of Morad and orphan. She is known for her gift as a bow woman but equally so for her sweet temper and healing gifts. She is unlike her brother in every way yet stays inherently loyal to him, despite how others view him. Her role will be inextricably woven with Aabe’s and she will in the future, bear a child who will one day become a great wizard, greater than his forefathers.

·       High King Ballour – All descendants of the royal bloodline have an extended growth spirit of life of around a hundred years or so. Ballor has ruled over Meer for around a hundred and twenty years. He is greatly loved by most of his subjects and courtiers, and is known for his diplomatic leadership, disciplined nature, intelligence, for being just yet tough when needed, a great orator like his father before him and slow to anger which has acted as an advantage when faced with uncertain times and internal strife. He is the father of three sons: Galean, Loaki and Beon and is a widow to the late High Queen of Meer and Lady of the Dragons, Methal.

·       Prince Loaki, King of the Northern Kingdom of Fiar – He is the second oldest brother. He is beloved by his own people and greatly admired for his skills as a fair leader and law-maker. He however does not bear the same strong willed nature as his older brother and father and is often referred to as the ‘soft prince’. He works hard to bring together divided communities and tribes without using force or violence. Due to his softer temperament, he is often in conflict with his father and feels very much a disappointment in comparison to his other brothers and this makes him a people pleaser which makes him easy prey to those who wish to overthrow him or undermine his ambitions.

·       Prince Beon, King of the Western Kingdom of Galgor – He is the third oldest brother and son of Ballour. He was once known as the ‘golden prince’ due to his vast wealth and lavish lifestyle. He married Lady Turtha of the House of Gaul and fell deeply in love with her. Lady Turtha was known as a witch and was greatly influenced by the famous black witch, Ethla and used her own powers of influence to manipulate her husband against his father and brothers. Under the instructions of Ethla’s ( Ethla is secretly working for King Islaer of the southern kingdom, Ruarr) and her father, Lord Dare head of the House of Gaul ( The House of Gaul once ruled over Meer) Lady Turtha secretly poisons the High King’s wine during a festival but is found out and exiled from the royal court. A few weeks later as a plague swept through the kingdoms of Dulthe and Galgor, Lady Turtha died. Lost to the powers of his wife and the black witch, Beon declares war on the High King and signs a peace treaty with King Ravan of Taer in return for his aid.

·       Ethla (The Black Witch) – Highly powerful and very old, Ethla is secretly working on behalf of King Islaer and has over the last two decades, manipulated King Beon and his court into declaring war against the High King, Ballor. She is also working with Lord Leer, a courtier of Dulthe and King Galean, who is working alongside King Islaer in order to bring down the defence of the great eastern city of Ballor, so that King Islaer and his fleet of ships can attack and wage war upon the eastern kingdom of Dulthe, thus defeating King Galean, killing King Beon and taking the throne of Meer. Ethla is charged with re awakening the great and terrible dragon, Belnun from the mountains of Calnuthe. By re awakening Belnun, Ethla can destroy the great dragon, Nuyay and his master, Galean.

·       Aed – He is the eldest son of the tribal leader of Dulga, Aedh. The tribe’s seerer foretells the arrival of Ethla to the great and dark forest of Dulga and foresees her stealing the bones of the terrible Belnun and urges Aed the great warrior and his brother Gil to go after her, to ensure she doesn’t reach the cave and steal the bones. Aed is a strong minded man, with great skill as a warrior and a good head for common sense, he is loyal to the High King and courageous, it is for this reason that the seerer urges him to do as he bides.

·       Gil – Second eldest brother of Aed and son of Aedh. He joins Aed on his quest to reach the cave of Belnun before the black witch. He is a gifted bowman with a natural thirst for knowledge. He is known for his gift of designing and executing a plan.

·       Lady Sebeen of House Drae – Sister of Lord Ada and soon to be wife of Prince Loaki. Contracted to marry the prince since birth, Lady Sebeen is and has always been aware that her betrothed is in love with the fair, Lady Murtha. Unable to break her betrothal and isolated from her brother, living under the protection of her power seeking uncle, she becomes the centre of a plot designed to kill her and bind Lord Adgaer’s (Lord of the House of Dulthe) daughter, the vengeful and malicious Lady Eithne to the prince instead, in a plan drawn up between Lord Leer and Lord Adgaer, a plan that is connected to the great coup d’état that is being planned between Lord Leer and King Islaer. Lady Sebeen’s storyline is one of my personal favourites, her journey as a lonely women to a great sea Queen will enthral anyone willing to follow her through a tumultuous and trying journey.

Side note: Lord Leer will make his formal appearance in Book Four: King of The North. Prepare yourself, he is even more hateful that some of my worst characters.

Iseult x

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