Pawns and Queens--A 15th Century Gwynedd Story--Chapter Eighteen

[Evie]

Previous chapter: https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3233.0.html


Chapter Eighteen

March 26, 1464
Haakonshallen
The Konungamóðir's seiðr chamber
Eistenfalla, Eistenmarcke

Ingrid the seið-kona sat on her raised chair in her private ritual chamber in a deep trance state. Around her, billows of steam rose from a cauldron of water seething over the brazier in the center of the room.

On a small table near the brazier was an open map depicting the northern coastline of Gwynedd. The mists rose above it, nearly obscuring it from view.

Her shield-maidens around the periphery of the room were stripped down to their shifts, as the heat of the room was now quite stifling, although she had one positioned where she could control the flow of air and mist by means of a ceiling vent that could be opened or closed as needed. The other maidens kept up a steady chant, their spear butts beating a tattoo onto the packed earthen floor along to the rhythm.

As the tempo of the chant grew quicker, Ingrid sent her spirit flying from her body in the form of an eagle, rising through the open vent into the heavens to check the progress of the spell that she was working.

#

March 29, 1464
The Camberian Council Chamber
Somewhere in Lendour

Easter had come and gone, and with the spring had come the thawing snows and the beginning of the war season. "It seems certain that the invasion of Gwynedd is imminent any day now," Lord Geoffrey Arilan told the gathered Council members, "and that Torval's army is much larger than we thought. Of course, much of that number can be accounted for by their Eistenmarcker and Jouvian allies swelling their ranks."

"With Eistenmarcke involved, you can count on there being naval involvement as well, since that and their unique forms of magic are their key strengths," Banoidhre Aoife of Llyr warned. "The Ard-Tiarna has sent Gwynedd our promised ships and crews, but they are still en route. They were meant to leave a week earlier, but we had a late season storm come up which caused a delay."

"We have watchers on the Kheldish coast watching out for enemy ships," Lord Geoffrey said, "but it's been difficult to spot much, since the northern coast has been shrouded by dense fog for the past three or four days. But so far our supply ships haven't encountered any enemy vessels, though they've had to stay very close to port under the circumstances."

"Fortunately our ships should be rounding the coast of Cassan in a day or two," Aoife reassured him, "and they will be bearing reinforcements and supplies for Prince Nicholas as well. Where are they likely to find him?"

"The last I heard, he was somewhere in the region of Iomaire, though the harbormaster at each port should be able to take charge of the ship cargoes and direct them to the appropriate supply depots for our supply trains." Even in this close circle where none were likely to have personal loyalties that would align them against Gwynedd, Geoffrey did not wish to give away his Prince's exact location, though they could guess his general location easily enough. Of course 'the last he'd heard' had been a mere fifteen minutes before the Council meeting had begun, since Geoffrey had arrived at the Council Chamber directly from the war camp, and Nicholas planned to continue into Eastmarch by the end of day, but there was no reason to bring up those particulars. "Our bird's eye views show the enemy forces amassing both near Culliecairn and the mouth of the Arran River, so we think they mean to split forces and invade from both routes, perhaps thinking to catch the Prince's army between the two. We have our own countermeasures in the works if they should try that."

"What did you mean by 'bird's eye view'?" asked Lord Alexei Petrovich. "Are you referring to scouts observing from the mountain tops, or are those still snow topped?"

"They're thawing, though we've had a late spring, which is all to the good since it has given us more time to plan and prepare. But the valleys are passable now, although the rivers are very high and flowing swiftly. As for the bird's eye view, I meant that literally." Geoffrey grinned. "An experienced Deryni scout who knows the terrain on the other side of the border joins in rapport with a falcon or one of our courier pigeons and sends it flying high above the passes until it has a good view into Nördmarcke. The scout then takes note of what he is seeing through the bird's eyes and sends the report back to our generals."

Lord Da'ud ibn Yussuf laughed. "Clever!"

Geoffrey modestly inclined his head. "I wish I could claim it was my own idea, but the Duchess of Carthmoor came up with that one. We do also have some mountain-top castles, of course, but none that can swoop in to get a closer view."

"And speaking of my daughter, what news have you of events closer to home?" King Mikhail of Andelon asked. "I am given to understand that Rhemuth now has not just one former Princess of Joux in its midst, but two."

How exactly Mikhail had gained this information, Geoffrey did not know, but he suspected the King of Andelon had some way of remaining in touch with his eldest daughter that was swifter than the regular post. That was interesting information to file away for later inquiry. "The former Princess Cécile, now the Queen of Eistenmarcke, is in protective custody at Rhemuth Castle under the protection of His Majesty the King. Apparently the Eistenmarcker lad's idea of wedding festivities includes attempting to kill the bride, which seems a strange way to ensure the continuance of a dynasty."

"What day was that?" asked Aoife of Llyr.

Geoffrey thought back. "The eleventh of March, I believe. My son and your sister were the scouts who found the princess and brought her back to Gwynedd. I sent them in to do the surveillance on the tenth, so I'm pretty sure the ceremony took place on the night of the eleventh."

"The equinox, then. There were other sacrifices as well?"

"Yes. Many. Perhaps as many as a hundred prisoners, Sebastian thought."

Aoife nodded. "More likely ninety-nine. It was a ritual intended to gain Odin's favor for the war ahead, I think. The wedding celebration would have been peripheral to that. Maybe the bridegroom just got too much into the spirit of the blót. But the Jouvian princess has recovered now?"

"She has made a full recovery, at least physically. As you might imagine, the experience was scarring in other ways that are more difficult to Heal. However, one good thing has come out of the ordeal. The Healer managed to discover that both Queen Alixa and her sister are Deryni, albeit not especially strong ones. And more to the point, he has discovered that Renier of Joux has access to a Healer who can Block Deryni powers. Up to that point, Queen Alixa had no memory of having ever possessed powers at all, and Queen Cécile's memories were quite fragmentary."

Lord Da'ud frowned. "You are saying King Renier has a Blocker in his Kingdom, and that he had his own daughters Blocked?"

"That seems to be the case, yes. Which also sheds more light on other rumors I have heard of coming out of Joux, of Jouvian nobles in opposition to Renier either disappearing or returning to Court markedly changed."

"That reminds me," said Aoife as she turned to Gräfin Violette de Rhupen. "That missing Thurian intelligencer you asked me to look into–the one you said might have been spotted in Foilly? I sent a man into Joux to find him, and he did find someone who he thought matched the description you gave me, but the man appeared to be fully Human, and as you had said the man you sought was a strong Deryni, my man let him go. But if he was Blocked instead, that would explain the lack of shields or powers."

Lady Emmanuelle de la Flamme shuddered. "Pretty much the last person in the Eleven Kingdoms who needs to have ready access to a Blocker is Renier of Joux, though I wouldn't mind in the least if someone would block him! Is this Deryni loyal to Renier or working under duress?"

"He seems to be doing Renier's work against his will, or at least that's what the Royal Healer in Rhemuth surmises. Otherwise he would almost certainly have done tidier work in concealing Queen Cécile's memories of having had Deryni powers in her childhood. He also left hidden instructions on how to find the touch point to Unblock her. The only problem is, that hidden touch point can't be accessed by just anyone, not even by all other trained Healers."

"No, it can only be accessed by another Healer with the Blocking gift," Da'ud observed. "Does that mean you found another Healer to Unblock the Queens of Gwynedd and Eistenmarcke, or have they simply been apprised of the discovery that they were born Deryni but have had their powers Blocked?"

Geoffrey had been hoping to keep the identity of the second Blocker concealed, but given that her sister was on the Council, the knowledge would likely have eventually reached the rest of the Council anyway. "We discovered we have access to another Healer with the gift. The Healer who Unblocked Her Majesty of Gwynedd, and who plans to do the same for Queen Cécile once she is judged to be mentally whole enough, is Banfhlaith Saoirse of Llyr."

"That information will be need to be added to the Registry of Healers," Mikhail observed. "Do you think Joux's Blocker is listed in there already? Knowing who he is might aid us in tracking him down."

Lord Alexei Petrovich laughed. "Come now, Mikhail, if you were Renier and had a Blocker bound to do your bidding, would you register him?"

The Andelonian King chuckled. "As a Blocker, no. But before one can learn how to Block, one first has to be a Healer. And if he was a Healer for some time before he discovered he could Block, then chances are that his name is in the Registry. Renier would have had no cause to hide the fact that he has access to Healers; most royal courts do these days. So it might be helpful to see if we can track down any Healers registered as living in the Kingdom of Joux in the past decade or two, and see if we can find out which ones are still around and where they are located."

"And if we find him?" Alexei asked.

Mikhail smiled. "If we find him, I'm certain the poor man would be delighted to gain his freedom. He might even be willing to do us all a favor. I would suggest giving him the opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting with Renier."

#

March 29, 1464
An Eistenmarcker ship
Somewhere west of Skaggarak

Rémy of Joux felt only slightly better on this second ship voyage in just over a month than he had felt during his first one, although his extreme illness on that first journey had owed more to poisoning than actual seasickness. This time around, the waves were choppier than when he had sailed just off the Tralian coast within the less open waters of the Southern Sea, but even though he felt his stomach wanting to rebel at times, he felt better able to keep its contents where they belonged. The potion the King's Mother had brewed for the sailors and men-at-arms had helped with that, and even he had to grudgingly admit that some of her skills had been of some use, especially if the rumors flying among the crew were true and the dense fog surrounding their ships had been summoned by means of her Eistenmarcker magic, which seemed something not quite akin to Deryni magic but was far from ordinary human wishful thinking
.
When he had first heard the plan, he had been very skeptical, not to mention less than willing to set forth on an ocean voyage while shrouded in mists that would prevent them from seeing land. What if they were to go off course and run aground, or hit some offshore sandy shoal because they miscalculated where they were? But he had been assured by the Eistenmarcker sailors who were fluent in Torenthi that his fears were groundless, for they had ways of seeing clearly where they were and navigating through the magical concealment meant to befuddle Gwyneddan watchmen along the coast.

At any rate, he had been pleased enough once he heard the greater battle plan, for King Torval and his generals had given Rémy full command not only of his own Jouvian men-at-arms, but several units of  Nördmarcker archers, foot soldiers, and even cavalry, as well as a particular mission objective that he could hardly wait to carry out. He had felt suspicious at first, since the honor seemed too good to be true, but once he'd had a chance to think the matter through, he thought he had figured out Torval's objective. The Nördmarcker King wanted to capture all of Gwynedd, true, but if that goal was not achievable, at least he hoped to gain the easternmost regions, which would give him access to Coroth Bay and Beldouria. So of course he would be well content to leave the western side of Gwynedd for Rémy's forces to manage.

As for the woman, she would soon be joining up with Torval, taking her strange followers and their strange ways with her, no longer Rémy's concern. He would miss the Eistenmarcker boy king, for he had looked forward to continuing their acquaintance and molding him more into the sort of ally who would prove useful to Joux once he came into his full power, but hopefully their paths would cross again soon enough.

#

March 30, 1464
The Eastern Front
Gwynedd

Prince Nicholas's army had moved into the northern part of Eastmarch, for by nearly all reports that had been sent back thus far, that seemed most closely situated to that portion of the shared border with Nördmarcke where King Torval's forces were mostly likely to come through. Not that the Prince was at all convinced that Torval would not exploit any other vulnerable points of entry he might find, which was why he had sent the Duke of Corwyn's forces further south, while the Dukes of Claiborne and Cassan had men assigned to watch the northern coast, ready to light the beacons on the watchtowers should they spot any signs of an invading fleet.

The damn fog was not helping. Nor was the maddening wait for Torval to make some kind of move. For days the Nördmarcke forces had sat just on the other side of the mountain range dividing Gwynedd from Nördmarcke, amassing around Culliecairn, but had made no further move westward. It was as if, having come all the way to the western edge of their kingdom, the men of Nördmarcke simply intended to sit there, playing at dice or cards, or God only knew what they were doing.

Nicholas bided the time by ensuring the mountain fastnesses, which had spent the winter months in near isolation, were reprovisioned to more easily withstand a siege, consulting with his generals, reading over the various reports sent back from his scouts keeping a careful watch over the passes into Gwynedd, and trying not to get too complacent, since he knew Torval was probably just waiting for the first sign of inattention as his signal to pounce. Throughout Gwynedd, there was a sense of nervous expectancy as various villages and towns checked and double-checked their provisions, supplies, and security measures. Womenfolk and children worried about absent husbands, fathers, and sons, and with those men who remained behind started the spring plowing and planting in hopes that crops would flourish, not just to provision troops, but also to maintain their own families left at home, who would still need to be able to set aside enough of the next harvest to get through the winter months after the war season. And yet all knew that if Gwynedd was invaded, it was likely to be a lean and hungry year ahead, since the enemy troops would also be reprovisioning their army from Gwyneddan fields and storehouses, and likely also leaving burned fields and villages in their wake if they could not be adequately defended.. And if the weather proved unfavorable to growing things, there might eventually be famine despite the best efforts of the field laborers to replenish what was lost.

The war season had begun, and along with it brought dread and a certain strange impatience for the war to actually begin.

#

April 1, 1464
The Gulf of Kheldour
The Kingdom of Gwynedd
Morning

Cairbre O Murchadha, the sailor on watch high in the rigging of the Llyrian flagship An Faoilean, sailing off the northern Cassani coast and entering the uppermost end of the Gulf of Kheldour, spotted another ship in the distance approaching from the east. As the Llyrian sailor raised his spyglass, he mouthed the words to a spell designed to refresh the magical enhancements placed on the device, which would aid in keeping the lens clear and cutting through the mists and fog to enable the user to see more clearly. The magic did not provide a perfect solution, but every bit of clarity helped.

The approaching ship flew Gwyneddan colors, which brought some relief, though Cairbre kept a wary eye on the ship nonetheless.

As An Faoilean began its southward turn deeper into the Gulf, heading with its cargo of men, materiel, and supplies to the Port of Kilshane, the thought struck Cillian that his spyglass, even with its magical enhancements, ought not be seeing a westbound ship sailing this far to the west of the Claibourne shore unless it was continuing westwards across the mouth of the Gulf towards Ballymar or some more distant port. As the distant ship also began to sail in a more southward direction, its course somewhat parallel to An Faoilean but also to the stern of the Llyrian ship and keeping a course well distant from the watch towers on either flanking shore, the Llyrian sailor had a stronger sense of misgiving. As the other ship drew ever closer, O Murchadha took a closer look at the ship's design. Since when had any Gwyneddan caravel boasted a carved figurehead of a sea monster devouring a screaming man?

O Murchadha saw two more westbound ships with similar designs to the first emerging from the distant mists, following the first ship's lead, setting a course that seemed deliberately designed to prevent them from being easily spotted from land.

The suspicious looking ships drew ever closer. Cairbre O Murchadha raised the call to arms.

#

April 1, 1464
The Duchy of Corwyn
Duke Joscelin's war camp
Kingdom of Gwynedd

The promised Beldourian troops, led by Prince Alarikos, arrived at the Duke of Corwyn's war encampment late in the afternoon of April first, a few days later than expected, the young Heir of Beldouria appearing angrier than a feral cat who had fallen into a cistern.

""If my men appear to be a couple of units short of what was promised," he explained to Duke Joscelin, "that's because the levies that were meant to be coming from Sasovna were instead actually from Truvorsk. The deception wasn't noticed until we were halfway here, when one of my more alert sentries noted that those units were pronouncing a certain word in a highly distinct regional manner only used on the other side of the northern Beldour River border. So we had to stop and weed out the enemy troops before proceeding further. I assure you every man who has continued on with me has been fully Truth-Read and Mind-Seen to ensure they are loyal Beldourians rather than Nördmarckers."

"That's troubling," Duke Joscelin said. "It begs the question of what happened to your missing Sasovnan troops as well."

"Yes. Father is looking into that, though given that we've learned King Torval has married the Queen Mother of Eistenmarcke and that she is a seether mage who practices the ancient rituals of the Northern Lands, I have grave concerns about what he is likely to discover, should he manage to find them. I'm wondering how and when the substitution was made, and how we can prevent the same ruse from happening again in future." Alarikos grimaced. "One of the pitfalls of sharing a common language with the enemy, I suppose, especially with some neighboring dialects sounding very similar, though thank Jesú for those subtle regional differences!"

#

April 1, 1464
Fifty miles west of St. Stefan's
The Purple March
Evening

Two children played on the isolated beach midway between the coastal towns of Transha and St. Stefan's, along a stretch of coastline north of the Purple March. It was still too early in the year for the heather that grew in the low hills and dunes near the beach to turn the vibrant purple that gave this part of the kingdom its name, yet the landscape was starkly picturesque nonetheless.

One child saw a ship approaching in the near distance and stood, shading his eyes to block the lowering sun in the western sky. "Do you think Papa is coming home?" he asked his sister.

"Hopefully once his forty days are up," she said. "Not very likely before that, nor even very soon after, if the war goes on for longer." His older sister continued building castles in the sand, her back facing the gulf waters. "Why do you ask?"

"I hoped he might be sailing on that ship," said the boy.

His sister looked up at last, seeing where he was pointing. "I don't think that is Papa's ship," she said, her blood running cold as she saw boats and men being lowered from the deck. "Let's go home." She took her brother's hand, tugging sharply when he stood his ground.

"But I don't want to–"

She scooped him up, running as fast as she could for the relative safety of their village, hoping the brand new palisades would be sufficient to protect them. As she ran, she saw the top of a distant watch tower burst into brilliant flame.

#

April 9, 1464
The King's Map Room
Rhemuth Castle

"Thus far we have confirmed reports of thirteen Eistenmarcker ships that have dropped anchor in the Gulf of Kheldour and landed up to as many as 100 troops each, in addition to the three that the Llyrian fleet managed to capture and the four that evaded pursuit," Cinhil informed those advisors who still remained in Rhemuth. "The troops appear to be a mixture of Jouvian, Eistenmarcker,  and Nördmarcker, and have since split into two groups: those traveling east, who seem to be mostly men of Eistenmarcke; and those traveling southeast, who seem to be a mix of Jouvian infantry and Nördmarcker archers and light cavalry. The Duchess of Cassan, who was fortunately in Kierney at the time, received a report of their entry into the Gulf from the Llyrian flagship An Faoilean, but this warning was delayed because An Faoilean had to repel boarders and evade a couple of other enemy ships before it could continue on to the Port of Kilshane with the news. She sent a courier off to catch up with the Duke to inform him of the attacks so close to home."

"How soon can Cassan and his levies get into the March?" the Duchess of Carthmoor asked.

"They started back in that direction as soon as they got the early reports," said Prince Camber, "but they are still about half a day's march out, I think. The Earl of Transha's men were able to respond more quickly, but until reinforcements arrive, they can only mount a limited response. I've sent the Connaiti troops north to assist along with Ratharkin's men, but it will take them a few more days to get there."

"And in the meantime," Catalina asked, "what are the early reports from the coastal areas?"

Cinhil's lips tightened. "Five villages burned, their storehouses pillaged and crops destroyed, and two larger towns currently under siege. Given the delay in that news reaching us, the number could be greater by now.  The Jouvian and Nördmarcker forces contented themselves with rape and murder of a large number of villagers before moving southward; the Eistenmarckers took some of the more comely women and able-bodied men as captives and brought them to their ships before moving on eastward. Likely the ones they thought would serve best as thralls."

"And my lord husband's army? Has he received word of the northern invaders yet?"

"There is no known portal close to Colin's current encampment," said Cinhil, "but a courier should hopefully have arrived in Eastmarch by now. I also sent one as soon as we received the news here, just in case the first courier doesn't make it past the enemy."

"Do we know yet when the Bremagni support is supposed to arrive?" Catalina asked.

"Their ships were spotted at the mouth of the Eirian the day before yesterday," Prince Camber said, "so they should be putting in at Desse any day now. So that should be an additional 3000 fighting men or thereabouts arriving with Prince Philippe, I think ten dozen horses, and additional weapons and provisions, including several large crates of oranges."

"Oranges? Why oranges?" Cinhil asked.

"Because they're Bremagni," Camber joked. "And also they apparently have some benefit against scurvy."

"I see. Then, by all means, let us deploy the oranges," Cinhil said, chuckling at the much-needed lighthearted moment.


Next chapter: https://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,3237.0.html

[DerynifanK]

Oh my, the season of war has begun. Hoping for the best for Gwynedd and her allies. Also hoping that our heroes survive this war.

[Evie]

Oh my, the season of war has begun. Hoping for the best for Gwynedd and her allies. Also hoping that our heroes survive this war.

At least I'm not George R. R. Martin or even KK, so my body count isn't generally too insane, at least not when it comes to actual named characters. I will say it was meant to be higher for this story, but some characters were spared because there ended up being reasons why the plot would work better if they remained alive.

[DerynifanK]

Oh my, the season of war has begun. Hoping for the best for Gwynedd and her allies. Also hoping that our heroes survive this war.

I do hope that the named characters that die are Renier, Remy, Ingrid, and Haakon.

At least I'm not George R. R. Martin or even KK, so my body count isn't generally too insane, at least not when it comes to actual named characters. I will say it was meant to be higher for this story, but some characters were spared because there ended up being reasons why the plot would work better if they remained alive.

[DerynifanK]

Two thoughts: maybe the CC can locate and free Renier's healer/blocker. Would love to see them meet face to face with  Renier restrained so the blocker can take away his powers.
Wonder if perhaps Remy's assignment will be beyond him, he will screw it up and end up in big trouble. Might be Torval's way of getting rid of him without directly killing him. Just some thoughts

[Evie]

Two thoughts: maybe the CC can locate and free Reiner's healer/blocker. Would love to see them meet face to face with  Reiner restrained so the blocker can take away Reiner's powers.
Wonder if perhaps Remy's assignment will be beyond him, he will screw it up and end up in big trouble. Might Torval's way of getting rid of him without directly killing him. Just some thoughts

All interesting speculations. One of those things might end up happening, though I won't say which. 

[JudithR]

Very clever of Reiner's healer, whose family IIRC are being held "hostage" to ensure his co-operation. 

[Evie]

Very clever of Reiner's healer, whose family IIRC are being held "hostage" to ensure his co-operation. 

Yes, that poor man has had to walk a very thin tightrope.

[DerynifanK]

Very clever of Reiner's healer, whose family IIRC are being held "hostage" to ensure his co-operation. 

Yes, that poor man has had to walk a very thin tightrope.

Let's Hope rescue and perhaps a spot of revenge are in the near future for him.

[DerynifanK]

Oh my, the season of war has begun. Hoping for the best for Gwynedd and her allies. Also hoping that our heroes survive this war.

Do you have the plot mostly laid out before you start writing?

At least I'm not George R. R. Martin or even KK, so my body count isn't generally too insane, at least not when it comes to actual named characters. I will say it was meant to be higher for this story, but some characters were spared because there ended up being reasons why the plot would work better if they remained alive.

[Evie]

Very clever of Reiner's healer, whose family IIRC are being held "hostage" to ensure his co-operation. 

Yes, that poor man has had to walk a very thin tightrope.

Let's Hope rescue and perhaps a spot of revenge are in the near future for him.

Rescue is certainly a possibility, and if he gets the opportunity, I can imagine him seeking justice. Revenge, however, would likely go beyond what his sense of ethics as a conscientious Healer would allow, at least if free to make his own choices instead of being forced to follow the bidding of others.

Do you have the plot mostly laid out before you start writing?

No, my writing style is extremely organic. I'm something like 95% pantser (flying by the seat of my pants) vs. 5% plotter. I usually start out with a clear idea of how the story begins and some vague idea of how it will end up, but everything in the middle is a mystery as to how it will unfold until I get enough written to get a good sense of who my characters are and what motivates them, what their goals and dreams are, what they fear, how they relate to each other and why, etc. I do have a few character sheets I have developed for some of the main characters just to help me flesh them out at the beginning until I get to know them so well, I just automatically know how they will react to something that is happening. Once I get the opening scenes written, then there is usually some logical progression of "If X happens, then either Y needs to happen next, or if it doesn't, then I need a scene to explain why not." I also often tend to follow Lois McMaster Bujold's writing tip: "What is the worst thing that could happen to your character in this moment? Do that. See how they respond. Lather, rinse, repeat." That tends to be a great way to generate conflict, whether internal or external, which is vital to story telling because your characters need some problem(s) to resolve in order for the reader to care about what will happen to them. If you have no conflict, you have an anecdote, not a story. If the stakes are always low, you might have a story, but it's probably not going to be very compelling. So that's always at the back of my mind when I'm coming up with ways to resolve the problems my characters face as the story evolves. Because I write from a worldview that is the antithesis of grimdark, my end goal is always to have some sort of happy or at least hopeful ending in sight. At worse, some endings might be bittersweet. But I am also a big believer in the idea that your characters can only fully appreciate the good and happy things in life if they have also experienced darkness and sorrow that serves as the contrasting struggle and conflict that must be overcome. So I sometimes lean into the darkness as a writer, but it's with the intention that my characters will eventually push through to the other side to experience joy.

The 5% of plotting that I do is usually once the beginning of the story has been written and I get some sense of what goals my characters are aiming for, then I might at that point jot down a few brainstormed ideas on how to get there, and track some of the subplots that have already started to develop, just to make sure that I don't end up inadvertently forgetting anything important. As I think of possible scenes that might happen next or eventually, I might list them on a spreadsheet to get some idea of what order to put them in "X needs to happen before Y can happen" sort of thing, or "X needs to happen before this date because after that, this character will be halfway across the kingdom." But anything in those brainstorming notes or on that spreadsheet timeline is very much subject to change if a better idea comes along in the meantime as I'm writing the story. Or, as often happens, if I get to a scene and the character says "No, I wouldn't react that way, I would do this." I pretty much always go with what the character is saying at those moments, because it's better to stay true to the character's personality you've already created than try to force them into a preplanned plot idea that goes against the sort of character you've already established that they are.

So let's look at this chapter for some illustrations on how that "5% plotting" worked for this story. By this point in the writing, I had already figured out that there are several allied villains, but I knew I didn't want Nicholas to discover that until he had already left for the front lines, which IIRC just happened in the last chapter or so.  I also figured that since no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, and since I created my villains with goals and personalities that are just as fleshed out as my good-guy characters, those villains aren't going to simply fall in line with what Nicholas is expecting that they will do. So that raised the question, what will the enemy do that is different from what anyone in Gwynedd expects? And how will they use their particular skills and talents to plan their strategy? Well, Ingrid is an illusionist, but thus far we've not seen her do much of her particular brand of magic yet, so now that the war is starting up, I wanted to lead off with a demonstration of how she uses magic to help conceal what the enemy is really planning. Nicholas is so far seeing what he is expecting to see, but since the reader has come to know more about what the enemy is up to than he has so far, we are finding out more in this chapter about how they are stringing him along until they are ready to make their move.  When the blot scene happened in the previous chapter, the question came up in my mind as to how they just happened to have the requisite 99 captives on hand to sacrifice. Had they already been doing some border raids? Did they just use thralls (slaves) that they already had captured previously? Did they sacrifice their own people? Surely not, since that would hardly result in having loyal followers on the battlefield! So that's what led me to think, maybe they did capture some "good guy characters" ahead of time, which led to the scene where Alarikos is mad about two of his military units going missing and being replaced by Nordmarcker spies. Because remember that map I posted at the very beginning? There is only a river boundary separating Nordmarcke from Beldouria, and since both of those Kingdoms used to be part of Torenth, they speak a common language. So where are Alarikos' missing Sasovnans now? Unfortunately, they're probably swinging from trees in Nordmarcke.

The Camberian Council scenes are both a handy means of summing up and sharing information, but also can you imagine an Eleven Kingdom where several kingdoms are gearing up for a war and the CC is not taking an active interest? Yeah, neither can I!  Plus they will be needed in a pivotal scene later in the story, which I knew almost from the beginning of writing it, so I couldn't very well wait until I was that many chapters in to mention them for the very first time given everything else happening before that which, assuming they still exist in this time period, they would absolutely be sticking their noses into.  So I was careful to insert several CC scenes throughout the story at various key points, including now.

As for some of the other scenes, I could have just written, "The Eistenmarcker ships sailed to the Gulf of Kheldour and began attacking the coast. They captured X number of villages and towns and did Y and Z."  But that's less compelling than seeing it through the eyes of various people--even if some are minor walk-on characters we aren't likely to see again--so we can see how the start of the war is having an immediate impact on the common folk of Gwynedd.  Of course, that news then has to reach the capital, and also it has to be conveyed somehow to Nicholas, who is currently camped elsewhere and keeping a close lookout in the wrong direction. And since this is the Middle Ages, there is a time delay to all of this news coming and going, so notice the timestamps on each scene and realize that by the time Rhemuth hears about developments on the coast, quite likely things have gotten even worse and/or progressed further in "real time." How will those lags in information affect a military reaction to what is happening in the field? As all of these questions start to come up, they are things that I either keep in my head or jot down as a reminder that I probably ought to address those issues somewhere in the next set of scenes or chapters coming up.

[DerynifanK]

Thanks for that outline. I really enjoyed it. You are an amazing writer and I love your stories. You are very good at keeping us in the edge of our seats.

[DerynifanK]

Where is Renier and what is he up to? He didn't appear to be with Remy so I'm guessing he is still in Joux plotting mischief. Worried about Marthe who is all alone now.

[Evie]

Thanks for that outline. I really enjoyed it. You are an amazing writer and I love your stories. You are very good at keeping us in the edge of our seats.

Thank you! In a way, our former forum member Alkari helped inspire this story. She wanted to see how a love story could develop between two characters in an arranged marriage who knew nothing about each other to begin with besides whatever they learned at their first meeting. That germ of an idea set up root in my mind until it was ready to sprout years later, but at the time I began to write it, all I knew about them was the Princess's name, and that there was a mistress already in the picture because I was dealing with a younger Prince who hadn't expected to inherit the throne and who was holding out for permission to marry the woman he loved and the mother of his children. I knew I wanted there to be an invasion and a war to deal with, and one or two pivotal events I can't mention yet because either they haven't happened in the story yet or they aren't going to, but letting you know that would be too much of a clue as to how some future event will turn out. And that's pretty much all I entered this story having pre-planned. It even took me a few days to figure out what Nicholas's full name was and who his siblings were, but once I knew those details, the opening scenes pretty much wrote themselves. I did have to go back at a much later date and insert a scene to explain something that needed to be made a little more clear, but otherwise what you saw in that opening chapter all sprang from that tiny seed of an idea that I used as my springboard to leap into the story.

Where is Renier and what is he up to? He didn't appear to be with Remy so I'm guessing he is still in Joux plotting mischief. Worried about Marthe who is all alone now.

Renier is still in Joux ruling his kingdom. Someone still needs to be handling the day to day kingdom business. During Kelson's reign, Kelson had Nigel with him out of necessity during the war with Wencit, but presumably Jehana was still back in Rhemuth serving as his Regent. During the Mearan War, Kelson again led his army, but Nigel was needed at home because he was Regent at that point. In this case, Renier has sent his heir off to lead their troops and gain valuable battle experience, but as King of Joux with no other close male relatives to leave behind to watch over the Kingdom (and even if Marthe was old enough, can you imagine him entrusting Joux to a daughter?), he's remaining in Joux because they can't both be gone at the same time unless he appoints a Regent, and Renier wouldn't trust anyone else enough to appoint him as a Regent.

[DerynifanK]

I can see how things develop because this chapter generated so many questions. What did Alarikos do with the spies he weeded out of his forces? He was already halfway to joining the Duke of Corwyn's force so where did they go?
Another question, not for this story but for another one. What happened that resulted in the splitting up of Torenth into separate kingdoms? Is that what Dr M has in mind for Gwynedd in his AU?