Pawns and Queens--A 15th Century Gwynedd Story--Chapter Twenty-One

[Evie]

I'm beginning too be afraid to read the next chapter because it is just one problem after another for the good guys and none for the baddies.

Maybe a little insight into the story's overall structure will help ease some of your fears. Think of it as being something like a four-act play:

Chapters One-Ten: These chapters set up the basic premise of the story and established the character relationships, which we needed to get a thorough understanding of before we could get into the meat of the story.

Chapters Eleven to Twenty: Now that the basics have been established, the next chapters led us into the early months of the war. There are a lot of surprises and setbacks, but that is to be expected, because we are only in the very first half of the story.

Chapters Twenty-One to Thirty: The morning is always darkest just before the dawn. Similarly, we will see our heroes continue to struggle as things look increasingly more dark. But as we get 3/4 of the way through our story, we will finally have a pivotal moment where in the midst of the darkness, you finally see glimmers of light and hope. But these can't happen too soon in the story, or that would rob the final chapters ahead of their emotional impact.

Chapters Thirty-One to the Epilogue: Things have finally turned around for our characters. Dangling plot threads are finally resolved or at least left neatly and satisfyingly enough ordered to be picked back up again later in a sequel.

So keep in mind, we have only reached Chapter Twenty-One. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I promise, but right now, you are still very much in the messy middle of things. The war still has several more months left to go. But it won't go on forever. And while winter may be coming, this isn't Westeros. 

[Demercia]

I'm beginning too be afraid to read the next chapter because it is just one problem after another for the good guys and none for the baddies.

Maybe a little insight into the story's overall structure will help ease some of your fears. Think of it as being something like a four-act play:

Chapters One-Ten: These chapters set up the basic premise of the story and established the character relationships, which we needed to get a thorough understanding of before we could get into the meat of the story.

Chapters Eleven to Twenty: Now that the basics have been established, the next chapters led us into the early months of the war. There are a lot of surprises and setbacks, but that is to be expected, because we are only in the very first half of the story.

Chapters Twenty-One to Thirty: The morning is always darkest just before the dawn. Similarly, we will see our heroes continue to struggle as things look increasingly more dark. But as we get 3/4 of the way through our story, we will finally have a pivotal moment where in the midst of the darkness, you finally see glimmers of light and hope. But these can't happen too soon in the story, or that would rob the final chapters ahead of their emotional impact.

Chapters Thirty-One to the Epilogue: Things have finally turned around for our characters. Dangling plot threads are finally resolved or at least left neatly and satisfyingly enough ordered to be picked back up again later in a sequel.

So keep in mind, we have only reached Chapter Twenty-One. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I promise, but right now, you are still very much in the messy middle of things. The war still has several more months left to go. But it won't go on forever. And while winter may be coming, this isn't Westeros. 
[/quote

Sequel, squeee😂😂

[drakensis]

If Remy and Haakon have a single wit between them, they may wish to consider the consequences for them if they wind up in Haldane hands.

Neither has much value as a hostage, given their parents' ruthless selfishness (not to mention that Remy's removal makes Alix heiress to Joux) and at least in Remy's case, his acquiescence in his sister being used as a pagan sacrifice would likely have some interesting consequences for his soul that some Churchmen may reasonably argue should be referred to the ultimate authority with all despatch, and perhaps a bonfire to draw the divine's attention to the matter.

Of course, both are young, male and excited which naturally makes them immortal in their own eyes.

[Evie]

Sequel, squeee😂😂

LOL! Don't squee too loudly just yet. This is my busiest time of the year at work, leaving me drained in the evenings as well, so the writing is going painfully slowly. The voices are still talking, I just lack the energy to listen properly and do anything about it. 

If Remy and Haakon have a single wit between them, they may wish to consider the consequences for them if they wind up in Haldane hands.

Neither has much value as a hostage, given their parents' ruthless selfishness (not to mention that Remy's removal makes Alix heiress to Joux) and at least in Remy's case, his acquiescence in his sister being used as a pagan sacrifice would likely have some interesting consequences for his soul that some Churchmen may reasonably argue should be referred to the ultimate authority with all despatch, and perhaps a bonfire to draw the divine's attention to the matter.

Of course, both are young, male and excited which naturally makes them immortal in their own eyes.

Torval is pretty selfish, yes, at least where his "allies" are concerned. He doesn't give two farthings for either Haakon or Remy, and would cheerfully be rid of them, especially after witnessing what happened to Cecile at Haakon's hands and knowing that Remy was complicit in that. But while he is self-centered, his motivations for this war aren't 100% selfish. He genuinely believes that the two halves of what used to be Torenth should be reunited. He also has a son (his heir) who is of an age where he could have been brought to the war as a senior page or junior squire, but he's left him safely behind at his capital, partly because he doesn't want to risk Nordmarcke being left without an heir if the worst happens, but also partly due to realizing his son is not yet adequately prepared for dealing with this level of combat. Perhaps in a year or two, once he's better at his martial training, he can build up his skills dealing with small rebellions and border skirmishes. But not just yet. If he can, he wants to reunite Torenth and perhaps add to its original territory, building an empire to pass down to young Aleksandr someday. But again, Remy and Haakon are potential rivals and threats to Aleksandr, so pay ransom for those gits? Are you joking?

Ingrid, similarly, would have happily settled for invading Kheldour in revenge for their murder of her husband (which is how she sees it--the fact he was raiding and plundering the Kheldish coast at the time doesn't make any difference to her, since she sees Gwyneddans as an inferior people who are just as much a natural resource to the land as the trees and arable soil, and they should accept their destiny and proper use as thralls). But she is putting her life at risk for the sake of her son Haakon. Eistenmarcke is very rich in fish and trees, but has an inhospitable terrain and climate, a short growing season, and not much arable land. If she can take enough land to expand Haakon's territory (and hopefully enough to spare for the son she is carrying as well as any future sons she might have), she sees that as helping to ensure their future strength as kings of an Eistenmarckr empire that is rich in resources. So while she might be utterly lacking in empathy or compassion for anyone else, she is anything but selfish when it comes to her son. Would she pay ransom if he is captured? In a heartbeat! (Pay for Remy? Not so much. She loathes Remy and his influence on her son.) Would she become an even more implacable foe to anyone who dared to capture Haakon, once she got him safely back? You better believe it! And if Haakon should happen to die in this war, Ingrid will turn into an avenging fury unless she happens to die before him.

Now, does Haakon appreciate any of Ingrid's efforts on his behalf? Not really. Because unlike his mother, he truly is completely self-centered. Just like Ingrid's world revolves around Haakon, Haakon's world also revolves around Haakon. And his very few unselfish impulses aren't directed towards his mother, but to his newfound "brother" Remy, who is hardly a role model Ingrid would wish him to emulate, but here we are.

Remy is Renier's sole heir, as far as Renier is concerned. In his mind, a daughter would be completely unfit to rule. Women are meant to be ruled, not to rule others. They're not really heirs so much as breed stock, useful for forming alliances and for their allies to breed future male heirs from, but have very little value for much else. The thought of Alixa ruling Joux after him would be horrifying. He would think she'd be completely hopeless at it, the stupid chit, and it would end up getting absorbed into Tralia or divided up among the neighbors. So he would absolutely pay a ransom to get his beloved son and only true child and heir back. And Remy? As we've seen, Remy is pretty much a chip off the old block, only worse. Because like Haakon, Remy has been set apart and indulged by his parent to the point of being convinced he's the bright center of the universe and deserves to take whatever he wants.

Now granted, I don't imagine the Haldanes would be all that willing to offer either Haakon or Remy up for ransom, given the extent of Haakon's and Remy's war crimes, and especially given that they aren't the sort of honorable enemy who would give their parole to return home and not come back and try to invade Gwynedd again, and have that word be trustworthy and trusted. So it's somewhat of a moot point.

And yes, both Haakon and Remy are at that age when they think they're immortal, other people's stupid rules don't apply to them, and they know everything. So that certainly isn't helping when it comes to trying to rein them back in.

[Demercia]

I think it's amazing you can write at all after work.

[Evie]

I think it's amazing you can write at all after work.

I actually tend to get more done on lunch breaks, during (very brief) lulls between client arrivals and phone calls, and sometimes on Sundays before and after KK Chat. When I'm not able to focus enough to write, I go back and line edit. Since I write in Google Docs, I always have a device I can write or edit from at my fingertips, whether it's my desktop PC, my laptop, my tablet, or my smartphone, so even if I'm just queued up somewhere waiting for a slow line to move, I can use that time to check back over the latest scenes and make minor changes or add a few lines.

My preference, of course, would be to have several hours of uninterrupted free time per week for writing. But this is 2024 in the real world, not a fantasy universe, so alas, that rarely ever happens.