26 September 2023

After a moment or two, I stepped up next to the guard. For a while, neither of us spoke; we jest watched Elsenaia as she made plans with the rest of her guard. Then I said, “You know, I wasn’t in her head for very long. I could only get a general feel for things.”

Tairsi turned to me. I continued, “Even then, there was one memory that seemed to be the root of her entire worldview now. One small statement. ‘I guess princesses aren’t allowed to have friends.’”

Tairsi’s face paled. “But… but that was…”

“I know.” There was a bit more steel in my voice than I’d intended. “You were just kids. The situation wasn’t your fault. You were probably just repeating what the adults told you.” I leaned back to look at the treetops above us. “Still. When she needed a friend, someone who saw her for herself instead of her title… you turned away. After that… well, ‘Elsenaia’ has been locked away, in the depths of her mind, ever since. All to make room so she could become 'the Princess'”

By the set of her jaw, I could tell that Tairsi grit her teeth, but I had a hard time reading her beyond that. “Why are you telling me this?”

I paused. That was a good question. Was I trying to help them reconcile? It’d probably been too long for that. Even if it’s possible, there are better ways to go about it. Vindictiveness, maybe? That’s probably it. I wanted Tairsi to understand at least part of the pain she’s heaped on Elsenaia, to feel some of it for herself. “You’re right. I’m sorry; that wasn’t my place to say. I’m just… frustrated, I guess?”

“Yeah.” Tairsi looked down at her hands. “Do you have any ideas what we could do?”

I shrugged. “Not really. Ideally, I’d get her out of that damned castle and away from her family and duties and all that, but… I don’t think that’s possible.”

Tairsi frowned. A moment later, she stepped into the discussion.

23 September 2023

… no magic circle…”

As I got ready to respond, I noticed one of the other guards chanting under her breath, her eyes locked on Robin. I whipped my pistol out and point it at her right when Elsenaia stepped between everyone, arms outstretched. “Stop! Just, stop.”

Her eyes focused on the chanting guard, whose cheeks burned bright red before she averted her eyes from Elsenaia. I cautiously lowered my gun, but I didn’t return it to my holster.

Another of the guards, a man with forest-green hair, moved next to the blushing guard. “With all due respect, Your Highness, the humans attacked us. Shouldn’t we–”

“As I recall, Goodman Rivlett, it was Captain Darrett attacked first. And provoked or not, for a decorated captain of the guard to lose his composure so easily…” Elsenaia’s smile turned vindictive. “Well, that is quite the embarrassment, isn’t it, Captain Darrett?”

Darrett’s expression was as dark as a power outage on a moonless night, but he said nothing. Adam sidled up next to me, hands on his weapon. “Uh, by any chance, would you mind telling us what the heck is going on?”

“Well, basically, the guards are all freaking out because Robin took out their captain so easily. Especially since she wasn’t using any magic. So Elsenaia–that’s the princess, there–is telling them to knock it off, especially since her captain attacked us first. I think she wants to make peace with us.”

Elsenaia started a bit when I said “without magic”, but she recovered quickly. She turned to us and bowed her head. “That’s correct. I apologize for my rudeness earlier; we… didn’t really know what to expect.”

Adam and Robin remained wary, but I shrugged and waved it off. “It’s fine. I think.”

Adam gestured to Darrett. “I’m not so certain. If you don’t mind me asking, why did he try to attack my brother anyway?”

“Ah, that was probably my fault.” I flashed Adam a cheeky grin. “He was being an asshole, and I called him out on it.”

Robin chuckled while Adam sighed and shook his head. To all of our surprise, Elsenaia let out a loud burst of laughter, before she promptly clapped her hands over her mouth and her cheeks turned scarlet. All eyes, both elven and human, focused on her.

She focused for a moment or two, and then coughed and straightened her outfit. “Right. Well. Back to business.”

Most of the guards snapped themselves out of it, and they began discussing options. Tairsi, however, just watched Elsenaia in shock.

8 August 2023

I was much more satisfied with this attempt, though it does still have its own issues. I tried several versions of both Darrett’s offhand remark belittling Elsie, as well as Nick’s insult in response. Not 100% happy with either yet, but it’s greatly improved from some of my earlier ones. It feels kind of like threading a needle; for example, in Darrett’s case, I want something that is clearly dismissive and insulting to justify Nick’s response, while still being mild enough he doesn’t seem blatantly insubordinate to the princess.

…attacking me. Not that the scowl on my face helped matters any.

Tairsi’s eyes flared, and she grabbed me by the lapel. “What did you do?”

“Heck if I know. You lot are the ones who are supposed to be ‘in tune’ with magic right? You probably know more about what happened than me.”

To my surprise, instead of English, I spoke to her in perfect Elvish. Everyone, even… (see August 7) …learn Spanish.”

Tairsi let go, and I straightened my shirt. In English, I asked Elsenaia, “So, what now? Was that enough for you to trust us?” Then I recalled the fleeting impression I had during the dive. “Did you find what you needed?” Carefully, I rested one hand… (see August 7) …ready for anything.

“I… No, I did not.” Then in English, “But… At the very least, I know you hold no malice towards us.”

Darrett scoffed. “So you debased yourself for nothing, then? Typical.”

Something snapped inside me. With a smile that did not reach my eyes, I quipped, “That’s rich, coming from the king’s pet hound. All you can do is bark insults at your betters.”

The glade grew silent for a moment, then Darrett unsheathed his blade and lunged at me with a roar. I’d only gotten my pistol halfway out when a sharp crack rang out, and Darrett collapsed in front of me, clutching his leg. He reached for his sword, but Robin moved forward, gun in her hands. “If you so much as touch that blade, the next one goes through your skull.”

Whether Darrett understood her words or not, the intent was clear enough, and Darrett pulled his hand back. All the elves looked shocked, and Elsenaia’s face seemed pale. Tairsi muttered, “What manner of spellcraft is that? I heard no incantation, saw no magic circle…”

I shrugged, pulling my gun out and holding it to the side. “No magic. Just physics.”

7 August 2023

I focused a lot on Elsenaia and making it a viable story at the beginning of last month. It’s still one of my focuses, actually; I quite enjoy Nick and Elsie’s opening scene, and I want to build on that. It took a few attempts to nail down how everyone responds after the mind-dive didn’t work as planned, though. This is my first attempt; I feel like Nick starts off too aggressive than feels natural, especially given the fact he and Elsie aren’t that close yet.

I’ll be making the elvish lines a different color; I used a different font on my google doc, but that’s not as simple to do on here.

When we come to, Elsenaia squeaked and took a few steps back, staring at me with clear trepidation. The guards tightened the grip on their weapons, just a thread away from snapping and attacking me.

Not that the scowl on my face helped matters at all. I glared at Darrett, then turned on Tairsi and drawled, “So princesses aren’t allowed to have friends, was it? No wonder she can’t trust anyone.”

Except… that’s not what I said. Or… it is, but not in English. Somehow, I spoke to them in perfect Elvish.

Everyone, even Elsenaia, stared at me in shock. Adam gave a low whistle. “Damn. If a little mind dive is all you need, sign me up. I always wanted to learn Spanish.”

Meanwhile, Darrett’s eyes flared. “What did you do to our princess?”

“Heck if I know. You lot are the ones who understand magic, right? You know more than me.” As I spoke, I carefully rested one hand on the pistol at my side. With how jumpy everyone was, I figured it’d be best to be ready for anything.

9 June 2023

Short little fluff piece; the kind of day-to-day shots that were half the reason I started writing Elsenaia to begin with. I can’t profess a great wealth of experience in matters of romance, but the ones that stuck with me the most in things I’ve read and watched weren’t the ones about passion or grand gestures of love. Those could show up at times, sure, but it was the quiet moments, the small shows of support, the ability to simply be with each other that make for the most poignant romances to me. I might have to write an article on that at some point.

Of course, a healthy relationship makes for poor drama, which means to have a story, either the relationship needs flaws, or there needs to be a major outside force that is the actual focus of the story. That’s probably why almost none of my favorite romances are found in the romance genre.

On this particular Saturday morning, it was Nick’s turn to fix lunch. It was a gorgeous day outside, and he found himself humming cheerily as he cooked bacon and cut tomatoes for some BLTs.

Once he had everything ready, he headed downstairs to get Elsenaia. It was amazing how much more vibrant the house felt with just one more person. He found her with her hair tied back, pointy ears showing, and dressed in a ratty shirt and old jeans, both covered in fresh paint of all colors. It was probably to most casual he’d ever seen her, and somehow, it made her seem even more radiant.

She stood before a large canvas, palette in one hand and brush in the other. Other paintings cluttered the area; several bore a stark resemblance to Jackson Pollock’s art style, but there were a few landscapes and other things mixed in.

15 May 2023

Finally went back to Elsenaia. I’ve been working on it recently (as in, beginning of August), as well, and I’d like to turn it into a proper story. So here’s my attempt to redo some of the early bit. There’s going to be a lot less time spent inside the mind dive, I think.

Elsenaia hadn’t participated in many mind dives, and certainly never a human’s, so she hadn’t really known what to expect. Still, every other mind she’d visited had been neat and orderly, whether it was a carefully planned garden of thoughts or something more like her own stately palace.

They definitely weren’t like this. This was… What else could she call it but chaos? Some kind of instrument–a piano, he called it?--was covered in bits and bobs of memories and hopes and dreams, with few if any of them actually about music. There was a cupboard under the stairs that tried to dump her into a whole other world where people rode around on broomsticks, and a greenhouse inside the house that not only stretched on for infinity, but seemed to constantly shift its layout every time she looked at it.

She eventually wound up in some sort of dining area that itself was full of junk. On a counter sat a small group of figurines; Elsenaia picked one up, and nearly fainted at the notion of half-elves, before she realized it was all made up. …Wasn’t this Nicholas a bit old to be playing pretend? Strange.

Nothing, though, could have prepared Elsenaia for th things she saw when she sat down at the table. It was… Nick’s family. His siblings. His father and mother. Even now, they still flirted as they prepared dinner. There was laughter at the table. When his parents asked how Nick and his siblings were or what they were working on, they meant it, and they listened, no matter how small the concerns seemed.

And Nick’s brothers and sister! There were no sly looks, no competing for affection or prestige. When they teased one another, there was an undercurrent of fondness, not spite.

Elsenaia tried in vain to prevent tears from forming in her eyes. Why couldn’t she have had this? Why was this man, with no particular renown, so loved, while Elsenaia had been left alone?

She tried to banish the thought; she knew it was unfair. But before she could, she felt Nick grab hold, and indignation warmed the room around her to uncomfortable levels. To Elsenaia’s shock, Nick wasn’t mad at her, despite her rude thoughts, but at her family. And… at Tairsi?

Suddenly Elsenaia had a flashback, clear as the moon of the day Tairsi had left. The day they stopped being friends, and were merely a princess and her subordinate.

After all, princesses aren’t allowed to have friends.

Then Elsenaia saw him, eyes burning. Nick was there. Nick was watching her memories. Somehow, Nick was inside her head.

Panicked, Elsenaia cut the spell off, and they snapped back to their bodies. Tairsi and Darrett stepped forward protectively, but Nick wasn’t intimidated. And to the shock of everyone present, when he opened his mouth, he spoke in perfect Elvish.

29 December 2022

I was dead tired, and had no idea what I should write. So I decided to brainstorm, because I wanted a clearer image of who the guy in Elsenaia’s story is. A lot of it was based on me, but not everything, and I want him to be clearly distinct from me. Hence the brainstorming below.

I also decided that along with Majesty, this story will be one of the two I focus on this month, like Hanako and the Orphan of Hamelin last month. We’ll see if this system works or not…

What do I know about the POV character in Elsenaia’s story? (I consider Elsenaia the protagonist, hence the distinction.) Unlike me, he’s outdoorsy, since he was out hiking in the woods with his friends when they ran across the elvish scouting party. He also actually has friends… Who are they? Probably one couple, maybe two, and a few other guys.

We are similar in that both he and I are authors, and for the sake of my own sanity we will even be working on the same stories. Karthos/Death has already shown up… I could have appearances from Maleficent, Hanako, and some of my other recurring characters, as well.

What’s his name, this guy? Kevin? Nick? Nicholas? I’m thinking something that results in “Nick”.

What are his goals? Getting published, sure. Is he already an established author? What would that mean if he was? If he is, what led him out in these woods? Is he looking for specific inspiration? Doing research for a different story he’s working on I don’t have yet, maybe about witches? Just a vacation after a hard-earned success? Both the latter options sound fun. 

I could also have him be with siblings or other family scouting out some backwoodsy area to prepare to build a house. Homesteading, that kind of thing. It does still happen. Maybe Missouri, Arkansas, or Illinois? Does kind of detract from some of my future plans for him and Elsie, though.