The A to Z Blogging Challenge: E is for Eldarion

 

Thank you for visiting my blog for the A-Z Blogging Challenge. This month, I will be posting the A-Z of The Starlight Prince, my spicy, fantasy-romance novel, which was released on 25 March. Posts will include excerpts, story inspirations, lore and other ‘behind-the-scenes’ tidbits.

You can see a complete schedule of my planned posts here for easy access.

Every day, I will pick a commenter at random to receive a FREE ebook copy of The Starlight Prince, and its prequel novella, The Adventures of Josain Jovenne.

Additionally, throughout the entire month, I’m running a Rafflecopter giveaway, which you can enter by commenting on my blog any day in the challenge. The prize is a signed paperback copy of The Starlight Prince, plus related ‘swag’ such as postcards, etc. 

And now, onto today’s post…E is for Eldarion, which is an excerpt from chapter 12 and thirteen, where Maddie arrives on Kralis, and is introduced to Kalas's father, King Eldarion.

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The King and Queen of Kralis were breathtaking. Kalas looked like a younger version of his father, the only noticeable difference being their eye colour. While the king’s were a deep purple, Kalas’s were a bright amber, just like his mother’s. In contrast, the queen had the same silver-white hair that Savrion had. I’d noticed as we’d made our way through the marketplace that Kralians fell into two distinct categories—those with black hair and those with white. So far, the split was almost equal, with the dark-haired Kralians being slightly more common.

The royal couple’s regalia was the most splendid I had seen, with the king dressed much like Kalas, wearing a loincloth and feathered cloak. Just like Kalas had said, his mother was wearing rows upon rows of nyxorith beads that looped around her neck, spilling down onto her chest, all the way to her midriff and almost completely concealing her breasts. Like me, on her bottom half, she wore a semi-transparent black skirt, and like her husband’s loincloth, it was threaded with silver and nyxorith.

Both wore circlets on their heads, again adorned with nyxorith, their onyx horns extending upwards through their hair to act almost as part of the ornamentation.

Remembering my manners at the last moment, I dropped into a low curtsy in front of them and gazed up into their sharp eyes.

Beside me, Savrion bowed, and then Kalas did the same. The king quickly dismissed Savrion, who stepped to the side, pulling Josain with him.

The king studied his son for a long time, and the gathered crowd held their breath. Finally, he grinned, exposing his pointed incisors and canine teeth.

“Welcome home, my son,” he said, wrapping Kalas in a tight embrace.

I remained in my curtsy position on the ground as the king hugged his son and then gently passed Kalas over to his mother, who embraced him too.

As Kalas and his mother reunited, the king’s gaze fell on me, and a small smile covered his lips.

“You are even more beautiful than the vision from Korvarith Thalun showed,” he said, extending his hand to me. “Please rise, Madelyne of Earth, and welcome to Kralis.”

I carefully took the king’s hand, and as best as I could while holding it, rose to a standing position. He held me at arm’s distance for a moment, studying me closely, and I took the same opportunity to take in all his features.

Up close, I noticed even more subtle differences between Kalas and his father. While both dark-haired, Kalas’s features were much more delicate. Not quite feminine, but certainly less masculine than his father. Kalas had an androgynous feel to him, and with both male and female Kralians being much taller than the average human, I imagined he’d be able to present as either masculine or feminine if he wished.

I wondered what the king thought of me as his deep purple eyes met my emerald ones. Was he reminded of his own ancestor who had also been a red-haired witch?

Finally, a grin covered the king’s face, and he pulled me into a tight embrace. As his arms wrapped around me, those gathered outside the Obsidian Palace erupted into cheers.

The king held me tightly against him for a moment, and I could feel his slow and steady heartbeat before he released me and gently passed me over to his wife. 

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Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again for tomorrow’s post.

Until then,

Take Care & Stay Creative!

T.T.F.N.