One big detail that I love here, one that adds a very genuine feel to the family tension, is how the parents are refusing to listen to Thymia's claims. She knows she's telling the truth, and we know because we've read it, but due to a mixture of past prejudices and what honestly is some pretty logical thinking, even if it is unfair towards Erko, they've convinced themselves that she can't possibly be right. While this is certainly an extreme case, I think it's safe to say most of us have experienced something like that once or twice when we were young, too. Maybe we witnessed it, maybe we were on the receiving end, but the way you handle that here feels very accurate to that experience. It's not malicious by intent, but it feels that way to the child who isn't being listened to, and that comes across well here.
@kathrineElaine, you keep upping the stakes in the story. First, you set up the two to fall in love, then you take away one love and try to marry off the second love. The old king defies the foreverfold and almost gets his town flooded. Now, we find out that the queen is an illegitimate sister of the former high king. The intrigue is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
Yeah, the thing is High King Damian and his illegitimate sister were major players in my previous book, the one I wrote before this Lake trilogy - yes, the one that exists only in my native language, and the one I don’t have the strength to translate to English. That’s why she made sense to me at the time I wrote this. The whole court of Hebeny and also Crane knew High King Damian very well. He was indeed a monster. That’s why Erko had such a hard time, with his likeness to Damian. I probably should’ve created more of a set-up for the illegitimate sister in this book.
Well that escalated quickly!
One big detail that I love here, one that adds a very genuine feel to the family tension, is how the parents are refusing to listen to Thymia's claims. She knows she's telling the truth, and we know because we've read it, but due to a mixture of past prejudices and what honestly is some pretty logical thinking, even if it is unfair towards Erko, they've convinced themselves that she can't possibly be right. While this is certainly an extreme case, I think it's safe to say most of us have experienced something like that once or twice when we were young, too. Maybe we witnessed it, maybe we were on the receiving end, but the way you handle that here feels very accurate to that experience. It's not malicious by intent, but it feels that way to the child who isn't being listened to, and that comes across well here.
The women are taking over, all will be well! 😁
@kathrineElaine, you keep upping the stakes in the story. First, you set up the two to fall in love, then you take away one love and try to marry off the second love. The old king defies the foreverfold and almost gets his town flooded. Now, we find out that the queen is an illegitimate sister of the former high king. The intrigue is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
Yeah, the thing is High King Damian and his illegitimate sister were major players in my previous book, the one I wrote before this Lake trilogy - yes, the one that exists only in my native language, and the one I don’t have the strength to translate to English. That’s why she made sense to me at the time I wrote this. The whole court of Hebeny and also Crane knew High King Damian very well. He was indeed a monster. That’s why Erko had such a hard time, with his likeness to Damian. I probably should’ve created more of a set-up for the illegitimate sister in this book.
Thank you for reading it!🩶