Annabelle Updates for Many Weeks
Chapter Two (originally Chapter One before I realised I'd mucked my own timeline up): Of James and How He Turned to Piracy is complete. Finally.
I finished it on Sunday at work. I've been dabbling in what will now be the first chapter of the book since then.
~9,800 words. So less than the Prologue, thankfully. In which James takes forever to leave the castle and when he does decides to tell me all about his travelling mates as opposed to actually getting to where he needs to be. So much for my brilliant concept of the written version of an Indiana Jones travelling montage.
And then Sir Marion, James' cousin, decided to railroad the chapter. I'm not complaining, turns out Marion is a lot of fun to write, but it was a little unexpected.
I also ended up not going everywhere I intended to - not with the chapter lengthening so much - so I decided that the information can be used as exposition to fill in the gaps in the chapter in which we meet James again. I think it'll work well to pass the time until a certain character shows up and changes everything for him. *taps nose*
So now onwards to Ross. Ross is a different sort of Prince to James. He is thrust into the role of the 'Prince Charming' in this story by default and it is not a role that he wants. That's never how he's thought of himself. So he is taking the role of the reluctant hero in Annabelle's story. I'm rather fond of Ross, to be perfectly honest, there's something in his world-weary travels and repetition that his name is not Prince Charming that I love.
He also visits the Grimm Belt, though not in this chapter. One of my favourite parts of Faerona.
And now an extract of James' chapter, I feel.
In which James and Marion go for a ride:
“I'm not sure I like this plan,” James said, clutching at Marion's sides.
“Nonsense,” Marion said, shaking his head, “Thunder's strong enough for two. All you need to do is hold on tight”
“You called your horse Thunder?” James felt the laughter bubbling up despite his precarious position.
“Don't laugh,” Marion said as he shifted in the saddle, “I named him when I was ten”
“But Thunder? Really?” James chuckled and Marion huffed out an irritated breath.
“You can walk to Wythernmouth if you like,” Marion groused and James sobered.
“'Course not,” he said quickly, “Thunder's a perfectly good name for a horse”
They rode uncomfortably along faded and buried paths as they skirted the edges of the Blackwood. James was thankful to be passing it during the day, it was a moody sort of wood; gnarled and twisted oaks and chestnuts crept about the edges, sometimes intersected by stands of hawthorns. Everything was entwined with a black looking ivy that was reaching into the surrounding fields yard by yard. It sent a shiver down James spine just to look at it.
“It's a grim looking place, isn't it?” Marion asked quietly, “How do you feel about a canter?”
“I'm not against it,” James said, trying not to sound as spooked as he felt.
Thunder had an easy distance eating gait and although James felt that his perch on the back of Marion's saddle wasn't exactly secure he began to enjoy himself. He felt some of the tension ebb from his body, content that he wasn't being pursued and confident, then, that he made good his escape. He could understand, now, why Annabelle rode every morning and thought that maybe if he'd started joining her his patience might not have worn thin so fast.
They made camp for the night at the point where the Blackwood began to merge with the scrubby fields that surrounded Wythernmouth, distant farmsteads the first proof of civilisation in over half a day. Here the Blackwood had been tamed to an extent and a great hedge of Bewitched Blackberry kept the black ivy from encroaching onto the farmer's lands. Marion assured him that they were less than a day's ride from Wythernmouth and that if they made good time it was possible that he might even make the evening tide.
James took first watch, the sudden excitement that built in him at Marion's words proving too difficult to sleep on. In his mind's eye he was already in Scholar's Reef; striding into whatever tavern Captain Dashing preferred, impressing him with his swordplay. And then; upon the open waves, braced on the Albatross' oaken decks or climbing through her majestic rigging, trimming her crisp white sails or peering over the rail and watching her enchanted hull reflect the ocean. Outsmarting a blockade or running circles around a Royal first-rate or even outrunning Goodfellow's Heart of Oak, swiftest frigate on the Fathom Sea! Deeds of great daring and exceptional courage and the occasional pause for swooning women. Yes, it truly was a pirate's life for James.
James leant back against his pack and folded his hands behind his head, watching the stars dance above him. Freedom awaited him on those sapphire seas under the diamond studded skies - all he had to do was reach out and take it.
Enjoy!
*goes back to work*
I finished it on Sunday at work. I've been dabbling in what will now be the first chapter of the book since then.
~9,800 words. So less than the Prologue, thankfully. In which James takes forever to leave the castle and when he does decides to tell me all about his travelling mates as opposed to actually getting to where he needs to be. So much for my brilliant concept of the written version of an Indiana Jones travelling montage.
And then Sir Marion, James' cousin, decided to railroad the chapter. I'm not complaining, turns out Marion is a lot of fun to write, but it was a little unexpected.
I also ended up not going everywhere I intended to - not with the chapter lengthening so much - so I decided that the information can be used as exposition to fill in the gaps in the chapter in which we meet James again. I think it'll work well to pass the time until a certain character shows up and changes everything for him. *taps nose*
So now onwards to Ross. Ross is a different sort of Prince to James. He is thrust into the role of the 'Prince Charming' in this story by default and it is not a role that he wants. That's never how he's thought of himself. So he is taking the role of the reluctant hero in Annabelle's story. I'm rather fond of Ross, to be perfectly honest, there's something in his world-weary travels and repetition that his name is not Prince Charming that I love.
He also visits the Grimm Belt, though not in this chapter. One of my favourite parts of Faerona.
And now an extract of James' chapter, I feel.
In which James and Marion go for a ride:
“I'm not sure I like this plan,” James said, clutching at Marion's sides.
“Nonsense,” Marion said, shaking his head, “Thunder's strong enough for two. All you need to do is hold on tight”
“You called your horse Thunder?” James felt the laughter bubbling up despite his precarious position.
“Don't laugh,” Marion said as he shifted in the saddle, “I named him when I was ten”
“But Thunder? Really?” James chuckled and Marion huffed out an irritated breath.
“You can walk to Wythernmouth if you like,” Marion groused and James sobered.
“'Course not,” he said quickly, “Thunder's a perfectly good name for a horse”
They rode uncomfortably along faded and buried paths as they skirted the edges of the Blackwood. James was thankful to be passing it during the day, it was a moody sort of wood; gnarled and twisted oaks and chestnuts crept about the edges, sometimes intersected by stands of hawthorns. Everything was entwined with a black looking ivy that was reaching into the surrounding fields yard by yard. It sent a shiver down James spine just to look at it.
“It's a grim looking place, isn't it?” Marion asked quietly, “How do you feel about a canter?”
“I'm not against it,” James said, trying not to sound as spooked as he felt.
Thunder had an easy distance eating gait and although James felt that his perch on the back of Marion's saddle wasn't exactly secure he began to enjoy himself. He felt some of the tension ebb from his body, content that he wasn't being pursued and confident, then, that he made good his escape. He could understand, now, why Annabelle rode every morning and thought that maybe if he'd started joining her his patience might not have worn thin so fast.
They made camp for the night at the point where the Blackwood began to merge with the scrubby fields that surrounded Wythernmouth, distant farmsteads the first proof of civilisation in over half a day. Here the Blackwood had been tamed to an extent and a great hedge of Bewitched Blackberry kept the black ivy from encroaching onto the farmer's lands. Marion assured him that they were less than a day's ride from Wythernmouth and that if they made good time it was possible that he might even make the evening tide.
James took first watch, the sudden excitement that built in him at Marion's words proving too difficult to sleep on. In his mind's eye he was already in Scholar's Reef; striding into whatever tavern Captain Dashing preferred, impressing him with his swordplay. And then; upon the open waves, braced on the Albatross' oaken decks or climbing through her majestic rigging, trimming her crisp white sails or peering over the rail and watching her enchanted hull reflect the ocean. Outsmarting a blockade or running circles around a Royal first-rate or even outrunning Goodfellow's Heart of Oak, swiftest frigate on the Fathom Sea! Deeds of great daring and exceptional courage and the occasional pause for swooning women. Yes, it truly was a pirate's life for James.
James leant back against his pack and folded his hands behind his head, watching the stars dance above him. Freedom awaited him on those sapphire seas under the diamond studded skies - all he had to do was reach out and take it.
Enjoy!
*goes back to work*