{"id":250,"date":"2020-01-24T16:20:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T16:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/?page_id=250"},"modified":"2020-01-24T20:30:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T20:30:37","slug":"after-the-song","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/after-the-song\/","title":{"rendered":"After The Song"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/a>Book 4 of Sons of Destiny<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts from…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: These thoughts contain spoilers if you have not already read “The Song.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t
\n\tSaber<\/a> & Kelly<\/a><\/td>\n\tWolfer<\/a> & Alys<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\n\tDominor<\/a> & Serina<\/a><\/td>\n\tEvanor<\/a> & Mariel<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\n\tTrevan<\/a><\/td>\n\tRydan<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\n\tKoranen<\/a><\/td>\n\tMorganen<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\n\t<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Saber:<\/strong>  He knew Kelly was smart\u2014he definitely feels pride in his wife\u2014but that stunt she pulled when the Council came to the island left him ambivalent. It was clever of her to hedge all those conditions on Duke Finneg\u2019s challenge so that she had a chance of winning. And the fact that she successfully backed down the most powerful mages in Katan with logic and sheer, magicless force of will\u2014how could he not be proud of her? But if she ever throws herself into danger like that again, he\u2019s tying her to their bed! Hmm…that might be fun even if she doesn\u2019t… Unfortunately, they have only a year and a day to raise an entire kingdom on the Isle, or suffer the wrath of an embarrassed empire. They\u2019ll have to save the fun for later; right now, he and his wife need to organize their growing family into something that can build a successful new nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Kelly<\/strong>: Note to self, either learn swordwork, or stay out of physical fights. There are times when she doubts her ability to pull off this \u2018queen\u2019 thing\u2026but they\u2019re all committed, now. If they don\u2019t pull it off, Katan will invade, and likely kill everyone. That\u2019s a very big responsibility, with a good chunk of its weight resting squarely on her. She was the one who declared herself a queen, so it\u2019s up to her to take responsibility for that claim. Thankfully, she has Saber with her, and the rest of their growing family to help shoulder the load. Doyles don\u2019t hesitate to roll up their sleeves, after all…and it looks like her Nightfall family is turning out to be the same way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Wolfer:<\/strong> Incipient kingdom?  Wonderful.  Importing settlers is all well and good, but someone is going to have to figure out how to feed the newcomers.  That means clearing more land for pastures and farms, reclaiming the old orchards, and resurrecting the old harbor city.  For years before their exile, Wolfer knew he\u2019d likely wind up as his brother\u2019s castellan, helping to manage the Corvis estate.  Nightfall is a bit bigger, and a lot less established, but it\u2019s a task he knows he can help with.  Let his twin concern himself with bringing in the people; Wolfer will see that they\u2019re fed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Alys:<\/strong>  Thank the Gods her cousin is dead!  With Barol gone, the spells shackling her to her late uncle\u2019s accursed spells have dissolved, along with the implanted amulet shielding her from them.  For the first time since her parent\u2019s unexpected death, Alys feels free to truly live!  Yes, there are the worries of creating a kingdom lying in wait for them, and she has no idea who or what they\u2019ll find for a Patron Deity, but those are merely challenges, not a looming spectre of evil shadowing all the happiness in her life.  The sun is shining brightly, the afternoon is balmy\u2026and she still has The Citizen Chickens to feed.  Ah, well, nothing\u2019s ever completely perfect; if it were, life would be boring… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Dominor:<\/strong> Kelly still hasn\u2019t shown him how to make others \u201ceat dirt\u201d…but the sight of her pinning a Councilor of Katan to the floor\u2014in front of most of the people who chose to reject him from attaining a place among them\u2014was something he will never regret witnessing. The Council will never, ever allow him to join their numbers, but that old ambition has been supplanted by an even greater one, helping his brothers and sisters-in-law raise an entire new kingdom. He won\u2019t just be following the policies laid down over hundreds of years, he\u2019ll be making those policies…in between chasing down his wife to make sure she rests and gets enough to eat. She and their future child come first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Serina:<\/strong>  Pregnancy stinks. The child itself isn\u2019t the problem, nor is her attempt at healing the problems plaguing the other continent. No, this whole nausea thing is making it hard for her to concentrate on her formulas, and that is a borderline disaster! Not to mention there is now an official need to formulate some sort of banking system, and import\/export taxes to calculate, and they have a serious lack of actual, hands-on cash, so coins will have to be found and reminted, and\u2026ohhh, she shouldn\u2019t have eaten such acidic fruit for breakfast… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Evanor:<\/strong> All fathers feel the urge to lock up their children, it\u2019s perfectly natural\u2026but the good fathers don\u2019t.  Usually.  Instant fatherhood\u2014Ev honestly thought Dom would be the first father among them, and yet here he is, next-father to a nine-year-old.  Not to mention husband to the boy\u2019s mother.  Evanor doesn\u2019t delude himself into thinking that being a husband and a father will be easy\u2014domestic bliss requires constant awareness of the details–but it is worthwhile.  Some of his attention will be caught up in helping his family turn their home into a nation, but he finally has what he has always wanted, a family of his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he has his voice back.  Never again does he want to go without it.  Ev knows he can survive without it, but it had left him as less than himself.  And to have a wife who shares his affinity for music, that was more than he could have asked for.  If he can find the time between being a husband and father, and helping start a new kingdom, he\u2019ll have to get Mariel into his workroom to record duets onto those brass disks in his enchanted music box idea… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Mariel:<\/strong> Well, this island is certainly something.  Threats from outsiders, her wayward child being kidnapped, violence and bloodshed in the heart of her new home\u2026if the people in this family weren\u2019t so nice, she\u2019d be a lot more concerned about her and her son\u2019s safety.  But leaving for a safer land would mean leaving Evanor behind.  Having lost one husband involuntarily, she isn\u2019t about to volunteer to lose another one.

And what a husband he is:  attentive, loving, caring, sensitive to her needs.  Even with Milon, whom she also loved dearly, half of her first husband\u2019s attention was always attuned to the Gods, the rest portioned out between her, their son, and the needs of the nunnery he protected.  True, Evanor has responsibilities in this burgeoning new kingdom\u2014and she respects him all the more for it\u2014but he clearly wants to make her and young Mikor priorities in his life.  She has her own responsibilities as a Healer, true, but family is every bit as important to her, too.  With her late husband\u2019s foreseen promise of a long life ahead of them, Mariel is more than ready to help Evanor make it a happy one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Trevan:<\/strong> YESS!! It\u2019s finally his turn! Any day now, his woman will come to the island, and he\u2019ll be able to court her, and claim her, and finally stop envying his brothers and sisters-in-law for their happiness. Any day… She shouldn\u2019t hesitate to rush, if necessary…he\u2019ll promise to catch his future bride if she fears she might trip\u2026 Anyone? Hellooo…? Any day, now! Seriously, Trev is really, really tired of being alone…! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Rydan:<\/strong>  More people.  On the Isle.  More problems, more expectations, more pressures\u2026more of a need to hide.  Or scream.  Because it looks like each of his brothers is meeting fates in the order they were born.  There is only one more brother, his own twin Trevan, standing between him and his Prophecied fall…and the only thing he reigns over is the most powerful resource they have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Koranen:<\/strong> With four of his brothers married, he knows his turn is coming.  It could always come a little faster, of course…but in the meantime, they have a nation to create.  People to invite for settling, homes to create for their housing…enemies to thwart, just in case any more decide to come visiting.  Lots of work for a Pyromancer, in other words.  Now, if only his newlywedded brothers and sisters-in-law would remember to stop flaunting their good fortune in his forced-abstinence face so much, he\u2019d be able to enjoy his life a little bit more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Morganen: <\/strong> Four down, and four to go.  Of course, his long-distance courtship of Hope is going well\u2014if he ignores the teasing from his brothers\u2014and it looks like it won\u2019t be long before he\u2019ll be dealing with Trevan\u2019s incoming bride, now that Evanor is settled.  Rydan will be the tricky one, of course, being so prickly and reclusive.  But the Gods prodded Their Seer into foreseeing it happening, so at least Morg knows it will happen, if not entirely how it will happen just yet.  Then Koranen\u2019s bride will need to be found, his twin\u2019s happiness secured.  After that, it\u2019ll be his turn.  Yes, this was the halfway point of completing Seer Draganna\u2019s last Prophecy.  The part about Nightfall becoming an independent kingdom was unexpected, of course, but Draganna\u2019s prediction isn\u2019t the only one affecting his family.  So this is the halfway point in his vigil over his family; a small breather, a chance to rest and regroup, then he\u2019ll start playing Matchmaker once again… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the top.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book 4 of Sons of Destiny Thoughts from… Note: These thoughts contain spoilers if you have not already read “The Song.” Saber & Kelly WolferRead More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-250","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/250\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanjohnson.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}