Preparing for Battle (Iana's Story #34)

Previously. Iana's story continues. . .

#34 Preparing

Ten days was not much time. Everyday felt shorter than the next, yet it seemed like those ten days stretched on forever. If not for Olwen we would not have been ready. He was remarkable. No wonder the castle hadn't completely collapsed, what with Mother's firm meticulous control and Olwen capable of filling any role and finishing any task no matter how impossible. He juggled more than a juggler. 

#33 Iana's Story (A Recap Episode)

You might have noticed that I took the summer off, staring in May actually. Now that the end of August is almost here, back to school thoughts roam around my head and its back to the usual.

Not that I'm giving up summer completely. I'm planning one last camping trip this weekend. Hurrah! 

I must also confess, I've been somewhat fighting with Iana's story, and what happens next. Finally its out here, after months of wondering and worrying does this work? It feels so permanent to post it here for you to read. Well, I'll fix it later if I have to. The next scene will come sooner, tomorrow actually, since this one is mostly recap of what's happened. You'd forgotten the story, admit it you need a recap of what's happened.


#33 Iana's Story
We would fight. We must fight. There was no other choice. Giving up, or giving in like my sister Joli was the same as death to me. I refused to do something so stupid, and I had no intention of letting Joli throw her life away. Not even for love.

I told Olwen everything. We stood in a small alcove away from the rooms where I told him what I knew, from the very beginning, from the time I spent in Catha, our life there, until the moment I received Mother's letter demanding our return. If only my last desperate attempts to remain in Catha with Lady Amelia Hildegale had worked! 

#32 of Iana's Story: Troublesome and Strange

I've put up Letter Ten, even though you can't really comment on it Terrwyn. I still wanted to put it up. I couldn't resist. We've revised 42% of the story. Almost halfway, perhaps I should get on with the letter Eleven, then we'd be at halfway. 

In the meantime, I had this already written and I'm finally posting it. After a troublesome argument with her sister, Iana's troubles continues.

#32  Troublesome and Strange
My room was too cold to consider sleeping in it, not unless I covered the window again. I wasn't going to tackle that task on my own. 

The wind howled through the glassless, gaping hole. The night sky was black as a cave, no moon or stars visible out there. I wrapped an extra wool shawl around my shoulders and hurried out into the hall, only to run straight into Olwen. He caught me with one arm. In his other he held a short candle. He wore an alarmed look on his face, and concern in his warm eyes. "I heard a loud crash and then shouting. Are you hurt, your highness?"

He must have been standing in the hall for sometime. How much shouting did he hear? It was dark enough now at least the shadows could hide my blushing. Was it Olwen? I wondered. Olwen and Joli? The thought was just too silly, I dismissed it immediately. "No, I'm fine. A little bruised maybe, but it's no more than I deserve," I told him.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Princess?" he asked. 

Bravely Broken #31 Iana

Iana and Joli. Joli comes from the french word for pretty. Iana is from . . . actually I have no idea. I think I just made it up. The confrontation between the sisters continues below. How easily we say things - or shout things - we don't mean to our family.

Bravely Broken

I waved to Joli from the window, tipping backwards unsteadily. She hauled me inside, dragging me roughly off the sill and down I crashed to the floor. My landing was not elegant, and I would certainly have bruises tomorrow.

"Didn't you hear me knocking earlier?" I asked.

Her face turned from pale to a livid purple, as it does when she is angry or embarrassed.

"Since you weren't answering," I complained. "I had to come around from the outside."

"That's no excuse."

"Sorry, I wanted to talk."

Ten Winners - the goofy, gleeful and goosey

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Last year, I started out with this idea of presenting various books, movies, characters, songs, TV shows, anything or anyone that had a wonderful element of goof. Only the silliest, funniest and ridiculous could be chosen for a Gooseyness award.

Last Years winners were predominately from books. No surprise there, I read more books than I watch movies. We had Victorian space epics, princesses with gravity problems, or hair problems, a group of  friends with weird hobbies -  the jellyfish obsessed kind - and a girl named September.

I'm starting to better understand what qualifies for a gooseyness award. I made a shelf of books that include some of the winners from last year, and as I was adding books I found other ones that I want to share with you.

Sisters, Iana's Story #30

I try to keep these posts short, under 1000 words; I aim for around 600-800, although sometimes they come out longer. I make all these plans about what will happen next and then the story expands all of a sudden. Gah. My general rule is, whatever the story wants, the story gets. That's why I had to split Roderick's latest adventure into Part1 and Part 2. Chapter 4 of Iana's story ended with a startling declaration by Joli, and now chapter 5 begins right where we left off.  

Sisters

I looked at my sister, noticing her hands clenched tighter than before. "I will go. Iana can stay," she said as if that decided the matter.

"You can't mean that," I declared.

Part 2, from the Travel Journals (Iana's story #29)

From Prince Roderick's Travel Journals


3 days counting, before April, in the year 217 - Evening

There has been an incident. We might be stuck here longer than we thought. I do not quite know when it happened. It occurred sometime after our visit to the village matriarch.

"Grandmother is resting. You'll have to wait Strangers." The matriarch's granddaughter said, but allowed us to come in to wait. She kept her face turned wore a simple veil over her head, so we only saw her left side in profile. I could see only shadows on the right half. She led us to chairs by the hearth and fetched mugs of something warm and strangely spicey. She said Blind Thomas was allowed to stay only if he didn't play with his lute. Blind Thomas soon left, clutching the lute under his arm, saying he'd be at his usual spot by the well, practicing if we needed anything.

The home of the matriarch was the largest I'd seen in the village of Lost Hope, with a covered porch around three sides of it, while inside was a large stone hearth, and two other rooms besides the main room and kitchen. One room was where the matriarch slept. There was a bed also in the main room. It was occupied by a girl who appeared soundly asleep. We kept our voices low, to not disturb her, until the granddaughter told us, "Don't mind her. She'd can't hear us, or even if she does she won't wake up. She has to sleep during the day and is awake only at night."

"A curse?"