So I LOVE to geek out about my series (as you can probably tell by now). And sometimes readers will ask me if I have any biases, or personal favorite characters/scenes. And the answer is… yes! I do! I love all my characters and scenes—unequally. Today, I want to talk about my personal five favorite pieces of Kings or Pawns content. I am joined by, not by my own choice, Jikun. (This is a rare moment of cooperation from him and I can only assume it was the Mike’s Peach Lemonade that made him at ease.)

Jikun: …You’re the one who drank it, you light weight. That shit doesn’t even count as alcohol.

Kirk Quilaquil is seriously the most amazing landscape artist ever

AHHH. I'm such a fangirl! Yes, Kirk Quilaquil again!

Or more specifically, Tuserine.

Days later, late at night when the elders had retired and the guards on watch had slumbered away at their posts, [Jikun] had crept from the city and travelled once again to that otherworldly breach. He had stood there in that chilling presence, whispering into the dark, conversing with Lithriella as though he and she had formed an inseparable bond at that religious ritual days before. He had whispered his fears of failure, his dreams of glory, his aspirations of success—all the vague things a Darivalian child of his age would clutch deep within himself: the paths of the Darivalian elves were limited. Hunter? Weaponsmith? Miner?—Surely the gods had destined him for something much greater.

And in the midst of his fervent prayers, just for a moment, he had thought he heard a keening sound deep below, a faint echo in that cerulean light. Perhaps that had been what had held his religious fervor for longer than rationality should have allowed.

Ok, so you almost won the next one. I was about to use the description of Jikun (His hair was a blue tinted silver, like the mountains that framed Darival. His skin was a grey-white, like shadows banking the snow. And although he was tall and slender like his Sel’varian brethren, his facial features were stronger and sharper—like a sculpture chiseled from ice.)

[My editor HATES that part. I kept it partially to vex her poor little heart, but mostly because, as I said, I love it.]

No, my favorite quote is actually the last stanza of The Ballad of the Seven.

Jikun: Gods damn it. I knew I couldn’t get through a session without hearing that damn song!

Me:

“With blood they fought the trials south,

And with blood they fought to flee,

’Til silence came from every mouth,

For but spared from death were three.”

I commonly place it as the quote of choice when people request I line/sign/date a book. As I have a rough draft of Legend of Eraydon completed (and thus, have come to know the characters extremely well), it evokes such emotions when those last words are uttered “for but spared from death were three” that I get a chill down my spine.

I am such a dork, I know.

It pains me to admit this… but it’s Jikun.

I guess I find his cynicism and caution and grounded personality refreshing.

Jikun: Oh no. Sounds horrible to admit.

Me: Hey, you were very un-cooperative throughout the writing process and you’re such an ass! I hold your previous comment as evidence.

Probably my favorite artwork from Kirk Quilaquil's personal collection!

I saved this one for last because I can’t decide what my favorite little tidbit is. There are a lot of things dropped “in passing” that hold future potential, but if I must decide, I suppose I’d go with the Farvian Massacre.

Not only does the event contain one of my favorite characters, but it also bears a story that leaves behind a painful and yet beautiful echo. Much of the trials from The Legend of Eraydon can be traced back to the effects the incident had on the world.