For millennia, they fought side by side and loved with equal passion.
How does a lonely king rekindle a lost love?
Ring of the Dragon
In 2020 when I began writing Ring of the Dragon, one of my editors suggested a song that she said might help me pin down the emotions Pietas was experiencing in this book. A bit of music to light the path and help me feel what he was feeling.
How true that turned out to be.
Upon hearing the first notes of Lewis Capaldi's "Grace" I knew I had found the theme song for Ring of the Dragon. It's poignant. Powerful. Heartbreaking. Beautiful.
Words poured out so fast I could barely keep up. I woke up before dawn with ideas and couldn't get out of bed fast enough. I sometimes wrote until I was falling asleep with my hands on the keyboard.
It was an incredible experience.
Writing Pietas is always about extremes. Laughter and agony. Passion and ennui. Success or disaster. There is no middle ground for the immortal king. All his life it's been all or nothing.
And nothing could underscore that more clearly than his relationship with Cyken, aka Luc Saint-Cyr.
In the excerpt below, you'll see them face off over Luc having fallen out of love with Pietas and *in* love with Izzorah. One of the psychic gifts that empowers Pietas is the ability to create ice and cold. If -- when -- he loses patience or finds himself insulted, room temperature plummets.
Cyken stood and crossed to him. "I aligned with Izzorah because you, his rightful king, would not. When he passes this test, and he will, he'll be one of your people. So if anyone is guilty of betrayal, it's not me." Cyken folded his arms across his massive chest. "It's you."
Rage crackled ice through Pietas's veins.
"I see you're up to your old tricks." Cyken drew a circle in the fog his breath produced. "Planning to freeze me solid again? Or only enough to sting this time?"
Trembling with effort, Pietas restrained the anger erupting into ice. "I demand an apology."
"Ah, now, there's the Pietas I remember." Cyken brushed at frost on a sleeve. "No."
He reeled back. "What did you say to me?"
"I said, 'no,'" Cyken repeated, as if explaining some household rule to a petulant child. "Get used to hearing it."
Words froze on his tongue. How presumptuous. Pietas released a shuddering breath. "Izzorah has turned you against me."
"No. He hasn't. You want to kill Izzorah because you blame him for me leaving you. Get this through your head." Cyken took one step forward.
Pietas took one back.
"I didn't leave you because of Izzorah. I left you because of you."
Lewis Capaldi - Grace
Antonello Brothers: Immortal - Because Romance Lives Forever
Click covers for the buy link. Click text for the website page and excerpts.
#SciFi #WriteLGBTQ #Romance
You'll find these characters mentioned in many books in my story universe.
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