Interview with Eleya

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This is an interview with the character Eleya, midwife and physician's assistant in the Alasian palace in my novel In the Enemy's Service.  For an explanation of why I'm interviewing my characters, click here.


As I cross the palace courtyard toward the clinic, Eleya meets me at the front door.  “Come in, come in.  It’s freezing out there!”  A light whirl of snowflakes follows me through the door as she hurriedly shuts it behind me.  “Come on upstairs to the sitting room.  We can talk there without being interrupted.” 

I follow her through the front room, where I interviewed Tonnis not long ago.  There are no patients waiting on the benches at the moment, but I pause to stare at the splintered remains of what used to be a desk piled against one wall.

“Talifus,” Eleya explains, noting the direction of my gaze.  “He came in here in a bad mood yesterday and took it out on the furniture and then on Anya.  Luckily, she’s all right now.  This was Dal’s desk, though; I don’t know what he’ll say when he sees what happened.  If he ever does.”

She leads the way through another doorway into a back room, where I see a fireplace, cupboards, and an examining table under two hanging lamps.  Down a hallway beyond are three closed doors and one open one, through which I hear voices. 

“Tonnis and Anya are in there with our patient Wennish,” Eleya explains.  “But we’re going up here.”  She starts up a steep stairway to one side.  At the top she turns right into a small sitting room containing a small sofa and two armchairs on a rug before another fireplace.

“Sorry about the mess,” Eleya apologizes, pushing aside a rumpled pile of bedding on the sofa.  “This is where Anya sleeps now.  You’re the first company we’ve had up here since the Invasion.”

I settle myself on one of the armchairs and pull out my list of questions.  “Don’t worry about it.”

1. Do you like your job?  Why or why not?

“Most of the time I do.  I enjoy helping my husband Tonnis and our friend Dal in the clinic.  The job I’m really trained for, which I don’t get to do as often, is midwife; I love helping to bring children into the world.  Lately, though, most of what Tonnis and I have been doing is just helping the Malornians.”  She sighs.  “They killed hundreds of our people, and here we are helping heal their injuries and keep them healthy so they can mistreat more of us any time they like.”  She shakes her head hopelessly.  “But after all the threats they’ve made, what else can we do?”

2. Do you have any friends?  Significant others?

“Not as many friends as I used to have.  A lot of them were our coworkers here at the palace, and most of those are buried out back now.”  She pauses to fish out a handkerchief and blow her nose.  “But of course Tonnis is still here.  I don’t know what I’d do without him.  And young Anya lives with us now; she’s become almost like family in the last couple weeks.  I’ve enjoyed teaching her to do simple tasks around the clinic; to knit – it’s almost like having a daughter.”  Eleya smiles fondly.

3. What is your idea of success?

“Helping sick or injured people recover.  Helping a mother bring a healthy baby into the world.”

4. What do you hate?

“People who hurt others on purpose.”

5. What do you do in your spare time?

“I like to knit, especially with Anya.  In the evenings or when the soldiers aren’t keeping an eye on us, sometimes we’ll all sit and knit and talk down in Wennish’s room.  In the past, sometimes Tonnis and I would read together up here, but I doubt we’d be allowed to take books from the palace library now.”

6. What did you have for breakfast?

“Bread with butter and jam, a couple slices of pear, and spiced tea.”

7. Did you ever have a pet?  Describe it.

Eleya smiles.  “I love cats.  While I was growing up, my sisters and I always had at least one.  But I haven’t had a pet since I’ve been married.  Unfortunately, Tonnis doesn’t care much for cats, and besides, it wouldn’t work well to keep one here, where we live above the clinic.” 

8. Do you believe in luck? Why?

She considers this.  “No, I don’t think so.  I believe in good and evil.  When people do evil things, like the Malornians have done here, some might call it bad luck, but I think that takes the blame off those who deserve it.  What we call good luck usually comes through people’s hard work and perseverance.”   

9. What is your favorite scent? Why?

“Warm peach pie, maybe.  I used to make it a lot, before we moved here.”  She chuckles.  “I haven’t done much cooking in years – being able to eat three meals a day in the palace dining hall, Tonnis and I are spoiled – but now and then on my day off I’ll go to one of my sisters’ or cousins’ houses and cook with them.  Peach pie is still my specialty.”

10. What is the strangest thing you have ever seen?

Eleya thinks this over.  “Once I saw four children riding a donkey down one of the main streets here in Almar.  That wouldn’t be so unusual, except that it was during a heavy rainstorm, and the poor things were doing all they could to keep from getting wet.  They’d gotten ahold of a wooden board, and the last girl was holding the back edge of it, trying to balance it over all their heads with one hand while holding on to her brother’s waist with the other.  The little boy in the front had both his hands in the air to support the board, which stuck out past him and sheltered most of the donkey’s head, too.  It was the girl behind him who was reaching around him to hold the reins.  But the board was nearly as wide as it was long, so other people on the street kept having to dodge or they’d be hit by one edge or the other.”  She stops to chuckle.  “The funniest part was, three of the children didn’t even seem to realize they were doing anything odd.  They were singing some song about the joys of rain and springtime at the top of their little lungs, and in three different keys, I might add.  Only the oldest boy looked embarrassed, like he wished he could disappear right off of that poor donkey’s back.”  She shakes her head, still chuckling.  “Children are so much fun.  Just thinking of it makes me miss my nieces and nephews.”

11. What is the most frightening thing that has ever happened to you?

Eleya’s smile fades, and abruptly her mood turns serious.  “There’ve been a lot of frightening things since the Malornians came.  The night of the Invasion was bad enough, but yesterday... yesterday eight people –”  Her voice breaks, and she pulls out her handkerchief once more to dab at her eyes and blow her nose.  “They were our friends, and most of them – well, half of them – hadn’t even done anything.  I’ll never forget the look on Talifus’s face as he –” She breaks off again, shuddering, and I wait awkwardly while she buries her face in her handkerchief, her shoulders heaving silently.  “It’s awful,” she whispers finally.  “Just awful.  We don’t know when they’re going to stop, who’s going to be next.  The only thing left to hope is that Prince Jaymin is still safe and that he has some sort of plan.  Otherwise, I’m afraid things are only going to get worse.”





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An Interview with Karro (Anya's Father)

This is an interview with the merchant Karro, father of the ten-year-old protagonist in my novel In the Enemy's Service.  For an explanation of why I'm interviewing my characters, take a look at my interview with his daughter Anya.


Glancing at my directions to double check the address, I knock on the front door of the house I’ve been directed to.  It’s a two-story brick building in a middle-class neighborhood in Sazellia, the capital of Malorn. 

At the sound of my knock, the shutters on the front window open a crack as though someone is peeking out.  A moment later there is the sound of a bolt being drawn back, and then the front door opens and Karro stands there, smiling nervously.

“Come in, come in.  Sorry for the delay; I had to be certain who was out there.”  He ushers me in and gestures toward a sofa in the comfortably furnished sitting room.  A fire crackles in the fireplace nearby, and a lamp hangs from the ceiling, but with all the shutters closed, the room is still dim.  “Please, make yourself at home,” Karro urges.  “My son is out at the moment with my brother and his family, so we won’t be interrupted.  Can I get you anything to drink?”

I decline his offer and pull out my notes as he seats himself in an armchair across from me.

1. Do you like your job?  Why or why not?

“Oh, yes.  I wouldn’t want to be anything but a merchant.  I love to travel, and I enjoy making new contacts, striking bargains, picking out the best goods and planning the best places to sell them.  I’ve been training my son Arvalon, who’s nearly ready to join me in the business, and it makes me so proud to see him learning and enjoying it too.”

2. Do you have any friends?  Significant others?

A shadow seems to pass over his face.  “My wife passed away ten years ago.  But my son and daughter are the joy of my life, and we have a large extended family here in Sazellia.  With my business, it’s been easy to make friends almost everywhere.  In fact, I’d say I have friends in a dozen different towns back in Alasia, and nearly as many in Malorn.”

3. What is your idea of success?

Karro smiles.  “Striking a good bargain.  Buying a cartload of goods from someone who’s glad to get it off his hands for that price, then finding just the right people to sell it to somewhere else for just enough profit to make it worth it, while they consider it an amazing bargain and can’t wait to do business with me again.”

4. What do you hate?

He considers this.  “Being cheated into buying damaged or low quality goods, though that doesn’t happen often.  Heavy rain when I’m out on the open road.  Being talked back to by one of my children or nieces or nephews.”

5. What do you do in your spare time?

“I’ve tried to spend as much time as possible with Arvalon and Anya since they lost their mother.  I try to do some of the things she used to do - plan picnics, take them fishing or out to play on the beach in summer or in the snow in winter.  In the evenings the three of us often cook dinner together, and sometimes I’ll read aloud to them afterwards.”  He chuckles ruefully.  “Arvalon thinks he’s getting too old for such things, and I suppose in a way he is, but Anya still enjoys it.  Sometimes I’ll pull one or both of them out of school for a few days if I need a hand on one of my longer business trips.  I really think the life experience and time with their father will do them more good in the long run than sitting in a classroom.”  He sighs.  “I’m glad I brought Arvalon along this time, but I would have brought Anya too if I’d known what was going to happen.  Our family has never been separated for this long before, and I’m not sure how long it will be before we’re together again.”  His expression is worried.

6. What did you have for breakfast? 
 

“Molian sweetbread and a cup of coffee.”

7. Did you ever have a pet?  Describe it.

“I have two horses, if you can call them pets.  They’re work animals.  My wife liked cats, so we had a few back when she was alive, before Anya was born.  When I was a boy, I kept turtles.”

8. Do you believe in luck? Why?

He hesitates, and I see that his expression has grown uncomfortable.  “I don’t know.  I suppose so.  I mean, I would probably have said no if you’d asked me a year ago, but….”  His voice trails off.  I wait expectantly, and finally, reluctantly, he goes on.  “A few months ago I had what I can only describe as a run of very bad luck in my business.  You know, deals turning sour, customers cancelling orders for no reason I could understand.  Finances got tight, and I was worried.  I couldn’t figure out why everything was going wrong all at once.  I had to make some difficult decisions.”  He fidgets, running his fingers idly along the arm of his chair, and as I watch him, he won’t meet my gaze.  “So, do you have any more questions, or was that all?”

Wondering what it is he isn’t comfortable talking about, I turn back to my list.

9. What is your favorite scent? Why?

Karro seems relieved to be on a safer topic.  “The tang of salt air, perhaps.  I spent most of my childhood here in Malorn where my father is from.  As you may know, Malorn only has a few miles of coastline before the mountains get in the way, and what there is is mostly rocky.  The water is all swampy and silty around the Grenn Delta, so it isn’t exactly an ideal place to enjoy a day at the beach.  But every now and then we’d travel to Alasia to visit my mother’s parents, and they lived close to a beautiful beach, perfect for sandcastles and swimming and all sorts of fun.  Sometimes we’d see dolphins out in the surf, or seals sunning themselves.  That beach was one of the reasons I chose to move to Almar almost as soon as I was grown.”

10. What is the strangest thing you have ever seen?

Karro thinks this over for a while.  “I’ve seen a lot of interesting things in my travels, but strange?”  Then he chuckles.  “Ah, I know.  A few years back I was crossing the Grenn River on the ferry, heading back home to Alasia with a cartload of Malornian coffee.  It’s always a little frightening, standing by the horses on that big flat raft, hoping they don’t spook and capsize the whole thing, while the ferrymen pull you across on their pulley system.  I always try not to look down at the water so close to my feet, but this one time, my attention was caught by a glimpse of something moving.  You may not believe this, but it was a shark - a huge one, too; the biggest I’ve ever seen.  Its dorsal fin cut through the water not three feet away, and the water was so clear I could see its whole body.  It was longer than my cart; longer than the whole raft.  I suppose it was lost, maybe disoriented in the fresh water, trying to find its way back down to the ocean.  Don’t ask me how it managed to get thirty miles upstream from the coast.”  He shakes his head in wonder.  “I think about it every now and then, wonder if it ever did make it home.”

11. What is the most frightening thing that has ever happened to you?

Immediately, Karro grows uncomfortable once again.  His gaze shifts to the floor, the fireplace, the tightly shuttered windows, but he doesn’t look at me.  Finally he licks his lips and starts to speak, pauses, starts again, and stops.  I wait, and finally he tries again.

“I’m sure you know about what happened two weeks ago.  The Malornian army invaded Alasia; rumor has it they’ve killed the royal family and wiped out the Alasian army.  It’s very disturbing, especially since my daughter is over there right now.  She’s staying with my neighbors, who’ve always taken good care of her and Arvalon when I’ve been gone.  But still, I’m worried about her.”  He pauses, and I can tell he’s struggling between the need to get something off his chest and reluctance to speak about it. 

“The thing is, I’m afraid I may be partly to blame for -” he begins, then breaks off abruptly.  Rising to his feet, he begins pacing the room, chewing on his lower lip in distraction.  “I didn’t mean any harm, but -”  He breaks off again, pausing at one of the windows to pull the shutter open just far enough to peer out.  “Anyway, as long as I stay in Malorn, what’s the worst that can happen?  Nothing, of course.  No one’s allowed across the border at the moment, so I know I’m safe.  It’s just that -”  He glances at the door.  “I just have this awful feeling that someone’s going to - but of course that’s silly.  Not with the Malornians in charge over there, and the Alasian government nonexistent now.”  He sighs.  “I love Alasia.  It’s my home, or it was.  I love Malorn too, but I don’t know what possessed Prince Korram to attack a peaceful kingdom the way he did.  And I don’t know what’s going to become of Alasia now, but in the unlikely event that the kingdom ever struggles back to its feet and somehow throws off Malornian control, I don’t think I can ever go back.”  His voice catches for a moment, and he turns away. 

“I don’t dare,” he whispers finally, desperation in his voice.  “But I’ll be safe as long as I stay on this side of the river, right?  Even in peace time, the Alasian authorities would never -”  He breaks off once more, shaking his head with a sigh.  “I’ve got to send for Anya as soon as they start letting people across again,” he tells me finally.  “There’s no future for us in Alasia anymore.”




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Interview with a Traitor

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This is an interview with the character Talifus, the Alasian traitor who betrayed his kingdom in my novel In the Enemy's Service.  For an explanation of why I'm interviewing my characters, click here.


Lieutenant Talifus has agreed to meet with me in a tavern in the city of Almar, not far from the Alasian royal palace. When I arrive, he is already seated at a table with a tankard of ale, staring morosely into its depths. He barely nods as I sit down across from him.

"Questions, eh? Fine, go ahead. You won’t tell the Malornians anything I tell you?” I assure him I won’t.

1. Do you like your job? Why or why not?

Talifus scowls. “I hate my job. Those stinking Malornians tricked me! Before the Invasion I was a captain; they promised to promote me but instead I got demoted to lieutenant. I have to work under Captain Almanian. I should have been his superior by now.” He sighs angrily. “Not that I liked my job all that much even before. You know, I never really wanted to be on the palace guard. As a boy, I always pictured I’d join the army, where there’s plenty of room for advancement. It only goes up to captain in the palace. What more is there to strive for when you’re already at the top?”

“So why did you join the palace guard in the first place?” I prompt.

“Well, King Jaymin put me on it, and you can’t really say no to the king. Though I see now that I should have. He was nearsighted enough to think he was doing me a favor, I suppose. You see, my father was captain of the guard years ago when his father - Jaymin II - was on the throne. The two of us sort of grew up together here in the palace, but we were never close friends. Our fathers died in battle together when we were both sixteen, and I suppose Jaymin III thought he owed me something. He knew I was a good fighter, so after they crowned him king he gave me a position on the palace guard. I pretended I appreciated it - what else could I do? - and started working my way up the ranks, and here I’ve been ever since. Until the Malornians offered me the chance at something better, and then broke their promises, those filthy stinking liars.”

2. Do you have any friends? Significant others?

“Not anymore. All the Alasians I know hate me, and the Malornians don’t trust me. Nobody respects me anymore.”

3. What is your idea of success?

“Promotion. Power. Wealth. All of which I was supposed to get after I helped them invade.” He glares at me as though it were my fault. “I gave up everything to help the Malornians. Everything! And what did I get in return? Broken promises and demotion.” He slams a fist down on the table. “It’s all Captain Almanian's fault. He's ruined my life.”

4. What do you hate?

“Those filthy Malornians, of course. Almanian, especially. Someday I’m going to make sure he gets what he deserves for what he did to me.” Talifus takes a swallow from his cup and thumps it angrily back down on the table, ale sloshing over his fingers.

5. What do you do in your spare time?

“Try to plan ways to get even with them. And drink.” Talifus wipes his hand on his breeches, still scowling. “It’s their fault I started drinking. I hardly touched a drop until the day that messenger approached me with Regent Rampus’s offer and I began planning how to help them invade. Now I can’t seem to stay away from the bottle. I never used to be like this. Well, not as much.”

6. What did you have for breakfast?

“I didn’t have breakfast today. My stomach was acting up after last night’s wine. I’ve still got a headache.” He mutters something under his breath about “that cursed Almanian”.

7. Did you ever have a pet? Describe it.

“No. I don’t like animals.”

8. Do you believe in luck? Why?

“Yes. I’ve had nothing but bad luck for weeks now.”

9. What is your favorite scent? Why?

This makes him pause. “I don’t know. Fresh oatcakes, maybe. My parents and I, that used to be our favorite breakfast together in the dining hall when I was a boy. As we sat and ate, my father often used to talk to me about the future, about the army career he was going to help me get, about all the power and privileges I’d have when I was an officer.” Talifus sighs. “It never bothered him that I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps. He had contacts in the army who he was sure would help get me on the fast track to success. We often talked about it at breakfast before he went off to work, and I still associate oatcakes with the promise of a bright future.” He sighs again. “Now that all the Alasians here have to do what I say, I sometimes make Lutian cook them for me even when they’re not on the day’s meal plan. But for some reason they don’t seem to taste as good anymore.”

10. What is the strangest thing you have ever seen?

Talifus’s eyes grow distant. “You don’t expect to see a company of hundreds of soldiers moving in complete silence. I don’t know how they did it that night. Wrapped their boots in cloth, maybe, to muffle the sound of their footsteps. And it was a dark night, perfect for their plans: no moon, and the sky was overcast. I was expecting them, but even so, I hardly realized they were coming until they were right there before the palace gates in a silent throng. Not a single footstep, not a whisper, barely the slightest rustle of movement. If it hadn’t been for the torches by the gate, I would hardly have known anyone was even close by. And yet there they were, ready to change my life and Alasia’s.” He sips distractedly from his tankard. “You wouldn’t think life-changing events would slip in so silently. Maybe that’s why it seemed so strange, so out of place. You’d expect an invading army to charge in with trumpets and war horses and battle cries. You don’t expect them to just appear out of the darkness like a horde of ghosts in front of your home.”

11. What is the most frightening thing that has ever happened to you?

Talifus looks away, and for a moment I think he isn’t going to answer. When he speaks again, his voice is lower, and I have to lean forward to hear.

“It was that same night, of course. The night of the Invasion. There were four of us guards who knew what was about to happen, and I had arranged the schedule so that two of us were on duty at the gates and the other two at the main door, ready to let the Malornians in.” He chews his lip, fiddling with the handle of his cup. “You ever have one of those moments where it seems like your future is teetering on the edge of a blade? You need to make a quick decision, and you know that one way or another your life is never going to be the same afterward. And you’re terrified you’re about to make the worst mistake of your life.” He sighs heavily. “Not that I really had much of a choice by that time, you know? I had already agreed to help them. The arrangements had all been made. They’d paid me an advance - not a terribly big one, considering everything I was doing for them, but they’d promised a lot more would be coming afterward. And now there they were, waiting outside the gate while I stood guard up top, and I had a split second where I almost….” His voice trails off and he closes his eyes, shaking his head hopelessly. When he lifts his tankard for another gulp of ale, I see that his hands are shaking.

“But I did it, of course,” he continues finally. “I had to. I had to! They would have killed me if I’d backed out of the deal then, and the other three would have let them in anyway, so what would have been the point? I had no choice, really.” It isn’t clear whether Talifus is trying to convince me or himself. “Almanian was there at the front, and I led him across the courtyard and into the palace, showed him and his men the way through the corridors. I’d tried to keep the duty schedule as light as I could that night, but I had to assign some guards to each floor or it would have looked suspicious. We killed them all. We had to. I didn’t want to do it, but there was no other way. And I didn’t realize the Malornians were going to kill everyone, even those off duty and asleep. That part wasn’t my fault! And when Almanian made me lead the way to the king and queen’s room, I - I - I -” Talifus breaks off again, his voice anguished, trembling all over now. “I swear I didn’t know what they were going to do! The messenger hadn’t said anything about that part! I never thought they’d harm King Jaymin. Just take him captive, maybe, along with the queen; make him a puppet ruler in their new government, or something. How could I have known? How could I? You can’t blame me for what they did!” His head sinks into his hands and he groans. “I’ll never forget that moment, waiting outside their door with Lasden while Almanian went in. By then it was obvious, but what could I do? Lasden was watching me with his sword ready like he knew I was having doubts, and their people were all around. I couldn’t have done anything if I’d wanted to. I wouldn’t have stood a chance. There was no point in trying.” He buries his face in his hands again. “It wasn’t my fault,” he moans once more.

I wait, but for a long time Talifus remains motionless. Finally he fumbles for his cup and drains the rest of his ale in one gulp. Glancing across the room, he catches the bartender’s eye and gestures with the empty cup. The man hurries over with a pitcher to refill it, and Talifus raises it again, sucking the contents down almost desperately, as though he thinks the only solution to his anguish lies at the bottom of the cup.

Finally he pauses for breath and looks up, seeming surprised to see me still sitting there. “You’re done, aren’t you? Leave me alone now, all right?” Without waiting for me to leave, he turns back to his ale.





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