Nonetheless, it will be rough for a few pages. All I will say.

Lora - Yes, he does. And it scares him.

Elizabeth - Alas, Kendrik is well and truly gone. You will (probably) never see him again except in flashbacks. The one I truly want to do is the fight with him and Zonn. But there’s so much story between here and then, it’s doubtful I’ll ever get to it.

Maldik really doens’t have a clue as to his mother’s real power, do he?

Well, judging by his sparkling character, I expect no less of him than he’ll get angry and beat the hell out of his own mother. And then he might rape her, just to break her spirit. That’s about what I expect from him.

Jean - Actually, up to this point he has done precisely what he thinks he wanted to do. It hasn’t worked out too well, but time will tell.

The MacNut - You know I can’t tell you about any secret messages! If I did, it wouldn’t be a secret!!

firegoat - Agh! So now I have to change the secret message!

Lictre - Note that even when the young Princess Elizabeth Tudor was in The
Tower, it was hardly a spartan existence. If you’ve ever been there and seen the recreation of the study that Sir Walter Raleigh had, you see that it’s still not bread and water by a long stretch.

Lebbrin - Thanks. As always, it’s hard or impossible to write someone smarter than yourself. I’m glad that she gives the appearance, at least, of being as sharp as I want her to be.

tricksterson - If she wanted to, she could definitely be free. It appears that she feels she needs to be here, for now.

Jim Farris - I hear you. Unfortunately, I have the next few weeks devoted to him, so you may want to take a bit off from COZ, and no offense taken. It’s just important for the rest of the tale, and I think it’s good stuff from a character point of view. Hope you stick around, but understand if you don’t. And fair warning to all of you: The next couple of scenes are rough. We went from all happy firelit lovey-dovey in the Valley Of The Moon to this disfunctional place, and the contrast could not be more marked.

SamuraiDemonPuppy - She and Kendrik, fortunately, put structures in place that more or less run themselves. That’s one of the reasons that Maldik hasn’t ruined the kingdom - yet.

aPrincess - Wow. You guys teach me something new every day - no lie.

SteinarB - She is practical above all, but she does love both her sons.

Jinx - Jeez. And here I was, thinking I was hot because I put together a period blackwork frame out of primitives …

Joe - Kivalian succession is always male. Besides, if it came to that, she was the queen consort. She has cousins who are closer to the succession bloodline than she is. Tethik is one.

Ed - Correct. See above.

Dragonson - Oh, he’s screwed, then. His scholarship was generally pretty poor. LOL!

Jason - You are quite right. There’s a lot to see. And some of it you’ll see pretty soon.

Mish_lady The line is “She has loved only two things *completely* in her life.” She loves her boys, and shows it in her own way - which, I have to say, I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Sleepinin - It gets worse.

TheLastGarou - Yes, he is that. And Yanorak knows. And he knows she knows. And she knows he knows it. They’re very knowledgable.

warnie - Succinctly put, correct. But she’s spent her whole life sorting out hard choices. She’s usually correct, but not always happy.

Black Ethel - Vote for Zona! And yes, Maldik is the natural son of Yanora of Normos and Count Kendrik of Gost, later King Kendrik of all of Kivalia.

Hwyla - He does, a bit, around the eyes.

Professor61771 - She will not do anything without due thought. Also, remember that killing isn’t the only way to neutralize a threat. She is quite good.

Moox - Thanks, but this is a wordy scene. I, too, like to have a free panel, and can’t always find a good balance.

zangoules - “I have a cunning plan …”

taltamir - Perhaps. Perhaps not …

DMC_Run - Wow. I guess Zona just attracts history buffs. We’re flattered.

Elfguy - Maybe more than one …

InCestusWeTrust and others - Yanora imputes Maldik’s looks and some of his personality to Kendrik’s father, who was a dissolute nobleman who left his son with a count’s title, a bankrupt estate and a burning ambition to prove himself. Kendrik was brilliant, tall (for a Kivalian) politically aggressive and tough as nails, physically and mentally. He wrote poetry, music and histories with equal ease. On the battlefield he was the premier warrior and strategist of his generation, a superb scientific fighter one-on-one with an iron jaw and seemingly limitless stamina.

Apparently, he was also terrific in bed.

This was the man who fought Zonn The Wanderer to a standstill, which officially settled the long-standing disputes between the two peoples. Unofficially? Still a long ways to go, and Maldik looks like he’s trying to undo what his father and mother accomplished.

could be as simple as a pattern of red (or blue) threads that become more visible when viewed through colored glass.

Maldic, Maldic…not a puppet? Are you sure? Check to see if someone has their hand up your wazoo to make you talk…