It's the last week of the Shared WIP Tag (and Nano ends today :P) and we have aesthetics, playlists, and snippets!!
Aesthetics
~ I will find my rightful place ~
Cipta
~ She will always be loved and cherished ~
Goldwyn
(honestly not 100% sure why I made one for Goldwyn...she doesn't play that big of a role [well, kinda but not really] but I just saw a bunch of pictures of babies and stuff and was like OKAY MAKING AN AESTHETIC FOR GOLDWYN)
~ I did not ask for this crown ~
Kile
~ I will rise above my station ~
Lilia
~ I bring hope to those who are brave ~
Xander
~ I want peace for my kingdom ~
Yohn
~ I am a quiet supporter of freedom ~
Zelia
~ I am a storm behind a smile ~
Zoe
Playlists
This playlist is one that I created for the Scroll of Wisdom
And here is one that I found that helped my inspiration
Snippets
“Why doesn’t Cipta go and train with Sir Elmeth and Sir Gerald and Sir Yeljo and Sir Malachy? He’s older than I am and he still hasn’t met them!”
Rothan stared at Kile quite intently for a few seconds. He had anticipated this question, and was trying to phrase his reply in the best way that the boy would understand.
“As Prince Royale,” he began, “your duty will be to protect the people of Ilia Scriptura.”
“Sir Malachy told me that. But doesn’t Cipta have to protect our people to? He is going to be king one day.”
“Cipta will have to protect your people in a different way.”
“Using the Scroll of Wisdom and his head?”
Rothan allowed himself a small smile. “Yes, using the Scroll of Wisdom and his head.”
“So I’ll be in charge of keeping people safe with my sword?”
“Yes.”
“What if I fail?”
Rothan had to admit that he was somewhat impressed at the deep question the five-year-old had voiced. “Come with me, Kile.”
He took Kile by the hand and led him to the sacrum.
“Why are we here?” Kile whispered, his voice instinctively lowering as they entered into the place of worship.
“Can you tell me who sits there?” Rothan asked, pointing to the three empty thrones that sat on the altar.
“The One, The Sacrifice, and The Wind sit there.”
“Are they sitting there right now?”
Rothan watched Kile’s face as he thought. The boy’s skin was a kaleidescope of different colors as the light filtered through the stain glass windows and fell on his face.
“They could be,” Kile finally answered. “But I still don’t understand why you brought me here.”
“The One, The Sacrifice, and The Wind will help you whenever you have to protect your people. If you pray to them, they will be with you. You just need to remember that you can do nothing on your own, it is the Three that can help you do great things.”
Kile’s eyes grew wider as he stared at the empty thrones. Rothan noticed the awed expression on his face and smiled a full smile.
“Kile!”
The ten-year-old skidded to a stop and whirled around to glare at his brother. “What?”
“K - Kile,” Cipta sounded surprised, “what happened?”
“What happened?” Kile screamed. “Because you went and told Mother and Father, look what happened to my hand!”
He outstretched his hand, and Cipta winced at the sweltering marks on his younger brother’s hand.
“I didn’t know that they would do that,” he whispered. “I just -”
“You just what?”
“I just wanted you to learn that you shouldn’t do that.”
“Did you want them to do this?” Kile’s eyes refilled with tears.
“Of course I did not!” Cipta wrapped an arm around him. “Wait right here.”
Kile sniffed and wiped his nose on his tunic sleeve. His legs kept trembling and he slouched against the wall. Cipta came running back, a linen cloth in his hand.
“I asked a healer for a salve,” Cipta sat next to Kile and started to apply the salve on his hands.
Kile winced as the cool ointment touched his open sores.
“Just,” Cipta sighed, “please don’t do something like that again.”
“But it’s the only way Mother and Father give me any notice,” Kile sniffed again.
“Do you really want them to notice you this way?”
Kile winced again and shrugged.
“It was rather tiring,” Zelia said in her low, soft voice. “But we brought books and games to entertain ourselves.”
“And we brought our ponies, so we road on them sometimes,” Zoe added. “Do you ride?”
“Of course I do,” Kile replied indignantly.
Zoe shrugged. “When do you think we can go riding.”
“What a wonderful suggestion, Princess,” Queen Natha swept into the room. “Cipta and Yohn are going to go see the warehouses, and Kile and the princesses shall go riding.”
“But, Mother!” Kile protested. “Why can I not go with Cipta and Yohn?”
“The princesses are going riding, and we cannot let them go by themselves.”
Kile huffed and looked longingly towards Cipta and Yohn, who were talking excitedly.
“Why don’t you show the princesses the play room, Kile,” Queen Natha said, giving her son a pointed look.
“But I haven’t even eaten!”
“Then come to breakfast earlier, you can eat something later.”
Kile groaned and pushed his chair back. “The play room is this way.”
Kile had never been so happy to have his regular lessons. They meant that everything was back to normal. While he didn’t look forward to spending a lot of time with Sir Gareth again, at least he wouldn’t be stuck with Zoe and Zelia all the time.
But he was excited to see his trainers again.
“Look who finally decided to join us again!” Sir Yeljo ruffled his hair.
“Ah! So you haven’t forgotten us!” Sir Gerald smirked.
“Of course I didn’t forget you!” Kile cried indignantly. “I was just stuck with Zoe and Zelia the whole time.”
“Did you not like the princesses?” Sir Elmeth asked. Sir Malachy suppressed a laugh.
“No! Zoe talked to much and Zelia was very quiet.”
“Did she talk as much as Sir Gareth?”
Kile pondered his response. “I would actually rather hear her talk than Sir Gareth.”
The four men exploded into laughter.
“You will forever make us laugh,” Sir Malachy grinned, “but we do actually have to teach you something, so let us start with archery.”
“That’s my worst thing,” Kile admitted.
“Then we need to work on it the most.”
“What about jousting?”
“We’re waiting till you are a little taller.”
Kile straightened himself up all the way. Finding that he didn’t even come to Sir Malachy’s shoulder, he slouched again and went to get his bow.
Kile often wondered what he was searching for, going from tavern to tavern. His soul was telling him that he was searching for something. Some fulfillment. Something to make life worth living.
His friends told him that drink, money, women, food, riches, power, and all the things that anyone could desire would “Fill him up”. And so he went to taverns with them. He ate, drank, and was merry. In the moment, he did feel happy, wanted, loved, satisfied.
But walking home the feeling left. He was empty as he roamed the empty streets. What was he looking for? What would give him fulfillment?
What was his life’s purpose?
Whenever Kile’s muscles ached and screamed, his favorite thing to do was to grab a stack of books (his favorites being adventure and romance), lock his door, and read under a mountain of blankets till he fell asleep.
He was in the middle of that ritual now, but his mind kept wandering to the conversation he had had with Cipta earlier that day. While Cipta tutoring him wouldn’t be the ideal way that he would spend more time with his brother, there were benefits.
His parents might start noticing him. He would be spending time with his brother. He would be learning things.
“Fine then!” Kile grumbled as he dug his way out of his mountain of blankets. “But I will come back and see if Lord Ulysses will defeat the theras and save Lady Alethea.”
“You wanted to see me?” Kile asked stiffly. Rothan looked up from a document he was reading.
“Ah, yes, Kile, sit.”
Kile sat. Rothan continued reading and Kile began twiddling his thumbs. Then he picked up an odd looking paperweight on the fairy’s desk and studied it. Then he skimmed through a book.
“Did you call me here for a reason?” Kile demanded as half an hour passed and Rothan still hadn’t said why he called him to his office.
“Ah,” Rothan looked up, as if he had forgotten Kile was sitting there. “I didn’t call you.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Your parents called you.”
“So you’ve made me make them wait because you forgot to mention that?” Kile felt panic rise as he pictured his parents’ faces.
“No, no,” the fairy waved at him to sit again. “Your parents are coming here.”
“Oh.”
A few more minutes of silence.
“Did they tell you why they wanted to see me?”
“No.”
“Do you know why?”
“No.”
“Do you have an inkling why?”
“No.”
“Not even the smallest one?”
“No.”
Rothan looked up and Kile found that he was smiling.
“You are still the same person underneath all your armor,” he remarked.
“What?” Kile wrinkled his brow in confusion.
“You are still that little boy who asked too many questions for his own good.”
“Now the truth comes out, I did pester you.”
His thoughts grew more conflicted as he walked down the halls. All the servants were bustling around, doing various tasks for the banquet that was going to be held after the ceremony. None seemed to notice him. Was he so invisible that even the servants didn’t see him.
The world seemed to move in slow motion. He could see every single movement. The way the servants averted their eyes as he passed by them. The way that the maidservants swerved away from him as they approached him. The way that the older servants looked at him with disgust. With disappointment.
Was that what the people thought of him? As a romping womanizer with no respect for anyone? He almost laughed.
Yes, he did sometimes (very rarely) have too much to drink. Yes, he did like to have fun, but he would never touch a woman he wasn’t married to. His parents had taught him that much. He did respect people.
How funny. People thought they knew him, that they had him all figured out. They didn’t know him. No one knew him. They all knew the fake Kile. Not the real Kile.
Who was the real Kile?
He, Kile, couldn’t even answer that question. That was very depressing. He didn’t even know who he was. He envied Cipta. He knew himself. He knew who he was going to be.
Well, I hope you enjoyed those!!! Make sure you go check out the rest of the amazing peoples posts! This was sooo much fun to do! :D
How was your Nano? Which was your favorite character aesthetic and snippet? What comes next for you in the writing process?
