Interview With a Character - Eltan

So I had the idea to do an interview. Just something silly and fun to get a little deeper inside my main character's head.  My friend Christine was kind enough to help me out by playing the part of an interviewer from Tiger Beat or whatever, and she didn't even laugh at me.  (Much.)  The Eltan being interviewed here is between chapters four and five, and is twelve or thirteen years old.

Tell me, Eltan, what's it like growing up in the Archduke's home? What kind of life do you lead there?

At first it was very strange, because everything was very different from what I was used to in Tovald City.  There, we lived in the Hall of Women and there were only ever other women about, and very small children like me.  But once we came to Jorash, there isn't a Hall of Women there, and we could go wherever we liked and do as we pleased.

As far as my kind of life, well, I have weapons training, and riding lessons, and actual lessons with reading and figuring and geography and things.  And also His Grace wants me to learn all about the criminal codes and how to manage an estate and things.  So I guess I stay pretty busy.

It sounds as through things turned out well for you. How did you and your mother meet His Grace?

Oh, well.  My mother was a concubine, and His Majesty the Overking sent her to His Grace as a gift.  I went along as Mama's page, because I was only four.

Tell me about the rest of your family. How many sibs do you have now?

Three.  Tybost is the eldest; he's seven.  Rohan is three, and Alina is just now a year old.  And I've a friend Jaramy, who's my age and lives with us.  He's kind of like my other brother.

Do you play together a lot when you're not working or do you like to keep to yourself?

Oh, I play with them when I can.  I still have supper with Mama and His Grace and the littles every night - Mama says I'm not old enough yet to eat with the men-at-arms - so I usually play with them for awhile before dinner.  But the rest of the time I usually have lessons or duties.

What sorts of games do you play? 

With the littles?  I don't know... Rohan likes hide-and-go-seek.  Tybost likes to play at being a knight.

I'm sure Tybost makes a very fine knight! You mentioned your lessons before. Do you have any sort of idea of what you'd like to do with your life or are you just seeking a well-rounded education at present?

Oh, well, I guess I'm supposed to be a fighter.  For awhile, anyway.  There's this thing I'm supposed to do.  I can't really talk about it.  But after that, I think His Grace intends me to be Tybost's right hand, once he takes the throne.

What's involved in this fight-training? Do you study under the men-at-arms or has His Grace selected someone else to prepare you?

Oh, it's mostly practicing how to properly use a sword and shield, or daggers, or a bow.  I get my sword and dagger training from Weaponsmaster Jeria; that's His Grace's sister.  For the bow there's Captain Brawd, who used to be commander of the archers but retired.

So you train alone then?

Oh, you mean, like private lessons? No!  There's always lots of us training together.  For sword and dagger we work in pairs.

And who is your partner in training?

Whoever.  You don't train against only one person, because you'd only learn to oppose one fighting style.  So today I might fight against Jaramy, and tomorrow against Lathan, and the next day against Keri or Galen or Firman.

That makes sense. Do you like fighting?

Not really.  I'm not very good at it, and besides that, I'm not terribly enthusiastic about the idea of being hacked up on a battlefield.

Well, let's hope that doesn't happen. I'm sure your teachers won't let you fight until you're ready.

I hope not.

Will you be doing a lot of fighting as your brother's right hand or do you have do other training for that?

I might; we're sort of fighting against Sandria right now, though we're not really at war; they just keep trying to take our land, and we keep having to fight them back.  But maybe that will be over by the time Tybost takes over.  I don't know.  But there's other things - like I said, His Grace has me learning all about estate management and the criminal laws and things.

And what about Tybost? Is he studying the same sort of things yet?

Some, but he's younger so not as much.

Of course. He'll have quite a weight on his shoulders soon enough. Let me ask you about one more thing before I let you go. There are rumors that your mother and the sorceress are great friends. Is there any truth to that? 

Oh, yes.  They're best friends.  That's not a secret.

I've heard wonderful things about them both. I'm sure they're quite a powerful force when united in a single cause. 

They're scary is what they are.

(laughs) I would imagine so. I shall endeavor to avoid gathering their displeasure in any way - including making you late for supper. Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me today, Eltan. I wish you great success in all your endeavors. 

Thanks!

~~~

So yeah, that was a little self-indulgent.  But I actually kind of enjoyed it.  Both of us got the giggles about halfway through.  We might do another one with a different character later.