Allegiance (43 page)
Authors: Wanda Wiltshire
‘You think you have won?’ the Shadow King whispered through clenched teeth. He glared up at his relative, knowing he couldn’t possibly survive after losing a limb. ‘This is not over. My plan reaches beyond my death. My kind
will
own yours.’
‘
You
will own no one,’ King Telophy replied. He plucked the dagger from where it had fallen out of Mirresen’s dead hand and plunged it into his heart.
I collapsed to the floor beside Leif. Then, pulling me into his bloody arms, my betrothed buried his face into my hair and whispered, ‘Let’s go home, Marla’.
Writing the second instalment of Marla’s story was an adventure—full of surprises, often hard work, always a joy. For the most part it was a journey taken with God alone and I want to thank Him for always being faithful. There are people to acknowledge too, not least my wonderful readers who have given me such encouraging feedback for
Betrothed
—I wish I could name you all—and the amazing people who’ve helped and supported me along the way and without whom
Allegiance
wouldn’t be the book it is today. I want to take this opportunity to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to:
My talented friend, Krystina Pecorari-McBride. Our writing days are the highlight of my week. Together we laugh, we dream, we edit. Work and fun have never been so perfectly intertwined, nor time moved more quickly.
My creative friend, Kerry Rogerson. Our trips to Faera are all kinds of wonder and magic. Together we have the world’s problems solved. Well, the problems in the worlds of our own imaginations at least.
My editors Deonie Fiford and Desanka Vukelich for helping to tighten and perfect the manuscript, and Graeme Jones from Kirby Jones for putting the finished product into book form.
The gifted team at Xou Creative for designing yet another magical cover, and Susan Hando for helping to bring the finished book to the attention of the world.
My publishers John and Alison Green together with the whole of the Pantera Press team for your continuing belief in my work.
And, of course, my beloved children, Declan, Bridget, Patrick and Connor for sharing me with your book siblings, and for just being.
If you enjoyed
Allegiance
then look out for the next book in the series coming in 2015
CONFUSED
And more books in the
Betrothed
series beginning with
Betrothed
.
For more information, please visit:
Where did you get the idea for the
Betrothed
series?
The
Betrothed
series is truly the answer to a prayer. The idea came to me when I was going through some distressing life events. I found myself questioning the meaning of life which eventually led me to the realisation that I
must
be here for a purpose. As I had no idea what that purpose was, I asked. Immediately, three little words slid into my mind:
Write a book
. Those words remained on a loop in my head all day, challenging me. The problem was, not only did I feel unequal to the task, but I had not one single idea of what I might write a book about! The next morning—in that hazy time between dreaming and waking—Marla came to me along with the story of
Betrothed
. I jumped out of bed, ran to the computer and got started!
What inspired your enchanting faery land? Is there a place in the real world that reminds you of Faera?
Faera came to me as part of my answered prayer with aspects of it continually being revealed to me. Though I do often catch glimpses of Faera in the real world—a beautiful old tree, the play of light on the surface of a river, or some magical display of colour—there is no one place that reminds me of Faera. Rather, it is the world I long to live in. It is a place of gleaming forests and shimmering rivers, cascading waterfalls and majestic mountains. The Fae create their homes amongst this beauty and would no more destroy a tree than tear off one of their own wings. It is a minimalistic world where the passions of the heart are lived and the resources shared. Not a perfect world, but one where the Fae do what they love and work together.
Are any of your characters based on real people?
Occasionally, aspects of my characters remind me of people I know, but no, they are real people in themselves. It’s as though they wait in my mind until they are ready to reveal themselves. Like anyone else, I come to know them slowly by spending time with them. I’ve only to ask a question to gain further insight into any one of them, for example, ‘Marla, what’s your favourite food?’ ‘Chocolate of course—I
love
sweet things! Once I ate the ears off Ashleigh’s Easter bunny and I was in hospital for two weeks!’ My characters become so real to me that I expect to bump into them at any moment. In fact, I have on occasion. There was one magical night in particular. I was at dinner with a friend and found Jack, Leif and Marla all working together behind the bar! Well, brilliant lookalikes anyway. And no, I hadn’t been drinking!
Where did the name Leif come from?
Leif walked right into my life already named! I don’t know why he was named so, but it has been pointed out to me since that with a quick play with the letters of his name you have
life
. This makes me happy.
And where did the name Marla come from?
Just like Leif and all the other main characters in the
Betrothed
series, Marla came to me already named. For me, this name has potent ties to family and friends, which to me are one and the same.
Besides forbidden love, betrayal and a fear of survival there is also an underlying theme of the importance of friendship in the
Betrothed
series. Could you tell us about that?
It’s with friends that we often find our value and fun. Friends are also who we retreat to when we have problems at home or in the world. A friend is a haven and I don’t think there is any
other time when this is truer than the teenage and young adult years when both romantic and family relationships can be at their most turbulent. My protagonist Marla adores her best friends Jack and Hilary. And in Jack’s case, because he’s a boy, she begins to question her feelings for him. She loves him, there is no doubt of that, but is that love based on friendship or something else entirely? I think this is a dilemma many girls can relate to.
Perhaps as part of this you really explore the difficulties of being a teenager—finding love, finding true friends, finding one’s place in the world—as well as working out how to be taken seriously. Was it important that this came through in the book?
These are all important themes in the
Betrothed
series. I think the teenage and young adult years are like a wide open window of opportunity. It is a time of making mistakes and hopefully learning from them, a time of discovery and freshness and beginnings, of high energy and creativity, where possibilities are endless and the years ahead seem to stretch into forever. But so often at this stage of life things go awry—perilous friendships are pursued, the wrong partner is chosen, or dreams are forsaken. When these things happen it is almost as though the window is closed and doesn’t reopen for a long time, often not until the day you cry out, ‘I am unfulfilled, I know I have a purpose, but what is it?’ This is why it’s so important that young people learn to protect self-esteem and take their dreams seriously. If a person can hold on to their dreams at this age, there is a far greater chance they will be fulfilled. But like most other things, this starts from within.
If you had to pick one, what message would you like readers to come away with after reading the
Betrothed
series?
Nothing trumps love.
Tell us about your character development and those differences between
Betrothed
and
Allegiance
.
In
Betrothed
we meet Marla, a young girl with serious health problems. She has spent her whole life being nurtured and protected by her loving family and friends. As a result of this, and together with the bullying she has endured at school, Marla has become insecure and developed a strong tendency to lean on others. Her friend Jack is only too keen to prop her up. Early in
Betrothed
, Marla discovers she is a faery. Not only was she born into a seemingly perfect world, but she can fly. On top of all that, she is betrothed to Leif, the handsome prince of Faera. Marla is swept up in the thrill of it all. In her view, the only hurdle to happiness is overcoming the cruel King Telophy. In
Allegiance
, Marla quickly discovers this is not the case. Accepted by the king, she soon finds the beauty of Faera tarnished by the existence of creatures who crave to harm her. She learns that to be safe she must tie herself to another—King Telophy himself. Aside from that, Marla discovers that being betrothed to the prince brings brand new challenges and obligations she feels ill-equipped to handle. We see seeds of self-doubt planted in Marla as disturbing new emotions take root and play havoc with her self-esteem. It remains to be seen how Marla will respond to such huge challenges and uncomfortable new feelings in a world of strange bonds and allegiances.
What can we expect in the coming books in the series, without giving too much away?
Lovers of my series can expect to laugh and cry and love and gasp as they become caught up in a whirlwind of twists and turns and surprises. They can also expect to spend a lot more time in Faera, discovering the customs and challenges of this magical world.
What authors inspire you?
Any author who has the ability to pull me quickly into their world and make me feel deeply when I get there! I like stories that portray vivid images with as few words as possible. My favorite authors include Anne Rice, Melina Marchetta, Maggie Stiefvater, Markus Zusak and Jane Austen. In my opinion, these five all combine compelling stories with exceptional writing—the winning combination.
When do you do your best work? Where do you do most of your writing?
I do my best work when I begin early in the day. Sometimes when I sit down to write at five or six in the morning, it’s nothing for me to still be going at midnight! But, if I procrastinate much beyond midday I rarely make it to 6 pm. I have a nine-year-old and need to be accessible to him, so I write in the family room. Although nowhere near as ideal as the lonely cottage by the sea of my dreams, it works well enough.
How long does it take you to write a book?
The first draft can take up to eight months. Then the hard work begins. Editing is by far the most time consuming and least fun part of writing. But as time has gone on I’ve learned to streamline the process. I tend to plan more and free-write less so I don’t have to discard so much later. Killing darlings can be excruciating!
What advice would you give to writers who are working towards publication?
Most importantly, don’t send your manuscript out too early. You only get one crack at each agent/publisher. Make sure your writing is as tight as you can possibly make it. Give it to a few trusted writer friends to read and comment on. If you don’t have
writer friends, join a group and make some. They are invaluable and a lot of fun too! Consider every bit of feedback given to you. Even if you don’t agree, the fact that something has been picked up is reason enough to take a closer look—especially if the same thing has been picked up by more than one person. After all that, send it off with a kiss and a prayer! It worked for me!
Wanda Wiltshire has always been an incurable dreamer and has found her passion for writing novels. Wanda puts her daydreaming to good use, spending many long and satisfying moments gazing across the sea—cavorting with faeries and other magical creatures as she develops scenes and storylines for her latest work.