Okay I’m going to talk more about breaking the block, but this time I’m going to add a twist.

In the last post I talked about Joachim and him being stuck in a cave and I wasn’t sure what would happen to him. A luau in Hawai’i provided my answers.

Unfortunately, not all breaks are that exotic and sometimes they even add unexpected twists. This time I  was stuck with Lilia, the queen and Joachim’s mother. She makes a foolish decision to go after King Waldrom, the one who kidnapped her son. She thinks she can convince him to release her son and end the feud between their two kingdoms. Of course we all know that won’t happen or I wouldn’t have a story to tell. It’s like the  lady that goes down the dark basement steps in the horror movie. We all know she shouldn’t go down, but she goes anyway.

So the queen leaves the safety of the caves to which she has escaped after an attack on the royal city.  Now comes her first mistake: She stumbles on an attack in progress in one of her villages. Of course she gets off her horse and goes to help. A couple of the enemy soldiers capture her and this is where my first twist comes in. The soldiers are dressed in the uniforms of her country. That wasn’t in the original ms. So now I have two soldiers and she for the moment trusts them, that is until they tie her up and take her to bad guys. Okay I got her captured and she will get to Waldrom, just a little differently than she expected. And I can figure out the effect of those two soldiers later.

My real problem comes when she gets to the castle and meets up with the king. Originally the king, supposedly in love with Lilia is all mushy and she is just kind of dazed and wimpy. This didn’t work for either of them, especially when he turned almost pshychotic, but how do I fix that.

Idea: She’s a woman have her play on his love and try to connive him to get what she wants. Of course he will begin by responding to her subtle advances, (remember this is YA). Now comes the block, how do I turn this around to where he becomes angry and sends her to the tower and eventually forces her into marriage. Keep in mind she is already married.

I stare at the screen, put the kids to bed, watch some tv and still no answer. It’s 9:30 on a Monday night so I can’t call my grown kids on the east coast, they are already in bed. My nine year old doesn’t offer much help and my husband is engrossed in his own work, no one is on facebook. What do I do? I have a deadline, I need to work out this scene. Why do my characters have to be so difficult? I text someone in my writing group and the next thing I know my phone is ringing. I tell Darlene my dilemma, she offers solutions, I tell her why they won’t work and finally we come up with an idea that may just work as well as adding depth to the characters. So here is the result of my block breaking and all I did was make a phone call. So you don’t always need a luau in Hawai’i and it always helps to get a new eye on the block.

Now to figure out what if any affect those two soldiers will have on the story.

Palace of Twelve Pillars:

Two days later Waldrom’s troops arrived at the Palace of Three Crosses.  Lilia awakened, but was still weak and powerless from the binding spell.  A soldier pulled her off the horse and carried her to the throne room.  As he dropped her onto the cold, marble floor, he looked at his fellow soldier and said, “Looks like we bagged a prize.  The king should be happy with this one.  Maybe there is even a promotion in it.”

The other soldier chuckled, “I wouldn’t count on it.  King Waldrom doesn’t hand out promotions easily.”

King Waldrom walked into the room with Melvane rushing to catch up. “Sire, the Jena attack was a complete success. We completely obliterated the village and its inhabitants, along with Theodric’s signal tower.  Now his communication network is handicapped.”

Melvane stopped to catch his breath.  He scanned the room and saw the guards and Lilia next to the throne.  Waldrom spied her at the same time.

“One more thing S…”

“Lilia, what have you done to her?”

 Waldrom ran over to her.  He pushed aside a soldier and knelt down beside her. Wrapping her in his bony arms, he glared at Melvane.

“Sire, I was trying to tell you.  We captured Queen Lilia and brought her to you, an additional prize from our attack on Jena.”

“An extra bonus, is that what you think she is?’ Waldrom untied the ropes binding Lilia’s wrists and removed the gag from her mouth. “This is the woman I love and your future queen.”  He saw the bruises on her wrists from the ropes and more on her arms. There was blood on her riding breeches and bodice of her tunic.

Waldrom removed the black cape he was wearing and balled it up for a pillow.  Then he gently laid Lilia on the floor resting her head on the cape.

He stood and turned to face Melvane and the soldiers, “You have hurt her.  How could you do this? You knew who she was.” Waldrom advanced on Melvane.  Melvane scampered toward the door.  The soldiers slowly backed away from Waldrom.

“Sire, I only bound her powers so she would not escape.  I thought you would be pleased.  The bruises are from a fall from a horse.”

“Why was she tied up? Why is she bleeding?” Waldrom took a step and waved his arm. The nearest soldier blew to pieces.  Melvane exited before Waldrom could do the same to him.

The noise brought Lilia out of the haze that had enveloped her during travel. She opened her eyes and saw Waldrom. She tried to stand as he turned back to her and offered his hand to help her.

Luckily there are http://seanamic.com/seanamic-group-drives-forward-with-services-expansion/ levitra ordering powerful and efficient natural extracts that battle sexual dysfunction; One of them is Gingko Biloba that scientifically has been recognized as a good sexual health results in a healthy and happy life. Before 10 years the herbal viagra cialis prix came into market with extremely large misunderstanding. Another important advantage for using herbal cipla tadalafil 10mg is the lack of understanding about the relationship between greater freedoms (or advantages) and the concomitant responsibility. The initial is initiation failure and cost of viagra pill is also due to environmental or behavioral factors that may be seeking your attention. “Lilia, good you’re awake. How are you? ” He seated her on the throne and bending down on one knee, he gently rubbed her wrists while he rang for a servant. “ Bring the queen some food. She’s tired and hungry.” Standing he removed her dirty cape and brushed dirt off her tunic.

Lilia pushed Waldrom’s hand away.  She looked around the throne room surprised by the ostentation of the room and shivered upon seeing the stone statues of scowling gargoyles and grimacing mantions that glared down at her. Their gold overlay was the only bright spot in the otherwise gloomy room.

“King Waldrom, is this how a visiting dignitary is treated in your court? I will have to take note and avoid Three Crosses in the future.”

“My dear, I am sorry if my guards hurt you. They only did for your own safety. I wouldn’t have been happy if they had returned with only your body. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?”

“Yes, you can return my son to me and end this silly feud with Theodric.  .”

“I am sorry, but it’s too late for that. Haven’t you heard, Theodric declared war. The only way to end it now is for his surrender.”

“You once, not so long ago, said that if I came to you, you would end this. Was that a lie?” Lilia ran her fingers up his chest, stopping at his graying goatee. “You once said you loved me.”

Waldrom’s face softened as he looked into Lilia’s green eyes. “Yes I did, I do. But you turned to him, you married him and left me with nothing.”

Lilia backed away and grasped his hand. “So you do still love me, then you can put a stop to this.”

“The only way to stop this is for you to marry me now. Admit that you don’t love him, that he trapped you.” Waldrom squeezed her hand tighter. “Be with me and I will return your son and end this war.”

 Oh no, what have I done. While she hesitated Waldrom released her hand, wrapped his arms around her and kissed Lilia.

She slapped him across the face and pushed him away.

 “Trapped, you think I was trapped.  You are a fool, Waldrom. I was never trapped.  I love Theodric and would never leave him for you.”

He pushed her back into the throne and grabbed a handful of her hair.  “You will submit to me and be my queen.”

“No, never would I submit to a monster like you.”

Waldrom lifted her and hurled her small body across the room. “Sidramah, bind her.”  A guard rushed in to see what the commotion is.

“Take her to the tower.  I don’t want to see her again until we are ready to leave and face Theodric.  Maybe his death will convince her otherwise.”

“Yes, sire.” The guard lifted Lilia, placed shackles on her arms and led her away.

 Let me know what you think and remember breaking the block does not have to be exotic. It’s whatever it takes to get you out of your slump. Thanks Darlene from your late night save and check out her website at http://darwrites.wordpress.com

Now to figure ou what if any effect those two soldiers will have on the story.

Happy Writing and God Bless,

Chris

http://www.literarygumbo.com