Hawkspar has found that her destiny is to die, and that before she dies, she will have to conquer three wizards, two of whom are already dead, but even more a threat because of that. The first binds her eyes; the second, her voyage; and the third, the life of the man she loves. It’s an odd bit of backstory that has been gradually creeping out on me, unplanned — I hadn’t seen the parallels between the three in the first draft, or the second. Now in the rewrite, I’m discovering some unexpected depth in their presence in her life, in the ways she and they are chained together, and in the manner in which she will have to break those chains, sometimes with help, and sometimes without. I’m seeing how these three evil men are echoes of Talyn in TALYN, too.

The Woman in White is back, and remains as much a mysterious character to me in this book as she was in TALYN. I find myself wanting to know her story, and how she came to do the things she does.

And I’ve discovered that Ethebet (Saint Ethebet, of the Five Saints of the Tonk, patron of war, childbirth, and a host of other things) was not born Tonk, but was morii. And now I find myself wanting to know the whole of Ethebet’s story, as well. It’s been an unsettling writing session so far.