Thank you for visiting my blog for the A-Z Blogging Challenge. This month, I will be posting the A-Z of The Starlight Prince, my spicy, fantasy-romance novel, which was released on 25 March. Posts will include excerpts, story inspirations, lore and other ‘behind-the-scenes’ tidbits.
You can see a complete schedule of my planned posts here for easy access.
Every day, I will pick a commenter at random to receive a FREE ebook copy of The Starlight Prince, and its prequel novella, The Adventures of Josain Jovenne.
Additionally, throughout the entire month, I’m running a Rafflecopter giveaway, which you can enter by commenting on my blog any day in the challenge. The prize is a signed paperback copy of The Starlight Prince, plus related ‘swag’ such as postcards, etc.
And now, onto today’s post…C is for (Queen) Celestia, which is an excerpt from twenty-seven of the novel, in which the main character Maddie meets the Queen of Valeth - a planet of witches - whom she'd just learned she's distantly related to.
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In front of the crystalline palace was a large, open courtyard, where I could see many people gathered. To my delight, almost all of them had the same coppery hair as Luna, Phoebe, and I; a mark of the witches from Valeth.
In the middle of the gathering stood a trio in resplendent silver and white gowns, all wearing jewel-encrusted diadems. From a distance, they looked almost indistinguishable from each other, all three women appearing to be around their mid-twenties. I assumed from the extra grandeur of her clothing and crown that the woman in the middle was Queen Celestia.
Staring at these women, my grip of Kalas’s feathers grew slick, and I felt nervousness akin to when we’d arrived on Kralis. Not only were these women the monarchy and princesses of Valeth, but also my kin, all of us having descended from Queen Ursula.
As we neared the ground, I couldn’t take my eyes off the royal trio. Now we were closer, I saw the subtle signs of age on Queen Celestia’s face, the soft lines around her eyes and mouth, but it was still hard to believe she was much older than thirty.
Looking at her and her two daughters was like looking at the family I’d always dreamed of. I could see shades of not only myself but my mother and grandmother in all of them. Though, Queen Celestia and the princesses held more love in their gazes than my mother had for me.
Kalas’s taloned feet touched down on the courtyard floor, and I quickly dismounted, giving his head an affectionate stroke before rushing forward to greet Queen Celestia.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should curtsy as I did to Queen Seraphina, but then Queen Celestia strode forward confidently and opened her arms to me.
She pulled me into a tight embrace, pressing a kiss to each of my cheeks as she whispered into my ear, “Welcome home, daughter of Vesper.”
A hundred emotions surged through my body. Relief, excitement, love. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Queen Celestia gently wiped them away with her thumbs and then linked her arm through mine.
“Come, let me introduce you to my daughters, Princesses Aurora and Nima.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I was vaguely aware that Kalas and Savrion had transformed back into their humanoid forms, and someone had presented them with simple silver robes to cover themselves.
They stood with the gathered Valethians, and I noticed that Luna and Phoebe had arrived, although when and where from I wasn’t entirely sure.
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Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again for tomorrow’s post.
Until then,
Take Care Stay Creative!
T.T.F.N.
