One of my favorite aspects of writing, undoubtedly, is the creation of characters. They tend to live rent-free in my head, making demands of me often until I create them. And sometimes they begin to develop greater personalities and traits on their own that I have to go back and fix their appearances in the earlier stages of the story to accommodate their growth as individuals.
If you haven’t yet read She Who Chose War and want reason to do so, here’s a glimpse into who you would get to know on your reading journey. Or, if you have read it, maybe you’ll learn a little more about these beloved characters of mine that you hadn’t before!
Nevia Bylilly – The Foreign Empress
The main female lead and the character that goes through the greatest transformation. The young woman exchanged one life for another, leaving her simplistic rural life as a clanswoman behind to embrace the never-ending demands of imperial life in the industrial capital, marrying the most powerful man in the empire himself: Emperor Darius Androvich II.
Before she became empress, she was what you would commonly refer to as an “animal whisperer.” She loves wildlife and critters, and has to be stopped before adopting every living creature she encounters on their hikes and scouring through the wilderness. As all clan members, Nevia contributed to her people, the Katsao clan, her main contribution being scavaging, scraping plants to be used medicinally or as sustenance. Often, this adventure would take her away from the mountains, which is exactly where she found Darius Androvich, during a hunting expedition of his own.
Life in the empire was not as glorious as she had once thought it would be. She was hardworking–it was in her blood–and kind-natured. Neither of these things carried over well when she relocated to the imperial capital of Velspire to live in the palace, in an era closely resembling that of an alternate Industrial Revolution. Her chief worries were party planning and dressing appropriately, being mild-mannered and silent. No one wanted her input or her opinion, and this caused her to retreat inward. She struggles internally as she is forced into a role that she does not want, swept up in a whirlwind of negativity for not only being a woman, but a foreigner amidst a sea of racist imperials.
Nevia’s journey is all about making difficult decisions and striving to fight for herself and what she believes in. She displays great emotional strength, having the courage to do things that so many could never dream of.
She is also a character that I put much of myself into. Unintentionally, but it happened.
Ardan Kyaroe – The Chief’s Second
Another major character in She Who Chose War, and one of the three main characters in the multi-POV sequel, She Who Brought Death. Ardan favors simplicity and predictability. He enjoys tending to the pet wolves, aiding his fellow clansmen of Sanen, and contributing to their survival. A born-leader, he walks quietly in the footsteps of the chieftain Risanna as her second-in-command. It wasn’t meant to be this way, however–he was meant to be chief, a role that terrifies him after his father died in the role when he was a child.
Ardan is the kind of male character that many girls dream of to enter their lives: kind, handsome, compassionate, loving, and empowering. When he meets Nevia it isn’t long before he falls for her kind heart and strong spirit, yet he keeps those emotions and feelings bottled up as he knows she is already taken. She is empress, after all, wed to the most powerful man in Danaeca. Instead he does everything that a good person should: be the shoulder she needs to cry on, the pillar of strength when there is no other. The defender that would travel to the depths of the earth and back if it meant protecting the ones he loves.
Qirin, Son of King Athilan – The Warlord
The prince of the Feishin Kingdom, and my personal favorite. He was not in the initial story concept, but had been initially written into the scene where he is shown having tea with his mother, Queen Arethusa, and younger sister, the fair Princess Mila. I quickly came to adore his character, and just knew that he had to have a pivotal role. And great news for those who, too, are fans of our beloved Feishin prince: he is one of the three main characters in the sequel, She Who Brought Death, alongside Nevia and Ardan.
The prince’s path is a difficult one. Always his decisions had been made for him, while his opinions differ vastly from that of his mother. He had revolutionary ideas for the kingdom, visions of a different world if only their traditional society could embrace change. If he were king, there were many things that he would do differently, or at least that is what he tells himself. First being that he would love who he chose to, even if it meant breaking laws and being with his forbidden first love, Sir Rito, as opposed to Lady Liana of a noble Feishin Family that his mother tries to betroth him to.
Always raised a pacifist, the ways of the First King had been inbred into him. Always love, always talk, never bear arms. And yet, not everyone worshipped this principal as his parents had. With the growing and changing world, Qirin believes these ideas are old, archaic, and deep within him festers a welling rage, built up from his childhood and threatens to consume him into adulthood.
The question is: How far will he stray if given the chance?