Ireth
Myth Weaver
I have an issue with the very ending of my novel, and deciding whether a certain character (who has been alluded to throughout the book) should make an appearance or not.
The character in question is the Queen of the Unseelie Court, and the mother of the main villain. Notably, she is not a villainous character at all, but a reasonable authority figure like her husband, the King. For the majority of the book she has been away from the Unseelie stronghold for business reasons, but after the events of the climax she is summoned back to deal with things.
I can't seem to find a logical reason for her NOT to show up at the end. She is by no means a neglectful mother to her children, and she had every intention of returning in time for her son's wedding (the date of which got bumped up several weeks without her knowledge), which never happened anyway for various reasons. Only after the climax, during which important Fae are wounded or killed (spoiler: the prince dies after trying to assassinate the King, who is saved by the MC and her allies), is there time and means to inform her of what's been going on. Naturally, when she hears about things she is going to rush back home as fast as possible.
The problem is, this happens in the penultimate chapter of the book. And the Fae have ways of cheating when it comes to long travel (mainly in the form of what I call "folding space" to cover more ground efficiently, which works at its best in their own world), so I can't arbitrarily say the journey is too long and the messenger won't get there for a few days (especially since said messenger can turn into a bird and fly there, on top of folding space), or the Queen won't get back in time before the MC leaves and the story ends (which happens a few days after the climax, mostly summarized within the chapter). I cannot/don't want to, likewise, throw in a pointless delay like her horse breaking a leg or something, because that's on the ridiculous side to shove into chapter 19 of 20.
I feel the Queen's presence would add depth to the resolution, even if it seems slightly redundant during the rest of the plot. I want my characters to see that the villain is strictly the black sheep of his family, and his parents and sister are all perfectly reasonable, even for Fae who consider themselves superior to humans. Even the King's one villainous act (sentencing the MC to death for maiming the prince in self-defense after the prince goes nuts and tries to kill her) is motivated out of a desire to uphold the law. When everything calms down, he is the one who relents and lets the MC and her family leave his kingdom safely. (This is mainly to repay the life-debt owed to them after they save him, but still.) I'm very tempted to have the Queen call out the King on his reasoning for acting against the MC (because she's the only one with enough authority), especially since the MC did all in her power to warn him that the villain was plotting against him, but he brushed her off.
The character in question is the Queen of the Unseelie Court, and the mother of the main villain. Notably, she is not a villainous character at all, but a reasonable authority figure like her husband, the King. For the majority of the book she has been away from the Unseelie stronghold for business reasons, but after the events of the climax she is summoned back to deal with things.
I can't seem to find a logical reason for her NOT to show up at the end. She is by no means a neglectful mother to her children, and she had every intention of returning in time for her son's wedding (the date of which got bumped up several weeks without her knowledge), which never happened anyway for various reasons. Only after the climax, during which important Fae are wounded or killed (spoiler: the prince dies after trying to assassinate the King, who is saved by the MC and her allies), is there time and means to inform her of what's been going on. Naturally, when she hears about things she is going to rush back home as fast as possible.
The problem is, this happens in the penultimate chapter of the book. And the Fae have ways of cheating when it comes to long travel (mainly in the form of what I call "folding space" to cover more ground efficiently, which works at its best in their own world), so I can't arbitrarily say the journey is too long and the messenger won't get there for a few days (especially since said messenger can turn into a bird and fly there, on top of folding space), or the Queen won't get back in time before the MC leaves and the story ends (which happens a few days after the climax, mostly summarized within the chapter). I cannot/don't want to, likewise, throw in a pointless delay like her horse breaking a leg or something, because that's on the ridiculous side to shove into chapter 19 of 20.
I feel the Queen's presence would add depth to the resolution, even if it seems slightly redundant during the rest of the plot. I want my characters to see that the villain is strictly the black sheep of his family, and his parents and sister are all perfectly reasonable, even for Fae who consider themselves superior to humans. Even the King's one villainous act (sentencing the MC to death for maiming the prince in self-defense after the prince goes nuts and tries to kill her) is motivated out of a desire to uphold the law. When everything calms down, he is the one who relents and lets the MC and her family leave his kingdom safely. (This is mainly to repay the life-debt owed to them after they save him, but still.) I'm very tempted to have the Queen call out the King on his reasoning for acting against the MC (because she's the only one with enough authority), especially since the MC did all in her power to warn him that the villain was plotting against him, but he brushed her off.
Sage
Scribe
