The third story of four from "Smiles Under the Moon" is my personal favorite of the bunch. It is "When the Warm Winds Blow - The Cupbearer's Tale."
It involves the queen of an island nation, and the queen's closest ally, the "cupbearer," a title for personal assistant. The cupbearer is the viewpoint character, and she spends the entirety of the story trying not to let the queen destroy her own monarchy.
Along the way the cupbearer learns about the old, ailing queen, and discovers much more in her than just a queen. She battles an angry parliament, untrustworthy guilds, and the queen's savage and mercurial emotions.
I took a lot of inspiration from music for this story. The three songs I remember most clearly are "In My Arms" by Ancient Bards, "After the Fire" by Circus Maximus, and "What Did You Do in the War, Dad?" by Sonata Arctica.
In this story, a character from one of the previous two makes an appearance, much to the main character's dismay. Interested in this or the other stories? There's still time to pre-order!
🙂🌔
It involves the queen of an island nation, and the queen's closest ally, the "cupbearer," a title for personal assistant. The cupbearer is the viewpoint character, and she spends the entirety of the story trying not to let the queen destroy her own monarchy.
Along the way the cupbearer learns about the old, ailing queen, and discovers much more in her than just a queen. She battles an angry parliament, untrustworthy guilds, and the queen's savage and mercurial emotions.
I took a lot of inspiration from music for this story. The three songs I remember most clearly are "In My Arms" by Ancient Bards, "After the Fire" by Circus Maximus, and "What Did You Do in the War, Dad?" by Sonata Arctica.
In this story, a character from one of the previous two makes an appearance, much to the main character's dismay. Interested in this or the other stories? There's still time to pre-order!
🙂🌔