With the background to In Pain and Blood all settled, my muse has turned her worldbuilding attention to the next in the lineup: To Target the Heart.
This one’s a little trickier, being that the narration will be split in two. But also fun in having the Main Characters, Darshan and Hamish, trying to find a middle ground when there are things wildly different in the two cultures.
On one hand, there is rigid Tirglas, whose customs haven’t changed much for some centuries. Then there’s the far more fluid and extravagant Udynea Empire, which has absorbed so many different customs that you could find contradictions from one side of the land to the other.
And there are some rather strange things popping up as I smooth out the plotline for the latter half of the story. The Udynean half…
One such thing is the obsession with light. People who are romantically involved don’t say ‘I love you’. That’s reserved for family members and very dear friends. Instead, a lover is met with the declaration that said person is ‘my light’ (or ‘mea lux’ if you’re upper class). If it’s one that clicks on a soulmate level, then they will announce to others that this person is ‘my eternal flame’.
And it all stems from some messed up religious love story they have where the queen of the gods falls for a mortal woman and, eventually, is forced to either let her be murdered by the king of the gods or turn her into a ball of fire… that she just so happens to mount on her crown… and is depicted with in all her statues…
Ah, just smell the romance…
All I know is that Hamish’s reaction to the story goes a little something like…
Aldrea Alien 
Hahahah, you know, that’s awesome. I like that it’s completely absurd and one of your characters calls it on it, and yet you were the creator of that religious element. It’s fun. 🙂
Oh, btw, I tagged you in a blog hop too.
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An old love of mine is the old myths. I grew up with tales of Maui and fell in love with the Ancient Egyptian stories (alongside the Norse and Greeks myths). So much to churn away in the depths.
Worse still, I laughed when it first came to mind and added it anyway. It just makes so much sense for Udynea. Sure, worship the Queen of the Gods who committed adultery and turned her mortal lover into the first eternal flame! Poor Hamish. He must wonder what he’s got himself into.
Omg, that blog hop looks evil. I think my first post was a review… all the way back in 2010.
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