The Dirty Girl

I have decided to not do a random post today, and instead do a bit of character development. On Monday (I think, it may have been Saturday) I mentioned that Jakob from Water Princess, Fire Prince was a bit too flat for my likings.

What I know about Jakob is limited mostly to his position in life and how Clara and Jill Anna view him. I know that he is the eldest son of Lord Erik of Upper Klarand, (And, for those of you who are wondering, Erik was named before Eric, and their namings have nothing in common.) and that Clara views him as not as uppity as the rest of the royal family (he's the only one to whom she reveals the secret of many of her skills, such as Fencing, for the longest time) and Jill Anna has an ... um ... hopeless crush on him that she will not admit to anyone. (Clara literally forces it out of her!)

But who he is, and what lies at his heart - I don't know that. So, today, I'm going to dig an important event out of his past. I won't tell you why it's important, but it's very important.

Oh, and grrrrr ... I do not have a picture of Jakob. (I'm still not even sure what he looks like. I might have something in its document, but I'm not sure ...) So .....

Look at the snow that fell two years ago instead!

And you can imagine it pink, because snow is pink in Jakob's world.

Oh! Look! I found a picture of Jakob in Pinterest! It's a bit modern but ... it works

Via Pinterest

(And now for the actual writing ....)

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Lor'Son Jakob wandered about in the library, eyes fixed on the spines as he waited for one to jump out at him. At long last, he paused and pulled a thinner volume off of the shelf. The words on the cover read Through the Mountain.

Jakob then wandered over to the nearest chair and sat down to peruse the book. There was something about the legends - particularly Klarand's legends - that drew his attention. Perhaps it was because they were the history of his world, perhaps because they showed times when all hope seemed lost, and yet Jeptha still brought them out of it. Perhaps it was because Jakob couldn't help but compare the desperation of those days to the desperation of this.

Some days, he wondered why nothing was done against the Lady Dragon - about Amber. Didn't anyone care that she had torn apart the land, that she didn't belong there?

But Jakob knew that everyone felt the same as he. The reason nothing was done was that nothing could be done. They had to wait for the Water Princess and Fire Prince to arrive. Only then could the Dragon be defeated.

As Jakob stared at the words that formed the story he was reading, he sent a silent prayer that that day might be soon, and that he might be of assistance to the Water Princess and Fire Prince.

The silence was shattered by the cry of a girl. Instantly, Jakob's head shot up as he looked for the girl. A moment later, he sighted a girl hidden in the shadows at the edge of the room. She wasn't looking at him.

Laying the book aside, Jakob stood up and started walking towards the girl.

At the sound of his step, she looked up, and her brown eyes met his with an almost wild expression. She was on her feet in a moment, thrusting her hand behind her back, as if she were hiding something. She was not tall - but she was covered in dirt and grime. For a moment, they just stared at each other.

"Who - who are you?" Jakob questioned. Was she a servant? But the servants weren't allowed to be this filthy. And what would a peasant be doing in the castle?

She hesitated. "Jill," she said at last. Then she broken into a run. There was a knife in her hand.

Jakob ran after her, but as soon as she rounded a corner, she was gone.

Eggs are just so pretty

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Oh, and I had some sort of Guest post on Jack's blog yesterday. I would have posted about it yesterday, but my brain wasn't working. No matter, you can go check it out now. And check out her new book while you're at it.