Get to Know Your Characters Responses: Right-Hand Man
Happy Thursday, readers! With blog tours and the conclusion of the Get to Know Your Characters challenge, today has been an exciting day here at the blog. Do take the time to visit (and perhaps comment) on the exceptional pieces below!
Prompts Chosen:
- Your villain’s right-hand man is between three and ten. Write something that shows what their life was like at that point.
- Write about the time when your villain and his right-hand man (or woman) met.
- Your character has lost something important—what is it, where is it, and why do they need it?
The Unmaking, by Natasha Roxby
Prompt Chosen:
- Write about the time when your villain and his (or her) right-hand man (or woman) met.
Prompt Chosen
- Your character has lost something important—what is it, where is it, and why do they need it?
Prompt Chosen
- Your character has lost something important—what is it, where is it, and why do they need it?
Prompt Chosen
- Write about the time when your villain and his (in this case, random minion) met.
Prompt Chosen
- Write about a year before the start of your story.
Prompt Chosen
- Write about a time when your villain and right-hand man were interacting normally. Let us know how they talk to each other, what sort of friendship (or enmity) they have.
By—me!
Prompts Chosen
- Your villain’s right-hand man is between three and ten. Write something that shows what their life was like at that point.
- Write about the time when your villain and his (or her) right-hand man (or woman) met.
These two are my villain, and his right-hand man, from the not-yet-begun novel, By the Light of Five Stars.
Note: The word “Thond” means father. (If you’re curious as to why I used “Mama” instead of creating a word for that: “mama” is a title or endearing term for mother found in many different languages that could not possibly have borrowed from each other. I figured that, if it’s found so frequently in our world, it could very likely be found in another, too.
The shrill, desperate cry of a baby filled the air.
Mathio cringed, drawing in a breath sharp enough to sting his lungs with the cold air. Mama had said that the baby would cry, that it was a good thing—but his mind could not help but flashing back to when this had happened last time. Tumo had cried and could not stop until the day before they buried him.
“It won’t be that way this time,” he reminded himself fiercely under his breath. “It won’t. The baby will be okay.”
Only the frost witnessed the break in his voice.
Backing up against the wall of the midwife’s house, Mathio squeezed his eyes shut, wrapping his arms around his thick coat. Thond would be out any minute now to tell him about the baby. Mama wouldn’t know that Mathio had trekked across the town to get to the midwife’s house when he was supposed to be at home, but Thond would know—fathers always seemed to know.
Across town, a confused rooster crowed—dawn would not come for hours, but apparently the rooster did not know it.
To the right of Mathio, the latch clicked and the midwife’s door opened. His breath catching in his throat, Mathio pivoted toward the door.
He was latching his arms around Thond’s waist before his father even managed to get half-way out the door.
“Whoah,” Thond murmured, sliding further out of the door. “Someone is eager.”
Sniffing, Mathio nodded. “Is the baby good?”
“Very,” Thond said.
Mathio stepped back to peer up at Thond’s face, voice dropping to a whisper. “The baby isn’t going to die?”
“No, Mathio,” Thond said. “He won’t die.”
A rush of relief flooded through Mathio, the tension draining out of his muscles. If Thond said the baby would not die, the baby would live.
“It’s a—a boy?” He asked.
Thond smiled, but the moonlight illuminating his face revealed the wrinkle in his brow. “Yes,” he said. “A boy.”
“Can I meet him?”
“In just a moment,” Thond said. Taking Mathio’s hand, he guided him to the door and sat upon the step, staring into Mathio’s face.
Panic gripped Mathio again, and he reached out with his free hand to wrap it around Thond’s strong, warm one. “The baby is going to be all right—”
“Yes, yes,” Thond’s deep voice murmured.
“Then—,” Mathio started.
“Don’t worry,” Thond said.
Mathio swallowed hard and tried not to worry.
“The baby’s name is Essien,” Thond said, voice soft yet seemingly loud against the relative quiet of a sleeping city. “He is the third son.”
Mathio waited for Thond to continue, but Thond only looked at him, quiet.
The weight of his father’s words hit Mathio like an invisible punch in the stomach. “He—he will get the stars?”
“When he turns twelve,” Thond quietly confirmed.
“But—” Exhausted tears pricked at Mathio’s eyes. “But they’ll hurt him like they hurt you.”
“He’ll be all right,” Thond murmured, pulling Mathio into his arms. Mathio hid his face in Thond’s shoulder, biting his tongue to keep the despair from washing over him.
But Thond had said the baby—Essien—wouldn’t die. Thond had to be right.
“You’ll look out for him, won’t you?” Thond said, his voice vibrating Mathio.
Not raising his head, Mathio nodded. “Always.”
Pulling back, Mathio looked up at Thond’s face.
His father smiled and stood. “Wait here,” he murmured.
Biting his lip, Mathio nodded, not taking his eyes off of Thond as he opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind himself.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Mathio tried to envision what his brother’s face would look like. The images flashing across his mind matched only babies that he knew already; boys and girls he could name. Surely Essien would look different from that.
The door opened again. Inching backwards, Mathio tried to quell the nervousness rising up inside of him. Thond stepped out, a bundle of blue cloth cradled in one arm, a candlestick clasped in his other hand. His reassuring smile lit up by candlelight, Thond crouched, nodding for Mathio to approach.
Swallowing, Mathio stepped forward, peering into the face of his brother.
Eyes closed, face illuminated by the flickering candle, Essien’s tiny, beautiful face forced a jolt through Mathio’s heart.
Silently, he vowed that he would never—never leave his brother’s side.
“Essien,” he whispered, testing out the name. “Essien?”
Though Essien’s eyes did not open, Mathio could have sworn his tiny lips turned upward in the faintest smile.
Red Lettering 
So… which one of yours is the villain and which is the right-hand man? *wiggles eyebrows*
Essien ends up being the villain, and Mathio is the right-hand man. 🙂
That’s what I thought. 😀
Wooooooow… O.O These are very awesome. And so many people participated!
Yours was pretty epic, too! Thank you for participating! 😀
Those were fun to read; and I’m sure the writers had just as much fun-if not more- writing them. Great challenge for character development.
Indeed, (speaking for myself) it was fun to write these! Perhaps you can participate next time?
I would like that. Perhaps I should start a blog for the sole purpose of participating in your challenges, eh?
I’ve been meaning to ask- I enjoyed that little snippet with your Mathio and Essien so much that I wanted to hear more of the story. Will you be sharing other things about it?
Ooh! This was so much fun. I’m so glad a lot of people participated! 😀
And you already know this… But I love yours. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the challenge – and very glad you participated! 😀
Thank you! Yours was quite awesome, as well. 🙂
You’re welcome! It’s always fun 😀
Thank you. 🙂