This is it, the last blog of the series.
I knew Princess Ingrid would be the last character to venture into the universe of where author and character speak to one another. She’s just that way. She is always the center of attention, always making her presence known, whether you want it or not.
This time I find myself at the beach, relaxing and working on Kingdom Rules II. The sun is behind the clouds and the weather is cool. It’s the middle of the morning when she arrives. The clouds hide her very pale skin from the direct sunlight. Having a tan is the sign of the working folk that toil outside in the sun. Pale is a sign of nobility.
“You’ve been talking to the others,” she says. “You must be pretending to be undecided.”
I chuckle at the remark and scramble to pull my thoughts together. I’m still in Kingdom Rules II vibe.
“Not pretending to be,” I say. “I am.”
She looks at me and laughs. “You say and write the dumbest things sometimes.”
This is going to be worse than I thought. We’re two sentences in and she’s already in control.
“You do the dumbest things,” I say, attempting to be clever, “and you can’t blame it on me. I put you in places you wanted to be in. The rest was up to you.”
“I did what I needed to do,” says the Princess. “You create the other characters that get in the way.”
“You had your moments,” I say. “You’re very adept at what you do.”
Now I’m showing signs of cracking. Why do I always sympathize with her? I should’ve just picked her as most interesting and gotten on with it. But I can’t do that. I have to see this world I’ve created with no biases.
“I’ll have many more too,” she says. “I’ll have the last word when it’s over and I’ll be a heroine in the end.”
“Demoness,” I mutter under my breath.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you call me a demoness?”
“Do you think you’re a demoness?”
“Don’t try the head doctor crap. You created me—you know who and what I am.”
That I did, but then I lost control. How does a writer allow a character to get away from them? What happened to my day at the beach?
“Let’s get back to the reason you’re here,” I say, wincing, while looking out toward the horizon. I grab for my sunglasses and slide them on.
“Take those off,” she says. “You’re only hiding your eyes from me.”
Really? I don’t need to be taken to task like this.
“Do you think you’re the smartest person in the kingdom?”
“I know much, because I listen to what is going on around me and do the digging when I need to. Just like you.”
“Is your goal to make me look like an idiot today?”
“There are some things I want to hear you say.”
“Seriously? Like—”
She cuts me off like a slice of bread from a loaf. “Why did you create me like this?”
“I thought you were going to be a very interesting—” Oh, shit. I’ve done it now and played right into her hands.
“That’s one thing I wanted to hear.”
“Damn you to darkness,” I say, using the curse from their space in time.
“Temper, temper,” she says, laughing her arse off.
“What else, may I ask?”
“Don’t be an arsehole. You’re better than that.”
I swear I’m going to write her out of the story. No, I’m not. As a threat, that was as empty as a bucket with a hole in its bottom.
“If I say you’re the most interesting, will you go away?”
“You’ve already admitted that.”
I gather my things, shaking the sand out of everything I touch. Is there really sand on them or am I stalling by taking my time? Thorough, I tell myself.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Going back to the condo.”
The wind is picking up, and it blows my papers into a flapping sound.
“Why did you create me the way you did?”
I turn to face Ingrid and look down at her with a frown. “I thought a princess that was in open rebellion against royalty and all of its trappings might be fascinating reading. Manipulating Sir Renoldus adds to the intrigue and sets off a chain of events that will be difficult to navigate.”
“Hostile, aren’t you?”
I give her the evil eye, even knowing hers is better. She can make people go away with it as if she’s punishing them like a dog being smacked on the nose. I turn and put my sunglasses back on as I start my walk back to the car. Then I stop and look back for Ingrid. She’s not there and I say to no one in particular, “Thank goodness.”
“Just where are you going?” says Ingrid with a smile only she’s capable of. It’s full of things good and bad. And that’s the problem for others in her world.
I freeze. She can disappear and reappear?
“Where did you go?” I say.
“I just wanted to show you I can come and go as I please. You can’t just dismiss me.”
“I can and will. You got what you wanted, so it’s off to the pages of the book you go.”
With a stunned look on her face, she opens her mouth to speak but is gone before she can get it out.
Without further interruptions from Ingrid, I complete some writing and planning—it certainly wasn’t one of my better efforts. This time I gather my stuff, not bothering to shake the sand out of it.
Standing, there’s the feeling of dread we’ve all had. I pat my pockets anyway, knowing they’re not inside my shorts. At my feet in the sand? Of course not. The keys have gone missing, and the beach is not the place to lose them. I gently put my stuff down. Maybe not so gently.
Vaguely, I sense someone is staring at me. Anger sets in knowing someone is watching me play the jester. I might as well be wearing a cap ‘n’ bells. Cementing my role, I stare into the sand, hoping they’ll reappear magically. Vague is shifting to distinct.
I raise my head to search—there’s a red-haired woman looking my way. Oddly, she’s not dressed for the beach. She’s twirling something on her finger and the object in her hand is shiny. Oh, no… she’s got the reins to my horse and the keys to the castle.
This is just great. How can she do that? No character can be genuine enough to take physical objects. But if it were possible, it would be Ingrid.
Closing in, I realize the woman isn’t the Princess. As my characters might say, thank the gods, and by cliché, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“I found these on the ground, sir,” the woman says.
“Thank you. By the way, my name is Derek, and I truly appreciate your finding them.”
“I’m—”
I cut her off. “Ingrid.”
Stunned, she replies. “How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess, I suppose.”
I take the keys, smile, and I’m on my way home.