I find myself getting back into the swing of things and I want to give this story concept another try. Ideally I am looking for a writing partner has read at least one of Jacqueline Caery's Kushiel or Naamah series, it is not a deal breaker. My character will be Alexander Bastion de la Courcel, Prince of the Blood and First Sword to the Queen of Terre d'Ange. As far as your character, I am open to any idea pitch and am willing to discuss. Here is a sample from what passed before when I gave this a go. My on and offs and other samples of my work are in my signature block below. Hope to hear from you soon.
It was the height of Autumn and the tail end of the harvest, a time of celebration throughout Terre d'Ange as farmers, craftsmen, tradesmen, and nobility alike honor yet the end of another season, and this season's harvest has been by all accounts been among the most bountiful in living memory. Fetes a plenty mark the coming weeks, and among the nobility it was a time to renew acquaintances, renew old friendships and alliances, or forge new ones. Where the layman's work was done, the nobility's work was just beginning, and the coming fetes and celebrations each important in their own way for the future of the Houses of Terre d'Ange.
This was also the height of Courtship among the nobility as unwed daughters and sons were encouraged to gather and mingle at court, and alliances between Houses forged with the announcement of betrothals and pending marriages in the coming Spring. While the game of courtship was normally for those ladies and men that had reached their age of majority of that year, there were a few exceptions that matriarchs of the greater and lesser Houses kept a hawkish eye upon. The mothers of the houses were ever on the lookout to improve their political and financial situation of their House, and an advantageous marriage into the House Royale would be exactly such. That was why Alexander Bastion de la Courcel, First Sword of the Crown, Comte de Chalais and Prince of the Blood, felt like a stuffed boar about to be devoured by a ravenous horde.
The brother of the Queen and as of this moment fourth in line for the crown was considered a prize stag that any house with an unwed daughter wanted to take down for the "kill" and have him stuffed and mounted for the wedding alter. As such, the Autumn and Spring celebrations always put Alexander on edge and temperamental. After his experience with Desiree Shahrizai, Alex wanted nothing to do with nobility, matches, or to be frank women in general, and of that that sentiment was extending towards his royal elder sister, the Queen, her Majesty Vivian Isadora de la Courcel.
For the last two years Alexander had escaped the Autumn celebrations in his estates in l'Agnace, only traveling to the City of Elua at the last possible moment to be there before the Longest Night, but he found no such reprieve this year. What was a polite request from sister to brother turned into a royal command this year, couriered to Chalais by royal messenger demanding the presence of her First Sword and Queen's Champion for the Tournament of Flowers. It was a royal command that did not go over very well, and as a result Alex refused to exchange a word with his sister in public, and barely civil words in private, which Alex tried to be sure was as little as possible. Even at an event such as a joust Alex could not escape the machinations of his sister and put him on display for all to see. It made him plucked like a fat autumn goose, a feeling that sat ill upon him.
