Introducing Saffi, the White Cat

Hello, people.  I hope everyone is having a lovely week.  Am I the only one who is excited that Independence Day is in two days?  I doubt it.  I enjoy being patriotic, and this is one of those days where everyone else is patriotic too.  Also I get to go to Charleston tomorrow, which is terribly exciting.

So far we've met Owen and his brothers.  I must say, as of right now I am still waiting for Owen to wake up and take his place among the living characters.  I feel like I am writing a piece of cardboard.  I like Damien much better.  Owen's name means 'young fighter,' but he has shown little spirit as of yet.  We need to connect.  I think we'll be spending some disciplinary time together.

Damien (meaning - tame) is definitely my favorite of the three princes.  Wallace (meaning - stranger) is my least favorite.  I feel a bit of apathy toward Owen so far.  He needs to straighten up.  I don't know how to wake him up!

Frustration reigns.

Instead, I will talk about Saffi, the heroine-ish person in the story.  Everyone calls her White Cat, which is not exactly a term of endearment.  Of course, Owen, who hates cats, can't stand to call her that, so he makes her tell him her real name.  Her real name is Sofia, but he calls her Saffi for short.  Innocent little Saffi (meaning - wise) does not quite *get* Owen.

"The human face is a hideous thing, a figment of terror to haunt your worst, your darkest nights.  To lay eyes upon it is to go mad.  To wear it is to be a monster.  It is the epitome of every evil demon and shade rolled into a mask of darkness and fury.  You must never even think to look upon it, or it will ruin your mind forever."  ~ Marra Bevrigal

For instance, Saffi's aunts, the three sisters that raised her, have never allowed her to look on a person's face.  She's never actually seen what someone looks like before, because all the servants must wear heavy veils around her, and even she has to wear the White Cat mask all the time.  There are no mirrors in Castle Gellara, and Saffi has only ever seen her mask reflected in spoons or bowls.  Since she always wears her mask, the servants speculate about her true looks to Owen when he shows up.  Popular gossip has it that the sisters (two of which are dead at the time Owen arrives) keep her face covered because it is so beautiful that any man who sees it will instantly fall in love.  This is completely false.  The old women have an entirely different reason, which I obviously can't divulge for spoiler reasons.

In fact, the old women have told Saffi that the human face is a disgustingly ugly thing that she must never try to see or she will have terrible nightmares.  You might think that this is silly, but Saffi has been fed this lie ever since she was a baby, so she really believes it.  When Owen first arrives at the castle, he is wearing a helmet with a visor.  When he tries to take it off, she screams and makes him keep it on.  Thus Saffi begins by thinking that Owen is actually a villain, because who else would try to give a poor girl nightmares?  Poor Owen has to walk around with his heavy helmet and hot visor on all the time, though.  That's not fun.

Sabine, Owen's horse

I like Saffi.  She's definitely the fair-damsel-in-distress type of person as opposed to the go-getter lady warrior or even the fun-loving-and-still-strong-minded-but-not-really-into-swords type of girl.  After all, it would be difficult to be strong-minded and fun-loving if you have been repressed, secluded, and lied to for your entire life.  Saffi, even though I'm not writing from her viewpoint, is more real to me now than Owen.

He really needs to get his act together.  His horse has a better personality than he does.  That's not neat.  Horses should not be more fun to write than main characters.  That goes against my brain on so many levels.

Aside from that, I am really enjoying this story.  I am now drawing close to 14,000 words.  Time to get back to writing now!

Thanks for reading, and God bless,
Kathryn