Character interview of Arthur from Dawnflight by @KimHeadlee #RLFBlog #Arthurverse #Giveaway

Today on The Maze, meet Arthur the Pendragon from Dawnflight, whose dragon symbol--adapted from a Pictish stone in the Meigle Museum in Perth, Scotland--forms the cover's tribal overlay.

Interview questions were developed by Kayelle of the Romance Lives Forever blog (#RLFBlog), and I am grateful for her support of authors!

RLF: Tell us about yourself, please.
Arthur: I am Arturus Aurelius Vetarus, Dux Britanniarum—that is to say, my name is Arthur son of Uther, and I command the army that defends the northern Brytoni territory of the Isle of Brydein from Caledonian, Saxon, Scotti, and Angli threats. I am Roman by my father, and descended from the Aurelii emperors: Antoninus Pius, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. My mother is Ygraine, chieftainess of Clan Cwrnwyll of Brydein—though the circumstance of my birth prevents me from becoming chieftain after her.

RLF: Authors call what you want but cannot have "the conflict" -- what is yours?
Arthur: When I followed my late father to become Dux Britanniarum, what I had wanted was to be granted an exception for my illegitimacy by the elders of Clan Cwyrnwyll so that I could be designated my mother’s heir. But that desire became as nothing the day I met Gyanhumara, Chieftainess of Clan Argyll of Caledonia. I knew she was the woman who would share my vision for a united Brydein and help me bring it to pass. But she was betrothed—by a stipulation of my own treaty with her people—to Urien, my greatest political rival, a man who will stop at nothing, including war, to achieve what he wants.

I cannot bring such a calamity upon those I have sworn to protect.

Perhaps you might be wondering why I do not simply void the betrothal clause. I could—for any man of aristocratic status. As a bastard, I do not qualify under the treaty terms. The day I had drafted that accursed document, I had never thought that in half a year I would be meeting the woman I crave more than breath itself.

RLF: What can you not do (but need to do) during this story?
Arthur: Some of my advisers might argue that I should kill Urien and be done with the matter. The fact is that Urien’s father and mine were great friends and allies, and Chieftain Dumarec has graciously extended that support to me. Dumarec’s men form the backbone of the legion I command, and killing Urien would kill that alliance.

But if there is another way to make Urien pay for his disrespectful—and sometimes hurtful—treatment of Gyanhumara, I swear by all that is holy that I shall find it.

RLF: Tell us about your significant other, that person who makes living worthwhile.
Arthur: Gyanhumara is a chieftainess of the Caledonian people by birth, and a warrior and leader of warriors by training. Her clan, Argyll, led the southernmost Caledonian clans to attack the Brytoni settlement at Abar-Gleann, though Gyanhumara herself did not fight in that battle. If she had, I would have worded that damned betrothal clause far differently, I assure you.

I do not love her because she is gorgeous, or wealthy, or intelligent, or amusing, or amazing, or skilled with a sword, or because a union with her will help to strengthen the fragile peace between our peoples. Indeed Gyanhumara is all of those things, and more. But take away all those attributes, and she would still be the woman for whom my heart thrums its most joyous song.

RLF: What would that person say about you?
Arthur: Hah! Probably that I am secretive, private, and unreadable—because I must strive to keep my feelings for her buried. I would shout my love for her from the very gates of heaven itself, but not one moment before I determine how I can nullify her betrothal to Urien without inviting disaster.

RLF: What special skills do you rely on?
Arthur: Uther and his best general, my cousin Merlin, taught me strategic and tactical thinking, as well as the ability to recognize good counsel and abilities within others. I credit these skills as the reason I was able to defeat Gyanhumara’s people in my first battle as Dux Britanniarum. No doubt they attacked because I was untried as a leader of men, and although I despised the loss of life on both sides of that conflict, it pleased me to prove the Caledonians wrong. Yet it pleased me even more to turn former enemies into valuable allies.

My foster brother Cai would likely name as a “special skill” my ability to bring out the best in men with but a word, a nod, sometimes no more than a brief touch. I cannot explain why this is so, but I have observed the results myself and know that Cai is right. And I am grateful for this ability of mine, for I need all my soldiers to function at their very best in order to help me keep Brydein safe.

Thank you, Arthur, for choosing to open up to us today!

View this awesome narrated book trailer for Dawnflight:

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