Who is Princess Katherine?

17-year-old Crown Princess of Maledonia. She has long dark hair that has an almost auburn tint in the sunlight, dark eyes, pale skin typical of royalty.

The second child and oldest daughter to King William and Queen Miranda. Her older brother, George, was killed when she was 15 in a freak accident, leaving her the heir to the throne. 

Katherine feels a strong sense of duty to her people and her kingdom, but she has very different ideas of how the kingdom should be run than her father, and even George. While William strives to grow the kingdom’s wealth and prominence, Katherine prefers to spend her days with the people. She is quite soft-hearted, a trait William warns will not serve her well as the Queen.

"Surely the Queen can be both kind and gentle. Why won't he listen to me? I can do more than entertain courtiers and marry well."

Katherine is an accomplished rider, and looks forward to her daily rides along the forested trails and the beach as a means of escaping from the stress of her life as the Crown Princess.

Photo by Niko_Shogol at canva.com

So, who is Katherine?

Katherine was difficult to figure out. Her character went through several significant modifications before I was (mostly) satisfied. I’m still not convinced she’s complete. Every time I think about her, I discover another nuance to her motivations or her backstory. 

She’s very personal to me, but I had to learn how to separate my own self-image from hers before she could really start to shine.

At the beginning she’s struggling with her desire to help her people, while trying to follow her father’s directions. 

"I can have friendships with the townspeople, but can I actually rule them? A queen must be different from a friend."

Katherine values her friendships with the townspeople and fears losing those friendships if she makes harsh or unpopular decisions. But, as her father warns her repeatedly, that kind of attitude will lead to a loss of respect. 

"Show any hint of weakness and the people will take advantage of you."

All this makes her yearn for a simpler life, one where her title doesn’t affect every interaction she has with others. She longs to have real friends, not just acquaintances who use their connection to her for social status.

"Why couldn't she have a real conversation with a friend, with no ulterior motives?"

I think that’s why her friendship with Naithan and the other Vaelians means so much to her, even before her relationship with him becomes romantic. Her title can’t do much for them, and they don’t really care either way. They can see her loneliness and feel her genuine love for them, and that’s enough reason for them to welcome her with open arms. (Well, most of them. But that’s a discussion for another time.)

During one of her secret visits to their village, Katherine has a moment of realization:

She finally understood what she’d felt looking in the mirror back in her chambers. She hadn’t seen the Crown Princess. Only Katherine, no title attached. 

But who was she if not the Crown Princess? Could she actually give up her title, her life and duty in the palace, her family, to join these people? Could she give up the opportunity to make a difference in Maledonia? And if not, what was she even doing here with him? 

And this desire for friendship makes her sacrifices so much more meaningful. She doesn’t want to be unpopular, and yet she makes several incredibly unpopular decisions – decisions that get her rejected by nearly the entire kingdom. That was the hardest part for me to write - that wrenching feeling of being so completely alone. It’s painful. Even though I knew (spoiler alert!!) she wasn’t actually alone in her fight, it was still really hard to take her through that.

(If you’ve read the book you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, I won’t spoil it for you J).

But she comes out the other side of that nightmare changed somehow. And that was the best part for me. I can’t really describe it, but there’s a difference in how I perceive her character before vs. after. Yes, she has some moments of weakness, and even serious vulnerability as she processes what happened. But she’s stronger. 

"That was who she was. Not a ... helpless victim. A woman of value, of strength. She was strong. And there were people here who loved her."

She finds that balance between strength and kindness that she was missing at the beginning of the novel. (the irony isn’t lost on me- in rejecting his daughter, King William gives her the opportunity to develop the very characteristics he’d been trying to teach her.)

And what is that balance? Love. 

Sure it’s cliche, but it’s true. Isn’t love the key to pretty much everything in our lives? If I love myself I won’t allow others to hurt me. If I love my country I’ll do what I can to support it. If I love the poor I’ll help them. If I love my family I’ll do anything for them. If I love those who try to hurt me I’ll know how best to deal with them.

Photo by Pixabay at canva.com

In my favorite scene in the entire book, Katherine finally accepts that she is worthy of genuine love, and she can’t deny any longer that her capacity to love others is strong enough to face any challenge. It’s not that she needs Naithan to find her courage, or that her identity is centered on him, but his love gives her the perspective she needs to harness the courage she’d had all along.

"She couldn't believe it. She couldn't fathom being loved that completely. But he did.... She was worth any sacrifice for them to be together. He loved her, with no ulterior motives."

*** The images are to give you an idea of what I saw as I wrote the book. It's hard to find images for a historical fantasy that are also royalty-free, so if you'd like to see more images, check out my Pinterest board here.