SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t read Twilight’s Princess and you don’t like spoilers, wait to read.
In a previous blog, I mentioned that the whole inspiration for Twilight’s Princess actually came from her daughter, Nazira. I imagined King Phoenix’s niece coming to the Twilight Realm confused and upset because she just learned that her father, the king of the Night Realm wasn’t her father. This took me to her parents, Daniel and Zyanna.
Twilight’s Princess begins with Zyanna knowing nothing of her past. And in one day, her life and everything she thought she knew was proven false. After discovering she’s pregnant, she questions her relationship with Taven, and then finds out he’s cheating on her. At home, she learns she’s the lost princess of the Twilight Realm and her mother is really her nurse. Now she must flee to the Twilight Realm with a spy her brother sent for her, but the crown prince, Daniel, of the Night Realm discovers her identity and asks to escape with her for his own reasons. As they try to leave the city, they’re captured and taken to the Night Realm’s king (Daniel’s father). The next day, she’s forced into an engagement with the crown prince who doesn’t love her. And so begins their love story.
This story was a lot of fun to write and the push and pull between Daniel and Zyanna made for interesting plot moments. Like any ‘stuck together’ trope, how could these two characters fall in love? Daniel clearly loved someone else and Zyanna wanted to escape.
The first issue was getting the characters to notice each other. Daniel is a bit of a rescuer. He realized that Zyanna was hiding something and wanted to protect and help her. He found her when she ran away from the palace and covered for her. Then he started the dance lessons which gave them time to plot their escape but also get to know each other. He finds Zyanna is a woman of grace and after growing up with a manipulative, controlling father, he feels there is finally someone in the kingdom he can trust.
Now that Zyanna was spending time with Daniel, she couldn’t help but notice that he was a much better man than Taven. She saw that he was lonely and she quickly became his confident. As a result, she was conflicted about leaving him alone in the Night Realm with a cruel king, Daniel’s father. And can she trust him with the news of her pregnancy?
But a forced engagement wasn’t enough. The king learned of their plans because he has spies (The Unfortunate) everywhere, so a wedding was arranged. Daniel still promised to help Zyanna escape but now neither wants to leave the other though they haven’t revealed their growing feelings yet.
As the writer, Zyanna’s and Daniel’s love story was a gentle tug-of-war. There were so many elements between Zyanna and Daniel. It was like they were two sides of one puzzle and as the story progressed, the pieces between them fit until the picture was completed.
And Nazira? She grows up with two very loving parents not realizing Daniel isn’t her father until one day… and her story begins.
If you haven’t started the Twilight Series, then check it out on Amazon.
K. M. Wray 