I want to know what you think about these characters and their relationship, just going off of this summary. Just for reference, it’s a Romanesque fantasy world defined by two warring peoples: The Edu and the Aenean. Arsien is, in a way, our main protagonist. We see a lot more of his thoughts and journey, starting when he’s forced to join the army by his father. At the beginning of the story, he’s kind of a jerk, fully buying into the propaganda that the Edu are savages and fanatics. In his first engagement with the enemy, he’s captured and forced to change his views over time. Arsien develops from a morally stiff, hidebound young man into a more balanced figure, acknowledging the flaws of both sides of the war. His romance with his costar Elénxes is something he denies at first. Arsien tries to bury his emotions beneath a facade of ‘I don’t care’, or more accurately, ‘I hate you’, much like a classic tsundere. However, this is broken when Elénxes sees through it, and Arsien changes into a more openly caring person over time. He struggles with the fact that his own people see him as a traitor to his blood, including his father. Arsien’s deepest wish is to be acknowledged by his father as a ‘proper Aenean’, and a major part of his arc is learning to let this go. Elénxes, on the other hand, is a more mysterious and tragic figure, cursed with a power he barely understands. We see little of his view, at least in the first book, and what we do see indicates a young man hell-bent on victory over his people’s enemies and vengeance. But this simple view is disturbed by his protecting his prisoner of war, Arsien, and treating him well. Not to mention his frequent nightmares and sleepwalking, which imply a deeper characterization. Over the course of the series, his backstory is gradually revealed and it’s quite tragic, with most of his family dying due to an Aenean slave raid. When he discovered his powers and fled to his homeland, he was revered as the chosen one, a dark messiah who’s prophesied to destroy millions and die young (more specifically, at the height of his life). Elénxes retains the viewpoint of himself as a savior, attempting to use his power to do good by smashing slavery. In the end, this only causes more destruction and horror, and Elénxes has doubts on whether he is the savior he was always told he was. Elénxes kicks off the romance between him and Arsien by kissing him and then running away. He’s afraid of hurting Arsien, attempting to push him away before being confronted. After a sincere heart-to-heart, they begin to engage in a stumbling relationship, full of false starts and miscommunication. Elénxes is in a way the less romantic of the two, but still does his best to maintain his relationship. As the war drags on, a marriage alliance Elénxes is forced into puts further strain on him. Elénxes develops from a young man bent on revenge into someone dreading his own fate, forced to realize his own mortality as his power begins to devour his body from he inside out. Although he attempts to push Arsien away again after realizing what’s coming, Elénxes eventually finds that he and Arsien can’t live without the other. As the story draws to a close, the two come to terms with the inevitable. I’m not quite sure how to end this, but it’s definitely a tragedy of one shade or another. Thoughts?
It sounds thoughtful. I'm not into the tropes you're using, so I'm not your target reader for sure, but even I felt it sounded pretty good, so you're probably doing fine I think more important is to think of your book's themes, what you've built up in terms of what is the purpose of these characters and the purpose of their lives? Sacrifices must be worth it. If you're going to submit your readers into an emotional rollercoaster or a tearjerker, there better be a good reason. So, whatever the end is for their relationship, it should serve your story purpose. Also, sometimes we just don't know till we pen the last word. I had no idea how my romance in my last book was gonna go until I finished writing.
Characters sound good (A Romeo-Juliet kind of deal due to the opposing parties). Might be hard to work in how a POW has a romance with a captor unless the captors are fairly lenient. Also, there seem to be bits where the first character Arsien is actually back home/escaped. How does the romance continue etc. My take away is: A fun premise, but there are details to be filled out of course.
I was thinking that Elénxes taking him captive is basically the lesser of two evils, what with the other option being burned at the stake for a variety of religious and cultural reasons. Adding in that Elénxes is pretty nice overall, and I think any average reader won’t mind. Arsien’s home is directly in the path Elénxes is taking, so he meets his father again due to that.
How do the characters fall in love? How does Elénxes' character arc influence/be influenced by the romance? What is the view of homosexual romances in this world?
It’s a gradual thing over the first book, as they learn more about each other and begin to develop affection. It starts as a friendship, and becomes something more. The biggest effect on Elénxes’s arc is that he begins to question whether or not he’s doing the right thing by ending slavery and devastating the Aenean Empire, and there’s a lot of conflict from that. Later on, he’s forced into a political marriage which places a lot of stress on his relationship. In Edu culture it’s relatively accepted in some places, but some have pretty negative views. It’s a coin toss. The Aenean Empire, on the other hand is... not a fan, to put it lightly. If Arsien’s relationship was revealed, he’d be killed for fraternizing with the enemy.
