Dawdlehand

In the wake of her father’s death, Miriel journeys to the Capitol's unfamiliar terrain, tasked with arranging her betrothal. She decides upon Mark, her old friend, with whom she parted ways years ago.

Meanwhile, Mark returns from his days as a soldier. What is it that lurks beneath his eyes, once familiar, now opaque? Their paths cross once more, igniting a mixture of joy and pain, familiarity and uncertainty.

As they reconnect, Miriel and Mark face the ghosts that have shaped them. Through shared laughter and tears, moments of quiet understanding, and the struggles of confronting their fears, they begin to heal. Their journey is fraught with challenges, but also filled with the promise of new beginnings.

In a world where love is both a comfort and a challenge, Miriel and Mark's story unfolds with tender intimacy. Their bond, forged in the fires of their trials, grows stronger, leading them toward a future they once thought impossible.

Will the sun bless their pairing, or will fortune guide their parting?

An Unremarkable Pairing

To anyone reading this, you have my gratitude.

I have a few professions and apologies to make.

I had no big ambitions when I wrote this story, I just wanted to write a story. An ordinary, mundane, unremarkable story. And for better or for worse, I believe I have succeeded.

I wrote with no forethought or proper planning, neither researching nor reading other romance novels beforehand, or novels in general.

With hindsight, I am now aware of my error. As it is the reason why I have decided to end the story here.

That, and a multitude of other reasons.

I wished to explore what it would be like to write a story in a third person objective perspective, and to limit the 'telling' part of the narration and promote 'showing' to my utmost.

The former I have, belatedly, understood to be a bog. It was difficult thinking of what to write to flesh the story out, being unable to add any personal mullings or info drop.

And the latter made me wonder if I was being too vague. I wondered if people would be able to tell or at least guess what the character was feeling at particular moments, from their reactions and words.

I shall stick to third person personal and/or limited perspective for any future stories I write.

As for the latter, if it was too vague I shall try to clarify it with more hints. And if that is still too vague, I shall switch to more telling (and maybe add unreliable narration).

Then we have the genre. The romance genre is neither my main interest nor is it included in my staple novel intake. Of the few I had read, there were certain aspects of the stories I reviled.

It was my humble desire to add a more preferable alternative to those parts. Which I hopefully have, even at the expense of malading the story.

After which is structuring and plotting. Writing this story helped me understand a better way to plot and structure. I planned to end this in 100k words (which I have fallen short of), separating it into 10 parts, 10k words each. I had more planned, but nonetheless I have decided to end the story here.

Looking back at the story has bestowed me with ideas for the setting, pacing, and events of the story which would have likely made it far more mesmerising and entrancing. I believe I would have thought of these very ideas if I had been more lax with my plotting and embarked on a more fleshed out direction.

Though I am quite satisfied with the knowledge I now have from my exploration.

Thus ends my apologies and professions.

My main genre is fantasy, and I plan to write a fantasy story next. This time, with the full ambition and drive that it may be a success.

If I ever write another romance novel, I promise to deliver a more interesting and investive story.

For now, to whoever is reading this, I bid you adieu.

Afterword