Three's Company

The dwarf Lord Vanril, the snail-like General Gusk and the gypsy witch Sasha. Oh, and Adam.

One of these things is not like the others. Three of these people are not nice. Their only goal in life is to bring about the return of the Forgotten Evil.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Don't read this unless you've finished The Fourth Queen, or don't mind spoilers. The three baddies fail and Adam changes sides. When Adam, a ten-year-old boy, is introduced, he is working for the bad guys. He spent his life underground as a slave in a mine. They send him above ground to stop Zandria and Olena in their quest. He gets his revenge by helping the sisters instead.

*****END SPOILER*****

Vanril, Gusk and Sasha were all created as recurring characters. Until the final showdown with the Forgotten Evil, the girls need other nemeses. We probably won't ever learn much more about them than that they like to do mean things. (The preceding sentence might win an award for the most repetitive use of "th")

Adam serves a better purpose. He is the same age as Zandria. While that age is still young, as the characters grow older, their relationship may develop into something more. Adam also becomes one of the identifiable characters for male readers. True, The Fourth Queen is a classic fairytale about two sisters, but boys like fantasy-adventure too.

I needed a guy like Adam to balance the story. Besides, he's a good kid, only a little misunderstood.

There's one other male lead still to be introduced. Before then, I'm going to act like George Lucas. Next post, I will spout off about fairytale structure and the Hero's Journey.