Blog Tour Stop for Chael's Luck - Character Interview + Excerpt + Giveaway

Today we have a VERY special post for you and as apart of Chael's Luck blog tour we have an awesome character interview. So read below!!

1.     So, how do you all know each other? When did you meet, etc.

Harry: Well, there we were, Hal and I, watching as the rest of the five year olds coming into the training arena, when this little runt of a boy gets off of his pony…

Chael: Hey, now.  I wasn’t that much smaller than the rest of you back then!

Hal: Ah, but you were.

Mac: No, really, Chael, you were.

Harry: Will you guys quit it.  I’m trying to answer the question.  <rolls eyes>  But honestly, Chael, you were. <grins>  Anyhow, he gets off of his pony and tells us his name is Chael.  Of course, we start to laugh, I mean, who names their son after the god of bad luck?

Mac: You forgot to tell her we were all five and that we were all there because our fathers were Knights.

Hal:  I think that was implied.

Chael:  No, I think Mac’s right.  You should specify that.  It might get confusing.

Harry:  Well, I don’t need to specify anything now that the three of you have been interrupting with your little bits of information.

<Everyone waits for the other to continue>

Ian: So you all met at the first day of the Knights’ training and the reason you were there was because your fathers were Knights.

Harry:  You make it sound so boring.  <sighs>  Yes.  That’s how it went.

2.     How did you feel when your Knight's trials were ruined?

Chael: Angry.

Harry: A bit confused, honestly.

Hal: In pain.

Mac: At least just your arm was broken.  I had cracked ribs to show for it.

Chael:  Bloody hell, I couldn’t wrap my head around any good reason why Caleb would stoop so low. 

Mac:  I mean, it was almost expected that he try to sabotage Chael’s chances of winning, but when he tried to take the rest of us out…

Ian:  You knew he would try to hurt Chael?

Chael:  No, no.  Nothing like that.  Mac would have warned me.  But Caleb’s been a thorn in my side since the day I got off my pony that first day.  He’s always hated me.  I just didn’t realize how much.

3.     What did you think of Chael's involvement and how it was dealt with?

Mac:  As usual, Chael put everyone else ahead of him.

Chael:  I didn’t do anything the rest of you wouldn’t have done.

Harry:  You still had a chance to win and you decided to help me get Mac back to the city.  And we all knew how much you wanted to win, Chael.

Hal:  Not to mention that you took a hit for Harry that almost broke your arm right before you were set to fight in the tournament.

Chael:  Caleb was about to hit Harry in the head even though he’d surrendered.  Harry didn’t see it coming.  I did.

Ian:  So what was done about everything that occurred?

Harry:  Chael was given the fight he asked for.  He fought Caleb for the honor of top Shadow Knight.  Caleb decided the sparring weapons weren’t doing a good enough job and switched to his dagger.  When he managed to get Chael on his back, he tried to choke the life out of him.

Ian:  Bloody hell!

Chael:  <grins> That’s what I thought!

Hal: General Krane ordered Caleb to leave the arena and the King banished him from the Knighthood.

4.    What did you think when you heard the news of Chael's father's demise?  Did you believe the rumours?

Hal: Definitely not.

Harry: Never.

Mac: It was obvious he was being set up, we just couldn’t think of who it might be.

Chael: <smiles gratefully>

5.     What did you think when Chael returned and you found out what was really going on?

Mac:  It was a lot to take in.  I mean, not only did he let us know what was really going on with the murders and why the book had been stolen, but he finally let us know what he’d been hiding all these years.

Harry:  That pretty much sums it up.

6.    How did you feel about the big secret?

Hal:  It was definitely shocking and yet in a way, it just made sense, yeah?

Harry: <nods> Yeah.

Mac: <laughing>  By gods, Hal, the look on your face when you realized what he’d done!

Chael:  Yes, I do believe Hal’s was the best reaction.

Hal: <grins> Yes, well, let’s just say I’ll never look at you quite the same way again.

7.    Did it change your views and loyalty?  Did you understand the need for the secrecy?

Harry:  I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we didn’t blame Chael for keeping this secret.  Had he revealed it, he never would have been able allowed to train for the Knighthood, much less become the top Shadow Knight in the class.  The fact that he had already proven himself as a man and a Knight definitely made accepting what he’d kept from us easier to handle.

<everyone nods in agreement>

8.    So, you all decided to follow Chael regardless.  Why?

Mac:  Like Harry said, we knew from years of training with him that he was a Knight of great honor.  Just the fact that he had come back to Gleama to warn us of what he’d found out even though he knew the city was looking for him in regards to his father’s murder was enough of an indication he could be trusted.

Hal:  He thought he would be judged, arrested, and maybe even killed for his lie and the crime he was being accused of, yet he still came to warn us.  There was no question whether or not to follow him.

9.    What were your first impressions of Ian? Did you trust him when you found out who he was and what his circumstances are?

Harry:  He seemed trustworthy enough and the fact that Chael vouched for him was good enough for me.

Hal:  I’ll admit I had a few moments of doubt.  I mean, he’d walked away from the Knighthood and disappeared.  It didn’t seem like a far stretch to think he might be in league with those who were seeking to destroy us.

Mac:  He saved Chael and helped him on his quest to get the book back from the one who had stolen it.  I trusted him.

Chael:  Though I had a hard time trusting him at first, I’m sure that had more to do with the fact that I didn’t know him and I was just finding out that most of the people I did trust were all turning against me.  But Ian’s proven himself to me, to everyone, time and again.  Quite frankly, he was a big part of why I finally revealed the truth.  When the time came when others questioned whether or not he could be trusted there was no doubt in my mind that he could be.  After all that’s happened, no one will be fool enough to question where his loyalties lie again.

Ian:  <nods his thanks>

10.  It seems like there is a lot of drama at court and amongst the Knights.  Did it surprise you when the truth was finally revealed?

Mac:  I think that with everything we found out, by the time we heard the why and the who that was behind all of this, it really just didn’t matter anymore.  We needed to end it before things got carried too far.

Ian:  I have to say, I was shocked.  After everything I’d been taught and how my walking away from the Knighthood had been received, to have this happen was mind blowing.

11.  What are your most memorable parts of the quest, good or bad?

Harry:  The best part of this adventure would have to be how it ended.  <grins>  You can’t beat a happy ending… well, happy for most, I suppose.

Hal:  The worst moment was by far the one where we found out what was going on.  That one moment seemed to shatter the Knighthood.

Mac:  I’ll have to go with Harry and Hal on this one, though a close second to the best moment would have to be the look on General Krane’s face when he heard Chael’s secret. <laughs>

Ian:  I’d have to say that going back to Gleama was both of those things for me.

Chael:  Finally being able to be honest with those I care for, though I have to admit it was nerve wracking to say the least.  As for the worst, well, my father’s death.

12.  If your story were to be told, how would you describe it?

Hal:  I’d say mine would have to be a bit of a comedy.  It can’t really be anything else when you’ve Harry for a twin.

Harry:  I’ll agree with Hal.  Though, you have to admit, brother, we did have quite an adventure.

<Hal nods, grinning>

Mac:  It’s definitely been exciting.  I won’t complain if the rest of my life stays completely normal.

Ian:  I think I’ll have to say that my story is sad, but turns into a very happy ending.  When the impending end of the world as you know it allows you to find the woman you love, well, it’s hard to complain.

Chael:  <smiles>  Well, I suppose my story has already been told, hasn’t it?  I’d say full of bad luck, life-changing, and, well, completely unexpected.

Excerpt

The sound of Klora’s nervous whinny put me on alert and I took a deep breath to try and pull myself together.  I pulled an arrow from my quiver and notched it before plastering myself to the door frame.  Whisk’s deep growl turned vicious.

“Hey, now, good pup.”

I peered curiously at the man that had saved my life.  One of his eyes was swelled shut and he’d managed to get cut along the top of his thigh, though not too deeply it would seem due to the lack of blood soaking into his dark brown pants.  His dark green tunic also had spots of blood on it.  I didn’t think any of it was his.  He brushed the dark blond bangs out of his eyes and reached into his pocket.

Whisk continued to bare his teeth, seemingly unaware of the fact the stranger could have been pulling a weapon.  I let my arrow fly and smiled as it dug into the tree just inches from his face.

“I’m quite fond of that dog.  I wouldn’t do anything stupid.”

He looked up and light grey eyes met mine.  He smiled and proceeded to pull a piece of jerky out of his pocket.  Whisk quickly put his teeth away and sat, his tail thumping the ground.  I rolled my eyes.

“Whisk, you’re a traitor.” 

“My name’s Ian.”  He patted Whisk on the head.  I turned and walked away, ignoring his shout of ‘wait, son, I want to help’.  I sat by my father’s body.  I registered the man’s light footsteps coming into the kitchen and I tensed, my hand on my dagger should I need it.  I looked across my father as he sat.

“My name’s Ian.”

“Chael.”  I tried to keep the tears from spilling from my eyes.

“Was this your commanding officer?”

I nodded then shook my head.  “Yes.  He’s my father.”  I could tell he was observing me.  “What?”

“I was just thinking you look a bit young to be a Shadow Knight.”

“I’m eighteen.  I’m just small.”

We sat in silence for a moment.

“Do you want help to get him onto a blanket?”

I nodded, unable to get any words past the lump in my throat.  Ian moved to his head and I took my father’s feet in my hands.  We laid him under one of the large apple trees.

After rummaging through the shed, Ian was able to find two shovels.

“Do you have any particular spot in mind?”

I nodded.  “The cherry tree.  My mother’s buried under one.”  I tried to take solace in the fact that my parents could finally be together again after such a long time apart.  I stabbed my shovel into the ground.

By the time the hole had been dug, I was aware my side was throbbing horribly.  I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the pain.  Ian sat to catch his breath.

“Are you alright?”

I bent over to ease myself to the ground and cried out as the throbbing turned into a sharp pain.  Ian rushed to my side helped me onto my back.  A nervous shiver ran through me at the shocked look on his face.

“What?”

His eyes wide, he lifted the hand he’d had under my back so I could see it.  It was covered in blood.  The memory of the pain as the masked man had tackled me, stabbing through my thick leather vest flashed through my head.  I realized Ian was pulling at the laces that held my vest together.  I slapped his hands away.

“Leave it.  I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding.  Now take the damn thing off so I can have a look at it.”

I shook my head.  “Help me get my father in his grave first.”  I sat up and quickly lay back down as spots swarmed my vision.

“Chael!”  Ian swore under his breath, something to do with Chael’s luck, and I tried to protest as my vest was pulled over my head.  This was quickly followed by my tunic.

Ian paused for a fraction of a second before turning me onto my side to inspect the wound.  He pressed his hands over the wound and the last thoughts I had before I passed out from the pain was that this man must have amazing self-control not say anything about what he’d just seen.

A huge thank you to all the characters that joined us today and if you enjoyed this post, don't forget to add Chael's Luck to your Goodreads TBR list.

GIVEAWAY! 

The author is also offering an e-Book copy of this book. If you would like to be entered into the draw then, please comment on this post, leaving your name and email address. You can also be entered in a final draw to win one of five swag packs. So if you would like to be entered into that too but PLEASE LEAVE A SEPARATE  COMMENT for the swag pack. (International) Ends April 17th.

The next stop on the tour is My Book Chatter Blogspot.