Ida

Character 4, this is Ida. She'll be narrating one of the later chapters, depending on when I get round to deciding whether she'll be in first or third person... She's an archer, descendants of which I have attributed to Sir Tristan.

I have found that Watercolours are particularly difficult to keep light, without losing the colour. Ida is meant to be Scandinavian, and I wanted her to have really pale hair and skin. I have to say the photographs are better than the original for conveying that, but her hair is still a bit too dark. I tried repeatedly to make her hair lighter by adding several layers of white on top, but they don't seem to have worked.

I think the lesson learnt here is to not try and paint things that are too light....

"The rally continued for several more flying retorts before Ida got fed up and threw something at him. It must have been Ida, it was her aim and the speed that it flew at, and the sound of his pain caused by the direct impact; it could only have come from an archer."