Royal House of Shadows

Royal House of Shadows Video

The History of the Kingdom of Elden

Once upon a time there were four royal siblings, lost…cursed…

Except that’s not where this story begins.  No, this part of the tale starts earlier when the Kingdom of Elden was ruled by a powerful vampire king and his beautiful magic-wielding queen.  Together they brought peace and prosperity to their lands, happiness to their people and heirs that brought light and joy to the realm, as well as hope for a brighter and more joyous future.

But there cannot be light without shadows, and lurking in the dark waited the Dark Sorcerer.  Driven by his need for power and fueled by the evil of blood magic, he stole into the castle under the cover of night and killed the king and queen, enslaving the people of Elden.  Now the kingdom is dying a slow death; the plants shrivel and die, leached by the dark magic of the sorcerer while his flesh-hungry creatures taint whatever they touch.

Before taking their final breath, the royal couple was able to weave their magic one last time, casting their children into the far corners of their world.  Only their power is weak, and each heir is tangled in webs of the dual enspellments, impacting their magic and memories—a mysterious timepiece their only link to home.  Time is ticking away….

Today the Blood Sorcerer sits on the throne of the king he killed, sending out his minions across the lands to find the missing heirs before their memories and powers return and they join together against him and restore the Royal House of Shadows.

Tick…Tock…Tick…

Read about how these four authors, as friends, came up with their own twist on fairy tales in the Royal House of Shadows

One of the first ideas the four of us had when we began brainstorming the Royal House of Shadows series was to do retellings of our favorite fairy tales. The concept changed and morphed as we discussed the idea further, but there are still fairy-tale elements in all of our books. The following discussion will give you a little bit of insight, and some behind-the-scenes info on what we love about the tales that inspired us.

Nalini: I love, love, love Beauty and the Beast, so it’s no surprise that my story plays with ideas of beauty and of beastliness. However, it’s not as simple as a direct retelling of the fairy tale—because sometimes it’s the monster who’s the most beautiful one of them all.

Gena: I totally agree, Nalini! I picked Alice in Wonderland and had my heroine wake up in a whole new world with vampires, shifters and magic—and then had her fall for the Mad Hatter! Well, okay, the only hat my bad boy hero wears is his princely crown, and his "mad" is actually white-hot fury, but his dark side is really sexy, promise.

Jessica: Mmm…I love me a sexy, powerful man with a dark side, Gena. That’s why when we started talking about doing modern (and magical!) retellings of classic fairy tales, I went straight to a story idea I’ve wanted to do for a while: a take on Little Red Riding Hood where Red can kick some butt in her own right and isn’t about to just roll over for her hero, who is a lone wolf sort with secrets of his own.

Jill: Count me in with Nalini, Gena and Jessica as being drawn to the beast, and with the retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears my heroine has to deal with three of them! And like any fairy-tale maiden, she can’t pull herself away from the most dangerous of them all. Is he bear? Is he man? Or is he a little bit of both?

Nalini: So, it’s agreed—we all love dark, sexy and possibly brooding men? *grin* What I also find interesting is how we were all equally drawn to the idea of retelling a fairy tale in our own words. What’s the fascination do you think, with these age-old tales?

Jessica: I don¹t know about you ladies, but I’m fascinated by how these fairly simple stories tap into both fear and attraction, and how the two can be flip sides of each other, or sometimes mix together. In Lord of the Wolfyn, it’s not just the heroine who’s afraid of—and drawn by—the wolf…. He’s equally wary of the emotions she arouses in him, and fights the pull, knowing that his feelings for her could destroy his quest for revenge against the Blood Sorcerer.

Gena: You just gave me chills, Jessica! I love it—and now I want to date your wolf. (Have him call me! If your heroine won’t beat me up.) For me, fairy tales have all the ingredients necessary to satisfy my romantic heart. Two people who discover true love, willing to do anything, slay any monster, to be together. A sometimes seductive or sometimes not so seductive villain. And a dash of magic to help or hinder. Oh, and did I mention true love? *grin*

Nalini: I agree with Gena—that’s such a brilliant way to put it, Jessica. Originally, of course, the tales we’re all so familiar with were even darker, and that clash of fear and attraction even more visceral. I also think the ideas and emotions in fairy tales are so very basic and elemental that they resonate with us, regardless of what century or time we’re in. (And I don’t know if you should let your wolf call Gena—she totally has a harem of hotness that she refuses to share ).

Gena: I so do!

Jill: I also love how a fairy tale plucks someone out of all they know and drops them (often kicking and screaming) into another life. Living that struggle and being forced to find something deep inside to not only survive but to grab that true love and happiness taps into something I think all of us share. Throw in a sexy vamp, werewolf or berserker, and you have a very fun mix.

Gena: Such a great point, Jill! I’ve always been a fan of the fish-out-of-water theme, which is probably why I cast my heroine as an everyday, average human who is thrown into this realm of hawtness with shape-shifters, Berserkers and magic. (Poor, poor girl *grin*) All at once, she has to acclimate to the new world, and deal with falling in love with a seductive vampire prince.

But you know, what I found even more fascinating than retelling our favorite fairy tales was building the world of Elden together. One of us would make a suggestion, and the others would bounce from there, until an entire kingdom with people and creatures and rules pulsed with life.

Nalini: Berserkers, vampires, sorcerers, dangerous lords and werewolves…we had a lot of fun with this world didn’t we? I really love how we were able to create a world that allowed all four of us to explore very different ideas, including very different paranormal elements, while still linking the books together.

Jessica: You’re sooo right, Nalini! One of the coolest parts of putting this series together was how when one of us would say, "I’d like to do XYZ with my story," the others wouldn’t just be like, "Sure, we can work with that…." Instead, it was: "Wow, cool! Okay, if she does that, then we can do this, and this, and this!" In the end, each story turned out very dark, very sexy, and very different, yet with a fairy tale and a love story at its core. I love this reminder that romance is limited only by our creativity!

Jill: Jessica, I’m smiling just remembering how much fun we had together building this world. I looked at my notes and realized we first began creating Royal House of Shadows just a few days before 2010, and now here we are – four heirs and four books! I love the Kingdom of Elden, and am so excited we’ll also be able to share some of Elden’s history and the time before our stories begin with readers.

Gena: And then, of course, share the stories themselves *grin*

We hope you enjoy exploring the world of the Royal House of Shadows as much as we enjoyed creating it!

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