One of the most significant objects featured in The Heir of Ariad is a simple pendant once worn by the legendary messenger, Camuel. In writing The Heir, I included the necklace as a means of creating friction between characters. Camuel's role in the story was initially as more of a figurehead than a person—a famous warrior and beloved grandfather whose death meant more to the plot than his life.
As is often the case, though, Camuel refused to remain so two-dimensional. He had lived a pretty epic life, after all, and he would not be swept under the rug as a backdrop character! Though he doesn't appear in The Heir of Ariad, he has carved out a place for himself in future projects . . . and even in The Heir, he lives on through his grandson, his legacy, and of course, his green-leaf pendant.
Simplistic but tasteful, the leaf-shaped pendant was given to Camuel by his daughter—a gift to remind him of her love and of his people, the Robins, when he became a messenger for the King. The position promised travel, danger, and status, but it would also keep him from home for extended periods of time. He wore the necklace in tribute to his daughter, and it became his trademark.
In the years that followed, Camuel of Robinsdwel became world-renowned—the servant of Aradin, known far and wide as the messenger of the King himself. Even when his daughter's rebellious streak slashed their bond to pieces, even when she vanished without farewell, even when he discovered that he had an orphaned grandson, he never removed the necklace.
Treachery and plots began to brew in Ariad, setting in motion a dark saga that tore apart more lives than Camuel's alone. It was on a bloody battlefield that the chain left his neck for the first time, where, with his last heartbeats, he placed it in the hand of a Man named Brondro Tarmilis.
The necklace would pass to his grandson, Rydel. An heirloom of their family.
Well, it turned out to be a little more complicated than that. But that's another story.
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