With her smirk still in place, Nienna said, “Tell me, Master Galbraith, as the master thief of this city, what’s the most valuable thing you ever stole?”
~The Phoenix and The Wolf
Ross cocked his head to one side before taking a cautious step toward her. His palms grew sweaty. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. “I’m not sure I’ve stolen it yet.”
Sometimes a scene almost seems fated when it appears to an author, fully formed, with the characters, setting, and dialogue that makes it feel as if you are there as a witness rather than the creator of fictional people and places.
This is how the inspiration for my favorite chapter, “Stolen” from The Phoenix and The Wolf, came to me. I had been reworking my storyline (yet again) the night before, and I’d gone to bed with the thought:
“Ross has never kissed Nienna, and we’ve been building up to it for five books.”
As morning approached, the answer unfolded as if I were watching a movie behind my eyelids.
If you have read The Fire Drake, you will recognize the cathedral that features in “Stolen” as the one where Ross frequented as a youth while under construction. He’d spent many nights exploring the vast building, touching up places the artisans had missed, and taking a breather from his life among the gangs of Lambswell.
This cathedral is also the place he meets his dead mentor’s ghost at the end of the prequel. Wesley had meant everything to him. The guilt Ross felt over his death had eaten at him for years, but that moment allowed him a chance to make peace with his past and have a chance at a better future.
Because of these emotional ties, it felt natural for Ross to want to share his sanctuary with the girl he’d been falling for over the past four books when they arrived in the city together.
As the pair climb to the top of the cathedral to get a better view of the city, we get to see a moment of playfulness and sweet romance between them. They get to show off their skills learned as thieves as well as relating some of the wild tales that had spread about Nienna’s time as “The Queen of the Night” from book three.
What really tied this moment together, however, and made their first kiss carry the emotional weight it needed was how this night was also the summer solstice. Something Ross had been trying to share with Nienna since The Earthspark.
Too many payoffs happen in this chapter I can’t even begin to name them all, so my advice is to pick up your copy of The Phoenix and The Wolf and start reading. Also, check out this piece of human-made artwork that was inspired by this chapter.
This original painting was done by hand with acrylic paint on an 8×10 canvas, then digitized, and retouched in Procreate and Photoshop. This image is copyrighted. It is illegal to make copies and share them as your own. Please get in touch on how to obtain your own copy if you want a print.
Vanessa Thurgood
Vanessa is an award-wining author and dabbling artist. She loves roaming the mountains and filling her notebooks with adventures to fuel her stories. Check out her full list of books using the button below.
