I’ve talked an awful lot on this blog about the main character in A Bit of Gold — which is, of course, Seth Stendahl. He’s the lovable, language-stumbling, somewhat nerdy alchemist whom everyone fell in love with in Diamond, and is now busy about accidentally creating synthetic gold.
Allow me to deviate from Seth today, though, to focus on some other characters. Characters that are quite important in Seth’s life, and have been super instrumental in shaping who he is.
His sisters. All six of them, if you please. Yep. Six.
I had four sisters growing up, and a gaggle of five girls living in the same bedroom taught me a few things. Particularly, each sister is very different. Each one has their likes and dislikes, quirks, vices, pet peeves, etc. But in many ways, they are alike; it’s easy to bond them strongly over a shared love or interest. And although we all loved each other dearly, there were still some squabbles and misunderstandings to be had. And Seth’s sisters are no different than my sisters and I.
(Sorry; no pictures because I’m lazy and I’m not 100% sure what they all look like.)
Allita
Allita Stendahl is the oldest of the group, but she doesn’t really act like it. Instead of looking out after her siblings, Allita spent her young years training with swords and rapiers, and now she boasts the greatest blade in Trothen. She is in much demand for her fencing exhibitions kingdom-wide, and she participates frequently in tournaments. For this reason, she is rarely home and isn’t all that interested in what goes on there.
Bianka
Bianka Stendahl has to fill the role of the eldest since Allita won’t step up to the task, and she feels that heavily. She’s the one who bothers about making sure all of her younger siblings are in order and doing what they should. She is not as vocal as some of her other siblings, but she has the hottest temper among them. She may be small in stature, but she has a handful of ferocious dogs at her beck and call to help her maintain her control.
Cyndia
Cyndia Stendahl likes to whittle small animals out of wood. And that’s about all Seth really knows about her. She’s quiet, unpredictable, prone to physical attacks when greeting a sibling. If anyone stepped up to wrestle Cyndia, they would probably lose… unless the fight took place in the dining room; in which case, Cyndia would begrudgingly bow out of the match in light of her mother’s rule about not fighting in the dining room.
Dalvira
Dalvira Stendahl is the most loquacious of the bunch, and she’s very proud of her role as a successful spy. She doesn’t talk much about what she does, but she has no trouble bossing people around and getting to the bottom of issues. She’ll tell you bluntly to your face what she thinks of you, and can have you on your back in a moment if you want to disagree with her. Dalv loves to learn things, and there’s nothing worse in her estimation than outdated information.
Editha
There’s also not a lot to be said about Editha Stendahl. When it comes to the blessed language of Trothen, she’ll set you straight in a regular grammar-nazi fashion. She travels a lot throughout the kingdom (and probably further than that, if you could get her to answer your questions), but what she does on these travels is a mystery. Seth is not sure if he’s the only one in his family who doesn’t know Editha’s job, or if the rest of his sisters are in the dark as well.
Fanella
The youngest Stendahl sister, Fanella is probably the most tender-hearted of the bunch. She prefers to stay closer to home to help their mother run the family estate, and besides she has a lot of friends that she enjoys in their hometown. During Seth’s travels, she was the only sister who would write to him and give him news of the family. Even though her red hair frames a sweet complexion, she wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to give you a good poke in the ribs if it suited her.
~*~
And that’s about all Seth can say for his sisters. Most of fairly mysterious, and don’t like to talk about what it is that keeps them busy from day-to-day. In one thing they are all alike — not one understands their brother’s alchemy. While it is useful and beautiful at times, it is the one thing that he can do better than anyone. I would dearly love to explore each and every one of them with their own story, but that would stretch out the Once Upon a Twist Tales much longer than anyone would want!
Have you gotten your copy of A Bit of Gold yet? Which sister is your favorite?
God bless!
A Synesthete Writer 