Isabel

I am readying to add a cool new scene to TMT, introducing the Duchess of York. Now that I know the Duchess, AKA Isabel of Castile, is going to be one of my MC for Book 2, I want to bring her in--after all, she's already there in the same castle as Katherine. But I also have to be aware of how critical her characterization is. What I do here I'm going to have to stick to, at least to some degree, in the next book.

I am so pleased that Isabel was such a fascinating person, though. That makes it a great deal easier. Here are a few tidbits I know about her, going into this scene:

• She is very small (4'8"), dark, and has "strange, forked teeth".
• Her father was the King of Castile, Pedro "the Cruel", known for being crazy and torturing people, among other things. Her mother was his mistress, not his queen.
  
• Her father was killed by his own brother in a battle for the crown of Castile.
• She loves luxuries and rich things, and has lots of expensive jewelry.
• She is 32, and currently 9 months pregnant with the child of her lover, the Duke of Exeter. (okay, I made up the pregnant part, but the lover part is supposedly historically true)
• Her sister is married to John of Gaunt; her nephew by marriage is the King of England.
• She's got personality. I can tell just from the research--she is scratching at me to tell her story. Yay!

So, back to work now. Y'all will get to meet Isabel later!

Medieval Word of the Day: leind: a hiding-place, refuge.