Character Interview -- Cyprian Miles

 And we're back with yet another interview! This one with the fan favorite. The one and only Grumpy Cinnamon Roll Assassin.

    Meeting Cyprian for an interview was a lot trickier than meeting Torrin and Briley. 

    For one, I had to actually convince him to show up. And then we had to find a place to meet. The Aliki cabin wouldn't work, for obvious reasons. So we settled for meeting in Zora's tavern. After hours. At night. When I should be sleeping. 

    I pushed through the swinging double doors. The room was dark, save for the lantern set on the bar. Chairs were stacked up on the tables after the cleaning that had taken place earlier. A pitcher of lemonade and two cups sat next to the lantern. 

    Cyprian perched on a bar stool, back hunched and elbows resting on the bar. 

    I sat down beside him. "Hello, Cyprian."

    He barely spared a glance my way. Dark circles shadowed his blue eyes, and his face looked even paler and younger in the lantern light. 

    Did I feel guilty for making a little sixteen-year-old baby have to serve as a double agent, spy, traitor, and assassin? 

    Absolutely. 

    Did I also love the drama? The angst? The danger? 

    Yes. Most definitely. 

    I smiled and turned on the stool to face him. "For your sake, I decided to stick to easy questions that won't bring pain and heartache. The first one is how did you get Fury?"

    He pursed his lips and tapped his finger against the bar. He held up his hands, forming an oval. 

    "She was an egg?"

    He nodded, then mimed cracking the egg and cradling a baby. 

    "So you raised her from a hatchling?"

    He nodded again, tapped his chest, then waved his arms around. 

    It wasn't a very clear gesture--and I could understand why others would have a difficult time understanding him. But I had the advantage of being his author. 

    "Every Shadow raises their own dragon from a baby. This is to form a bond, correct? Do you get the eggs from a...a hatchery of sorts, or do you have to find a wild dragon nest?" 

    He held up one finger. 

    "The first, huh. Okay. I didn't know I had any dragon hatcheries in my world. Interesting." I pulled out my phone to make a note of that. Sometimes I surprise myself. 

    (Yes. I know. I am writing this. I'm writing the characters. It's a mystery, don't ask how it works)

    "What made you chose Fury?"

    He rubbed his chin, trying to figure out the best way to answer that. He hated talking because of his stutter--which was adorable, but one can't really tell that to a Shadow without offending him--and I didn't know regular sign language. 

    Finally, he sighed. "She, she, she's s-strong and, um, she, she can hide in a-any, any environment. And, and her, uh, her tail can c-cut through, uh, anything. I, um, I, I needed that ad-advantage, since I, I'm smaller than, um, the other, other, other Sh-Shadows."

    I nodded. "Makes sense. I love writing y'all's relationship. Did she ever give you any trouble while growing up?"

    He pointed to a faint scar just behind his ear. 

    "Ouch. Was that an aggressive attack or just an accident?"

    He held up two fingers. 

    "Okay, the second. An accident. Yeah, I can imagine the accidents that could happen with a baby dragon that has a razor sharp tail. How hard was it to find a dragon like her? Her breed isn't very common here at all. In fact, she's the only one in the series."

    He shrugged. "P-pirates, um, they, they brought in, uh, fo-foreign eggs for the, the, the hatcheries. Since, uh, since, since I work for the, the king, I, um, I, I got it pretty cheap. The, uh, the hatcheries, they, they're illegal. So, um, they were eager to, to, to get on King C-Corynth's good, uh, good side."

    "Interesting." I made another note on my phone. "Maybe I should write some about you getting Fury. I'd like to see baby Cyprian and baby Fury. Y'all would be adorable."

    He scowled and shook his head. 

    "Okay, sorry, I won't say that." 

    "Are, are, are we done here?"

    I hesitated, weighing my choices. Cyprian was already a stubborn character to write, sometimes going silent on me for weeks. If I forced him to continue the interview, he could quit talking for months.

    But on the other hand, maybe this interview would get him to open up more and make him easier to write. 

    "Do you have any fond memories growing up?"

    "...when, when, when Peter f-found me and, and when Fury hatched. Those, um, those were the best, best days of my, uh, my life." He didn't look at me. "Other than, um, than that, no."

    Yeah, I wasn't exactly nice to him. 

    "Do you think you could end up making friends with any of the people you've met in Fallen King?"

    He tilted his head, then shrugged a shoulder. 

    "What about Briley?" I coaxed. "You're more relaxed around her. Opened up a little too, in Broken Crown."

    (Which was a mild spoiler, yes. But sometimes I just couldn't avoid them.)

    He nodded slowly.

    "And you get along with Zora too. And Torrin."

    "...friends, um, friends are, are, are dangerous. I, I like them. But I, I'm not making friends. Not, not anymore than, um, than, than I have to."

    "What about if you make it out of the Shadows?"

    He shot me a look, as if to ask "What do you mean by if?" "If I, um, could, could, could live a n-normal like, then...yeah. I, um, I, I probably would."

    "What about Roscoe?"

    His expression flattened and he should his head emphatically. 

    I giggled. "Okay. That'll be all. Thank you for coming to this interview." And actually answering my questions. 

    He grunted, got up, and silently left the tavern. 

.

.

Thank you for reading! If you liked this interview, please share with your friends!

You can read more about Cyprian in book one, Fallen King.

And you can follow me on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with characters and writing!