Gabriel is the prince of the Spring realm. He has been sent on a quest to the Winter realm to find out why his realm has been losing its power. He comes in contact with a poisonous arrow laced with ice bane-a substance the turns its victims veins slowly to ice–the one thing he as a Springling was supposed to avoid. His first interactions with Erianna are not what one would think would lead to a blossoming love story. He sees the beauty in Erianna and his love helps her see the beauty in herself, just like our valiant Prince in Christ.
Gabriel’s magic helps his realm thrive and brings beauty to his realm, but he views his magic as weak and a poor expression of what a strong Prince is supposed to look like. When he demonstrates his magic for Erianna and draws a beautiful rose out of the cold hard earth of the Winter realm, Erianna is in awe of his ability to bring life from something so hard and lifeless. Often times music or the arts are viewed as weak or not a strong gift for men and being viewed as caring or gentle is viewed as the opposite of masculine. In my stories, the male characters have gifts of music or flowers or different things like that, but they are strong, valiant warriors as well who seek to protect their realms, their families, and the women that have been placed in their lives. They show strength in emotion and their gentleness does not detract from their power and strength. David in the Bible was a poet and a musician, but he also was a protective shepherd who defended his sheep, killing lions and bears with his bare hands, stood up to a giant that threatened the character of his God, and went onto lead as a mighty warrior king. He cried. He laughed. He experienced great sorrow but also great moments of joy and dancing. He was not a weak king and that’s what I wanted to portray in Gabriel and the male characters in these books. And the women are not weak either, but there is strength in both male and female characters and strength in serving and ruling and protecting when done together.
Ashley Beach-Author and Storyteller 