Bound By Heart

November 2024 Newsletter

Every curse bears a blessing.

For every possession is bought through bondage.

Bondage unto to giving soul and blood and all.

Recently rescued from prison and torture by a young dragon-rider, Rider makes his way into the magic-guarded mountains– only he does not fear the magic of the forest, for he long ago became friend to magic, and now one of the filient, the magic spirits of the wild black and white dragons, is with him.

When his touch hatches a helpless creature bonded to a human child who is held in the most fearsome and evil palace known to the world, Rider must break his nature or make the fatal choice to give everything and vow his very life to somehow finding the human child to whom the young feather-dragon is bonded. Yet in so doing he most break a part of the very vow written in his heart– the vow which makes him magic's friend– And death is least of the things he may suffer . . .

The mystical journey of one who will defy even his maker, who would rather be unmade than cower, coming to know that true kingships is to be the servant of all.

This story features memory loss and self-harm, as well as other topics focusing on the emotional and the spiritual, which may be disturbing and/or triggering.

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Hi, I'm Legend, she/ze, and we're on to our last interview this month here in the Teashop Between Worlds. Please welcome Rider from Midnight Rose's Bound by Heart. Cover art has been done by the author.

Legend: First of all, please introduce yourself. Name, pronouns if you wish, and tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Rider: I go by Rider to those I am close to, but my full, self-declared, name is Dragon-Rider, though really it all started because of the nickname I received when I was a child sounding much like the word rider in another language. I do not care about pronouns or gender. He/him are the default everywhere I have been.

I guess what you will likely find the most interesting fact about me is that I value the freedom even of beings my race has no respect for, above all life, which makes me generally no friend of humans.

Legend: Flashes him a sharp-toothed grin Not a friend of humans puts you in good stead here. Although we've known a few to be alright. Can you tell us a bit about the world you live in?

Rider: I do not know all about the world I live in. The most notable thing to me is that most of it is occupied by humans who abuse and enslave each other and any other beings which fall prey to them. They have no respect for the personhood of the magic they use for their wishes. Not all of them are mages, in fact very few are, but my bond with magic has made me feel strongly about this.

There are harsh wilderness lands which humans struggle to control, and there is magic in the eastern mountains which guards away most of my corrupt race, yet I have travelled far into those mountains and have come to no harm.

Legend: Sounds like an interesting place, if dark. But we wouldn't have stories if there wasn't some darkness, now would we. Someone interrupts from the crowd with 'cosy fantasy' and Legend tongue bleps them. Pretty sure there's still something not great, even if it's just that the tea isn't brewed perfectly. Mind, that's a big crime here. Speaking of crimes, have you ever broken a law?

Rider: I have never followed a law, so by my standards I have not broken one, but I have certainly defied the humans who consider themselves rulers, and suffered their anger for it. And I would do it again were I given a reason to.

Legend: What a very fae way of thinking. We approve. Is there a place, other than your home, that is your place, where you are content and safe?

Rider: No place is home to me. I am most content far from the rest of my race, living off my own skill in the mountainous wild. I do not mind the brutalness of the winter weather. It is in a way my one of oldest friends.

Legend: Interesting company to keep. You're welcome to pop in for a cuppa if it ever gets too cold. So I'm guessing you're not close to family. Got any siblings?

Rider: I only had one sibling, and we were never close, though she still considers me her brother. We were not true siblings, for I was brought to her widowed mother from a place far away. It happened before my memory but is a bitter and tragic happening.

Legend: If she considers you her brother, that sounds like true siblings to me. What about other family. Do you have anyone else who is part of your family but not biologically or legally related to you?

Rider: I have raised a feather-dragon from hatching, if that counts to you? And I am now his partner in protecting the child whom he loved before even hatching.

Legend: So cute!!! Sounds like something from a song. If one of your exploits was turned into a ballad, what story would you want telling? Do you want it to be true to the facts or embellished?

Rider: I would rather nothing I have done be turned into a ballad, but if it were to happen let it be false. I do not want to be known about to the world. I have endured far too much of that already.

Legend: Now, that does sound like a story. Which I suppose it is, just in a book not a song. So, with all these adventures, are you a risk-taking gambler or do you analyse everything and only take action when you know all the variables?

Rider: I am what I have to be. I have been both. I have gambled with my life more than once, and will do it again if I must, but I would rather think things through when possible.

Legend: Let's finish with the ultimate risk. Are there any circumstances under which you’d kill someone?

Rider: His throat tightens, giving his voice a grim tone. I have killed before, and I would again to protect the child and the feather-dragon I have given up even my vows to magic to serve and protect.

Legend: Sounds like they're in safe hands. We'd love to meet them sometime. The teashop is very friendly to kids. Thanks for joining us today, Rider. Audience, that's a wrap for November. Thanks so much for coming!

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