Beautiful People is a monthly blog meme hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. Every month they pose 10 questions for writers to answer about their writing and give readers the opportunity to learn more about the writer’s characters.

With Eva’s blogoversary interview coming on Sunday (thanks for all your questions, by the way!), I decided to focus this month’s Beautiful People on another character from The Keeper’s Curse. Originally I was thinking of either Doni, whom you met in the recent first page excerpt here, or Eva’s cousin Gidion. However, after reading this month’s Independence Day themed questions, I realized the best fit was a totally different option: Councilor Keliam, or Keli for short. So, guess who you’re meeting today? 🙂

Quick details about Keli: He’s an 18-year-old Faerie (and one year older than Eva), and the Council of Selanaan’s spy and surveillance expert. He’s tall and athletic / slender, with blue eyes and shoulder-length dark brown hair with streaks of lighter brown. And as you’ll find out, he takes his Council work seriously, but he knows how to have fun!

1. What is Keli’s favorite ice cream flavor?

Ice cream doesn’t exist in Keli’s world, so he doesn’t have a favorite flavor… But knowing his tastes and personality, I think he’d like something fruity, sweet, and slightly indulgent. Maybe rum raisin, pina colada, or white chocolate raspberry.

2. Keli is getting ready for a night out. Where is he going? What is he wearing? Who is he with?

Keli keeps his “fun factor” in check due to the Council’s Code of Conduct. That said, he and the rest of the Council attend all of Fae’s festivals (their versions of holidays), and he always finds a way to have a good time even though he’s on watch duty. 😉

If Keli is getting ready for a festival, he’ll need to wear his Council uniform. The shirt is green-dyed cotton with golden Faerie wings, dragonflies, vines, and leaves along the cuffs, collar, and hem. His trousers and leather boots are dark brown. He’ll also tie back his hair so it’s away from his face. As for weapons, Keli will bring his sword but leave his fighting staff (his true weapon of choice) at home.

Festival activities are spread throughout the Fae capital of Netarlena, so Keli will meet his fellow Councilors at a predetermined location. From there, they’ll spread out as two duos and one trio. (There are seven Councilors in total.) Keli likes being paired with Gidion, Eva, and Nito, but he has the most fun with the newest Councilor, Doni. Together they’re likely to snack on different food offerings, participate in activities (which differ depending on the festival’s purpose), and mingle with other common Faeries more than the other Councilors would.

By the way, Keli’s birthday comes the day after the eliansiva (festival for the first day of summer), so he likes to think of that festival as a great big birthday party. *hee hee*

3. Look at Keli’s feet. Describe what you see there. Does he wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Are they in socks that are ratty and full of holes? What does he consider comfortable, and what does he consider agony?

Keli and his fellow Councilors wear leather boots like these most of the time, which are comfortable enough. He also goes barefoot at home. Out of the two, he prefers going barefoot. He likes the feeling of dirt between his toes and under his soles. Plus, it’s easier for tiptoeing and stealth missions that a spy would partake in. But he’s learned from past (*ahem*) experience that he’s more likely to cut or injure his feet if he’s barefoot.

Luckily for Keli, the Faeries have a spell that can silence one’s footsteps as well as the surfaces their feet touch. Even a twig snapping underfoot wouldn’t be heard by others! How’s that for being sneaky?

4. Does he have any birthmarks or scars? Where are they, and how did he get them?

Oh, yes, Keli’s got a few scars. Some came from wrestling matches with his peers when he was a fledgling (i.e., a Faerie child). Others have come during his Council tenure. Most of them are small, like the few on his feet from the times he’s gone barefoot. But the two most notable ones are on his forehead and a long one stretching across his back and left ribs. He got the former from banging his head after slipping and falling during his first spy mission for the Council. The latter was a nasty sword cut he received from a pirate, during a skirmish where the Council was helping the Human city of Maratel drive out corsairs who had been looting and killing sea merchants (including Faeries) in the Bay of Lazuli.

5. What kind of music does Keli listen to? Does it change depending on his mood, or is it always consistent? (Feel free to share samples!)

Keli enjoys all kinds of music. Traveling abroad for the Council has exposed him to different styles, instruments, and regional songs. But his favorite is still traditional Fae music, which uses percussion instruments (hand drums, bells, rainsticks, xylophones), wind instruments (flutes, panpipes), lutes and fiddles on occasion, and vocalizations that range from chants and high-pitched cries to choral-like intonations. Most songs are lively and dynamic, but there are also a few Fae ballads. It would sound a lot like Native American music, with some African traces. I’ve picked out a couple YouTube tracks that resemble how Fae music would sound.

6. Does he have any musical talent? Play an instrument? How’s his singing voice?

Yes! Keli plays a panpipe, and he always takes it along when traveling for Council duties. It was a gift for Keli’s 10th birthday from one of his older brothers. (Keli is the youngest of six children, with three brothers and two sisters.) He also has a decent singing voice, though he doesn’t consider himself a singer. He just likes the feeling of euphoria that comes with it. Keli is also the kind of character you’d find humming to himself if he’s flying around, walking down the street, or busy doing something.

7. What kind of book would you catch them reading?

Unfortunately, you’d never catch Keli with a book. It’s not that he dislikes reading. He’s just more of an active person and prefers to be out and about.

8. How does he spend his summers (or his holidays)?

Being a Councilor is a 24/7 job, so Keli doesn’t have days off. Summer is his favorite time of year, though, and he spends whatever spare time he has outside. Canoeing, horseback riding, practicing with his staff, “helping” Eva teach archery to Doni (well, more like watching them *lol*) – it doesn’t matter to him. Like I mentioned in #7 above, Keli is an active character by nature, and also a “people person.” So as long as he’s off with other Faeries, especially his fellow Councilors, he’s content.

9. It’s Saturday at noon. What is Keli doing? Give details (ex.: If he’s eating breakfast, what’s on the menu? Is he hiking, shopping, lazing around?)

Since Keli doesn’t have a “typical work schedule,” I’ll assume this is midday on any given day when Keli is home, and not abroad for a Council assignment. 😉

Keli’s probably off in Netarlena’s city center or somewhere in the woods of Kasialonen, doing any of the activities mentioned in #8 above. Or, he could be sitting in a tree somewhere, playing his panpipe. He might be getting hungry for lunch or a snack – if not now, then in an hour or so. Lunch will be something easy to carry, maybe a piece of fruit (apple, pear, peach, etc.) or a pouch of mixed nuts and dried fruit.

I also imagine that at some point during this day, Keli will be reminded by a fellow Councilor or his parents that he should be doing something more constructive with his time. Each Councilor is involved in community outreach projects, like public self-defense “clinics” for Faerie children, lectures at the city’s school pertaining to their area of expertise, and so on. Keli hasn’t committed to any specific outreach projects yet, even after being a Councilor for almost 4 years. It’s partly due to his free spirit, and partly due to laziness. Or maybe they’re one and the same. *lol*

10. Is there anything Keli wants to be free of?

Some people might think Keli would find the Council Code restrictive, but Keli actually doesn’t mind it. He’s apt to bend those rules once in a while, but he doesn’t want to risk being punished or expelled from the Council altogether. He knows his work is important and has worked hard to get to this point.

That being said, he would LOVE to be free of his parents’ strictness. Councilors aren’t paid for their work, so they need to live with their family or a benefactor until they retire and have a paying job. Keli views it as a “necessary evil.” He hates it when his father gets after him for sleeping past dawn or when his mother badgers him about household chores she wants his help with. He’s hated the latter as long as he can remember, and wishes his parents would treat him like the adult he believes he’s become. But he’s also resigned to the fact that he’ll have to endure it for a few more years.

That’s it for this month’s edition of Beautiful People! What do you think of Keli based on the answers above? Feel free to share your thoughts and any questions you may have by commenting below.