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Writer's pictureMark Sanders

The Friends We Meet: Captain Pritchett

Some characters are too interesting to be killed off.

The Spring of Llanfyllin was a journey of discovery for me in many ways. In a larger sense, I learned what it was like to compose a novel without a clear outline or specific plan. Instead of sticking to plot, I tried to follow Stephen King's advice to be true to my characters and let them lead me where they will go.


In the same way, those characters led me to other characters who grew larger and more prominent in the narrative after I encountered them. In no other way is this more true than with Captain Pritchett, a military commander on the outskirts of the kingdom.


I envisioned Llanfyllin's provincial borders with keeps (small fortresses) on the main roads between kimdoms, and Pritchard commands the keep on the border between Macnylleth (the home of our co-protagonists, Dylan and Siannon) and Aberystwyth, the kimdom to the north, where Siannon is leading her people to refuge from the Norse invasion.


The border keep was supposed to be a stopping point meant to convey the realism of how long it takes to walk or ride 20-30 miles a day, in this case, through heavy snow. Pritchett was a cameo, someone for Siannon to bounce exposition off of, followed by his quick and brutal death at the hand of the overwhelming Norse forces certain to follow.


Except a funny thing happened along the way. As Siannon is diverted from Aberystwyth to a more daring route, a rider from the south arrives to give her a message:


The rider was racing toward them; they could see snow flying up from around the horse’s hooves. He must have anticipated Siannon’s reaction, for when he came within sight, he raised the standard he had secured along the side of his saddle. The colors of gray and violet stood out against the bright white snow.


“Secure your bows, men,” Siannon said. “That’s the King’s Guard.”


Siannon approached the road and waved at the oncoming rider. He slowed his horse as he came nearer, stopping a few feet away from her. The horse’s sides heaved in and out, great clouds of steamy breath issuing from its nostrils.


“Captain Pritchett,” she said. “I must admit, I expected you would be dead by now. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that I was wrong.”


“If I had died every time someone expected me to, I would have been dead a long time ago, your highness,” Pritchett said. “I’m glad to see you, too. I suspect you made an extra copy of my map?”


“Aberystwyth is in the hands of the Norse,” she said, “and we can’t make it to Llandrinded through the snow. We don’t have anywhere else to go.”


“You don’t know how right you are,” Pritchett said. “We’re not the only ones trying to make it through the passage.”


“The Norse?”


“Yes,” he said. “And they’ll be here before midday.”


I won't spoil the excitement that follows, but I assure you that it will keep you on the edge of your seat. Pritchett proves to be not only a valuable ally but also a wise friend to Siannon at the time when she needs one the most. In their most poignant scene together, he teaches her the sad truth about the burden of command.


I regret that Pritchett mainly appears in Part One of the novel, retreating into the background of Part Two and occasionally emerging as a supporting character. Having served beyond his original purpose in Part One, he doesn't have a prominent role in the second half, although I did bestow a notable honor upon him at the end.


Want to read more about Captain Pritchett and his adventures in the Norse War? Click on this HOME PAGE link, where you can purchase The Spring of Llanfyllin in paperback or for Kindle ebook readers. I'll be back again with a closer look at the novel's villians...the Norsemen!

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