Introducing… The Governess (A Character Profile)

As you may already know, I’m currently 50,000 words into the first draft of my (as yet untitled) debut novel. Whilst it’s felt like a seemingly gargantuan task getting to this point, I do feel like I’m starting to really make a dent in it now. There’s still a long way to go, but I thought it would be a fun idea to start sharing some snippets of the world and characters that have been living in my head (and more recently on paper) for such a long time now. Huuuuge disclaimer though, these details are almost definitely going to change at least somewhat before the book gets finished. As I’ve come to learn, things are very fluid when you’re writing a book, and this is despite the extremely detailed outline and pre-planning I went into the process with. Still, I think this’ll be fun.

Just a little bit of background to my novel first though. It’s an epic fantasy story set in an alternate and medieval world full of magic, secrecy and power struggles. The plot begins with an historic and bloody rift between the deeply divided Northern and Southern kingdoms escalating to the verge of full blown war, and we’ll be following the adventures of a few individuals in particular, each with their own crucial part to play in the unfolding drama.

I thought I’d therefore start today with a brief spotlight on one of these characters. Her name is Monika Olsson, but most people know her chiefly as The Governess. Now, I’m going to have to try and be fairly light on the detail so as not to reveal any big spoilers, but hopefully you’ll still get a flavour of what this wise but fearsome lady is all about.

Character Profile: Monika Olsson a.k.a. The Governess

Monika Olsson is quite honestly the most famous mage on the continent (note how I don’t refer to this landmass by name, because of how certain I am it’s going to change yet another five times), and for very good reason. She had an enormous role to play in bringing to an end the Great War more than twenty years ago, and as a result she was nominated by a victorious but terribly distraught and grieving Southern Queen to lead a united continent in her place. It’s first ever Governor (or Governess, in Monika’s case).

It was a role that a youthful Monika had initially resisted taking up, instead satisfied to return to the comfort of the mystical northern woodlands her people called home. She soon became convinced though of the role she believed she could play in finally moulding a new kind of world. One that would never fall into such depths of chaos and horror as it had in years recently passed, and a place where lasting peace may actually be possible.

When the Queen later came to make Monika’s role permanent, she however refused. She was convinced a new democratic way of rule was the necessary precedent moving forward, and she would only continue in her appointment were she elected into it by the people. It had been how the Council of Mages had been determined for centuries within the woodland realm she had left behind, and she believed it was time for this philosophy to now extend further afield too. Once a rather displeased Queen had approved the move, Monika’s reputation as a war hero and diplomatic bridge between the customarily distanced races of human and mage led to a sweeping majority.

It was a victory the Queen also sought to cement with an immediate marriage of purpose for Monika to one of the esteemed Lords within her own court. A trade-off Monika had wearily agreed too for the sake of the greater good, but also one that led to the subsequent births of her two precious children.

For twenty-two years thereafter, Governess Monika had enjoyed five subsequent re-elections as head of the continent before any real issues of constitutional significance arose. With the world now a much different place to that of two decades ago, her most recent victory had caused quite an uproar in an increasingly disgruntled Northern Territory. Its local government had now labelled her successive victories a stain of corruption on the continent’s history, with her governorship little more than a dictatorship cloaking the ageing Queen’s own thinly veiled rule.

With the continent’s union now on the verge of collapse, Monika was for the first time witnessing an unprecedented decline in popularity, even amongst her most loyal circles. This too came at a time when rumours had began to fiercely circulate of her eldest son Lukas’ sudden disappearance from the Capital three months ago. According to the recent gossip, his departure had in fact been a decamp to the rebel factions in the North who tirelessly plotted to bring her down.

This is where we join Monika in my novel, with things certainly not looking altogether rosey for her. She is however one of the wisest and most influential people in the Kingdom, and so by no means is she on the out just yet. There’s still plenty more we can expect to see yet from this trailblazing mage.

I think that’s about as much as I want to share for now (in all honesty, I’ve already revealed far more than I had intended!), but I’ll leave you with a couple of trivial tidbits about Monika before I sign off. Firstly, her name has a meaning of ‘Advisor’ in Swedish, which is significant as Sweden is the country heavily inspiring the woodland realm she originates from. Secondly, her weapon of choice (aside from all those mage powers) is a longbow. She is in fact very proficient with one! Finally, she has three pet eagles. They are named Chestah, Loghan and Alsa, and she loves them very much.

That’s all from me for now. Let me know what you think of The Governess so far. I’d really love to hear your thoughts. Now, back to actually writing my book! Thanks so much for reading.

- Tom

You don’t want to mess with a woman who has three of these. Trust me.