Dracula and Mina

Is this a spoiler for War of Nytefall: Anarchy?  I doubt it only because anyone who follows the series would know this is where it was going.  If a person starts here then it would simply be that Clyde and Mab are married from the beginning.  This is constant for how they’ve operated.

I never threw a big ‘will they or won’t they’ scenario to their relationship.  It was always more of a ‘when’ question.  Mab believed Clyde was still alive for 50 years after everyone else had given up.  He has protected her when she’s been injured as if he was the one under attack.  She has done the same.  They’ve trusted each other through everything, so marriage felt like the most natural course.  Given how the last two books are back-to-back, it was Anarchy that needed this to happen.  Otherwise, it would have to occur after the adventures were over.  Didn’t want it to go that way.

Through this change, I was able to evolve Clyde and Mab as individuals too.  With Mab, she’s now working towards being a more active ruler instead of the thief lurking in the shadows.  You see her pushing herself into leadership roles and trying to expand on the title Dark Mistress.  She was always a co-leader with Clyde, but it’s like the marriage made that feel more real.  Prior to this, Mab would go off on her own and act like the other council members with simply giving advice.  I don’t know if I would say this happened directly from the marriage, but that and her newfound desire to be more politically involved certainly go hand-in-hand.

Clyde was more subtle in his change after marriage.  He’s starting to show his own thoughts on where he belongs after the war.  Being a combat-based character with a battle lust, he’s fully aware that peaceful world might not have a place for him.  That’s a problem if someone is going to live forever.  With being a married man, he’s able to put his energy and focus on something else. Clyde won’t be ruling alone and he will have the person he trusts the most to help him through eternity.  He also knows that she won’t let him get bored and always has a heist or challenge in mind.  It isn’t that different from their dating level, but there’s more clarity in his mind now.

All of that being said, this was a hard path to follow.  Clyde is one of my core surrogates since I played him for a while in college Vampire games.  Mab was the character played by my ex-wife, which I did some big alterations on.  So, the divorce certainly kept popping up in my mind when I was under stress or writing tired.  There was a temptation to not having it go there and undo the change.  Yet, I shouldn’t be taking my personal issues out on fictional characters who have nothing to do with reality.  Let this be a lesson in using surrogates for yourself and loved ones.  They can evoke some harsh emotions if you aren’t careful.  Double-edged sword there.

Should I have shown their wedding?  I wondered about this after I edited the book, but realized there was nothing to show.  These two didn’t have a ceremony.  They ran off with the council and go married in secret.  They couldn’t elope since Lost would figure it out before they left and Titus would want to see his big sister get married.  Gregorio was the one who did the ceremony and Chastity did the catering.  They rode off on a horse made by Bob because he insisted.  Oh, and Lost would have thrown flowers and overdone it to the point where she got in trouble.  All of this has been made up on the fly because it wouldn’t have gone that way.  It would have been dull, simple, and quick because they’d feel it was just a formality.

Huh, wonder what that says about my own thoughts on marriage.  Well, time to end this post before I go too far.