For those of you who have read Deliver Us, here’s a page of special little flourishes on the front and back cover illustrations. Artist Dan Johnson and I spent many hours designing these two covers and wanted to add a few Easter eggs. For those of you who haven’t read it, maybe this will pique your interest about the book and its characters.
Background. Five queens rule equally over Kingdom, a fairy tale world. In age order, Penta is the eldest. Her greatest desire is to rule Kingdom justly and bring about an age which will be remembered fondly for ages to come. She worries, though, that people won’t respect her or her sisters so she also agrees to the trappings of royalty. As high queen, her sisters urged her to take the traditional throne of Kingdom.
Helga is second eldest. She was raised in a Viking-like town called Nor. Known as the warrior queen, Helga prefers the battle field to the royal court. At first, she sat in a throne designed for the queen, but after a year of ruling, she and her sisters designed their own thrones.
Cinderella is the fourth oldest. Her tale mostly follows the traditional tale known by most, but the Earth fairy tale hasn’t quite captured her essence. She wants to dispel the myth that queens are stuffy and boring. As such, and as she met her husband at a festival, she hosts parties. Her galas are renown as being fun, and Cinderella as not only a gracious host but one who makes everyone—rich and poor alike—welcomed.
Without further ado, here are these three queen’s thrones.
From left, Cinderella, Penta, Helga. Hopefully, you could pick out each queen’s throne. For Penta’s throne, notice it’s the most regal—a throne one would expect of a queen. Penta has sewn in the queen’s insignia of five flags into the back rest. The five flags, held by each queen, signaled to the reigning king that the five sisters were the true rulers of Kingdom as detailed in Kingdom Come. Note also the black gloves. Penta, she whose tale is told in the fairy tale “The Maiden without Hands,” wears white gloves. But in this picture they are black, indicating Penta’s troubled mind.
Helga designed her own throne after a year into her service. She had agreed to go on ship voyages exploring the boundaries of Kingdom. The wood represents both the wooden structures of her home province of Nor and was built from a ship Helga sailed on. Zooming in on the back rest, you’ll see a dragon which was the masthead of Helga’s ship. Above it, you’ll find a frog. This ties into Helga’s story “The Marsh King’s Daughter” and recalls her curse in Kingdom Come. Leaning against the throne is something new Helga acquires during Deliver Us, the holy blade Cusp. Also, you’ll notice emeralds sprinkled in Helga’s throne. This foreshadows Helga’s own fate in Deliver Us as green plays a prominent role in her side plot.
Cinderella’s throne was also designed by her. As the fun queen, she didn’t want the traditional chair that is indicative of authority. She wanted something playful and different. She came up with the swinging chair throne. She chose silver as her prominent precious metal instead of gold. Cinderella, being young, defers to her sisters’ judgment and feels intimidated to be surrounded by gold. Gold is for Penta or Helga. Cinderella is also the romantic queen so if you look closely, you’ll spot a heart in the decorations on the frame. Notice the ornamentation on the top bar at either end. Remind you of a pair of shoes? If you zoom in, you’ll notice the gold thread that prints her name is unraveling at the end. This reflects her state of mind in Deliver Us.
The two remaining queens are Valencia, aka The Little Match Girl (but grown-up not to twenty years old) and Snow White (of both “Seven Dwarfs” and “Rose Red” fame). Snow White is the youngest.
From left, Snow White and Valencia’s throne.
Snow White’s throne was designed to resemble and honor her beloved friends, the dwarfs, who helped her when she was homeless. All of their furniture retains their wild nature, they don’t saw off branches or round off sharp edges. Her journey away from abuse through the woods is also reflected in her throne. A spell keeps her tree throne alive as evidenced by the bird’s nest. Birds are all natural friends to Snow White, and she understands their language. And of course, her symbol of triumph, the apple is proudly displayed as a pennant under her seat.
Why is her nameplate broken? You’ll have to read Deliver Us as its explained there.
Valencia is humble, down-to-earth, queen. She’s the people’s queen. As such, she never sat on a throne at first, preferring a simple pillow on the ground. When the queen’s designed their thrones, they urged Valencia to create one of her own. She resisted, but Penta in particular convinced her that, only appearing as a queen will she get the respect she deserves. A bit of a rebel, Valencia decided to design the simplest “throne” she could. This chair, a piece of furniture that could appear in any house in Kingdom, proclaims her as one with the people. Her only concession is a seat because, she admits, “those royal debates last a long times!”