July Character Interview
Patricia Parrington ~ July 1, 2024
Hello my lovely readers and fellow book-lovers! For those of you who are new here, I, your quill-owning host, Patricia Parrington, have the pleasure of interviewing characters from books all over the world.
Today we have here with us Sofia Luana, aka Jao Ying Saengfaa, the crown princess of Tropos. This twelve-year-old is from the book Skylight by Patchree Jones. Patchree Jones is a Thai-American author and currently lives in Southern California with her husband, two children, and one lazy dog.
Meet Sofia
Welcome to Fable Features!
[Patricia swats away a golden quill hovering next to her face.]
Feel free to ignore the magic quill. It’s very needy today.
[She folds her hands in her lap and smiles at her guest.]
So! What are your thoughts on magic?
[Sofia smiles and taps the locket on her necklace.]
Um, magic is . . . pretty neat, I guess? Six months ago, I didn’t think much of it, but now that I’m here in Tropos, it’s kinda fascinating.
[A loud thud from the hallway of her antechamber draws Sofia’s attention. Whispers are heard beyond the door.]
Sorry about that. So, magic . . . I think having a Palang is a big responsibility. I’m still getting used to it and to be honest,
[Sofia leans in closer and whispers]
I don’t really understand how it works.
I’ve been told that my affinity for nature comes from my royal Mehk bloodline, but it’s all pretty confusing for me. The idea of pulling energy from the stuff around me is a bit hard to believe, but I’m still learning how to control my abilities. What’s frustrating is trying to get it to work when I want it to.
[Sofia chuckles nervously.]
Other than that, magic is alright.
[Patricia nods.]
It can be frustrating, can’t it? Sometimes it just doesn’t do what you want it to do.
[The golden quill bumps into her forehead and she bats it away.]
What would you say is your best physical feature?
[Sofia frowns and hunches down.]
Physical feature, hmm? Being tall is usually a good trait, right? It’s tough for me to admit that since I always hid my height back in Colorado. That’s where I grew up. I hated the way people stared at me and my classmates always made fun of me.
Now, my height is kinda average, so that’s probably my best physical feature. But it sucks that I don’t have awesome wings and horns like my birth parents. I always wonder what color my wings would’ve been.
Wow, wings would be super cool! If you did have wings, what color would you want them to be?
[Sofia stares off in the distance, muttering to herself.]
What colors have I actually seen? The queen has silver wings and the king has golden wings . . . Daed’s are bronze. Lots of silvers, ivories, gold, brown, black . . . too bad I haven’t seen green. That would be neat.
[Sofia laughs out loud and quickly covers her mouth. She smiles and composes herself.]
I don’t really know how wing colors are passed down, but I think I would settle on rich golden brown.
[Sofia twirls her fingers in her hair that hangs down her shoulders.]
Something that’s lighter than my hair would be nice. It’s kinda boring, but I’m not really a flashy girl. I actually hate being the center of attention, so I wouldn’t want my wings to stand out too much.
That makes sense. And I think a pair of rich golden brown wings sounds beautiful.
[Patricia cocks her head, thinking.]
In emergency situations, how do you react?
Luckily, I don’t have to.
[Sofia holds her finger to her mouth and points to the hallway. Silently, she mouths, “Watch.” Sofia picks up a glass and throws it on the floor before shouting.]
Ahhh! Get away from me! Help! Help! Help!
[A barrage of footsteps storm into the room from the antechamber’s hallway. Cara leads the charge with her daab drawn and the three Sawaan brothers behind her.]
Sofia! Are you alright? What happened?
[Sofia laughs uncontrollably and wipes the tears from her eyes.]
To answer your question, I don’t need to react in an emergency, but if I was alone, my Palang would help me in a serious situation. At ease, you guys. Patricia’s not going to hurt me. I was just demonstrating something.
[Cara stomps over and hits Sofia in the shoulder before plopping down on the sofa. Three Mehk guards tower behind them, their gold, ivory, and silver wings fluttering in agitation.]
This is my best friend, Cara, and those are our personal Royal Guards. Wave hello you guys so we don’t scare her! That’s Chai, Song, and Lek Sawaan.
[The brothers wave and stand at ease.]
In a real emergency, I’ve got a great support group to watch out for me. I’ve been training more and have some basic fighting and weapons skills. If needed, I might be able fight my way out, but I’m way behind all of them.
[Patricia waves cheerfully at Cara and the Royal Guards.]
You are definitely well-protected. I like that! It’s nice to meet you all.
[She turns to the quill, now drifting towards the newcomers.]
Quill! Don’t bother our guests. Be a doll and clean up the broken glass, please.
[The golden quill rushes to the floor and begins to sweep the shards away. Patricia adjusts the skirt of her mahogany dress.]
If you got the opportunity to go back and change one thing in your past, would you do it? What would that be?
I think about this a lot. The easy answer is that I would want to have grown up in Tropos. Then I’d be more prepared to be the Jao Ying. I’d probably have my wings and horns and be better at handling my Palang. All that sounds really cool, so you’d think I’d jump at the chance to go back in time and start there.
[Sofia takes Cara’s hand and looks back at the Sawaan brothers.]
But, honestly, I wouldn’t change anything I’ve been through. If I grew up in Tropos, I would never have met Cara and that’s not something I’d give up so easily.
That’s true. And sounds like Cara is a valuable friend to have around.
Let’s go back to the “Jao Ying.” What is that exactly? I’ve never heard the term before!
Duh, of course! Sorry. Jao Ying is Mehk for Crown Princess. The language is new for me too, but I think my Palang activated or something when I first came here. My affinity translates Mehk for me and I’ve been lucky to understand what everyone says since day one. I still think in English and gotta translate my thoughts into Mehk, though, before I say them.
Well that’s handy to have an affinity that translates a language for you!
[Patricia laughs.]
I wish I’d had that when I was traveling abroad to visit my sister. I messed up so many times I lost count.
[She tilts her head.]
It sounds like you have an important role. Do you have any enemies right now?
[Chai steps up and glares at Patricia. His golden wings spread open, ready to attack. Song and Lek stand at alert.]
Why are you asking Jao Ying this? Do you work for the enemy?
[Sofia jumps up and hits Chai on his forearm.]
Yut diew nee, Chai. Just stop. She doesn’t mean anything by it. Alright?
[Sofia forces a smile before sitting down.]
I’m sorry, that’s a very touchy subject. We’ve been in a very, very long war with the Night Army, a group of rebel clans. They haven’t attacked the Royal Palace in a while, but that doesn’t mean we can let our guards down. Being on alert 100% of the time isn’t something I’m used to, but sometimes it’s necessary.
[Patricia nods solemnly.]
Wars are awful. I quite understand the subject being a bit touchy. Let’s move on to a different question, then!
What’s something you’ve never tried before?
[Cara responds first,]
Pushing those buttons that launch bombs from the transport.
[Cara looks up at Chai and furrows her brows.]
I think Chai was bluffing.
I don’t think the lady was asking you, Cara.
[Lek dodges Cara’s attack as she leaps over the sofa to hit him. He flits up out of her reach and sticks his tongue out at her.]
[Song grabs Lek’s ankle and pulls him down, while pushing Cara back with his hand on her head.]
I apologize, Jao Ying. Do you want me to take them away?
[Sofia laughs and shakes her head.]
They’re fine, Song. Cara, get back here and leave your guard alone.
[Cara walks back to the sofa and Lek returns to his position behind her. Sofia sighs and rolls her eyes before facing Patricia again.]
They do this all the time . . . Hmm, something I’ve never tried before? Um, there’s lots of stuff I’ve never tried, but if I need to pick one thing . . . I’d say . . . I’d want to try flying with my own wings.
[Cara laughs.]
Seriously, Sofe!? You’re scared of heights!
[Sofia crosses her arms.]
Well, maybe I wouldn’t be if I had my own wings. Then heights wouldn’t bother me!
[Cara gives a mischievous grin.]
Okay then, Chai, take her up!
[Sofia faces Chai and points her finger at him.]
Don’t you dare! There’s a reason it’s something I’ve never tried before! Patricia, next question please!
[Patricia laughs and obliges.]
What was the situation where you laughed the hardest you ever have?
It’s pretty difficult to stop laughing, especially when I’m with these two.
[Sofia points at Cara and Lek.]
They are always up to something crazy and ridiculous. But the hardest I’ve ever laughed? Hmm?
[Sofia closes her eyes and taps her chin.]
Oh! I’ve got it. So these two are always competing and racing around the palace. I mean, they compete for everything. Who’s faster? Who’s slower? Who’s louder? Who’s stronger? It literally never ends. But once, we were playing charades, right? Cara and I were a team, and Song and Lek were a team. Like I said, they compete for everything, and I think they agreed to have the loser dress up as bunny and do a silly bunny hop dance every time the winner said their name for an entire day.
[Cara eyes widened.]
Not that story, Sofe!
[Cara jumps up to cover Sofia’s mouth.]
It wasn’t that funny!
[Sofia pushes Cara away and runs behind Chai. Cara tries to chase Sofia but Lek grabs Cara first.]
They were doing impressions of people in the palace, and we were one guess away from winning. Cara was strutting around the room and she looked like she had to go to the bathroom.
[Cara covers her face to hide her blushing.]
I had no idea who she was supposed to be. When our time ran out, she started yelling and did her impression again, trying to explain what she was doing. All of us were stumped which made her so angry. As she did the impression one last time and she shouted out who it was, he walked right in!
[Cara pouts.]
I’m lucky the king likes me, otherwise I’d be in big trouble.
[Sofia walks back to the sofa and sits.]
Oh no! It was the king you were trying to do an impression of?
[Patricia laughs and shakes her head.]
No wonder you didn’t want Sofia to tell the story. So how did the king react when he walked in?
[Sofia rolls her eyes.]
The king isn’t fazed by Cara’s antics anymore. I think I saw him laugh a little before pretending to be angry. I know he wouldn’t have been as forgiving if it was anyone else. It’s against Mehk law to speak ill of the Royals.
I’m glad he took it well, then.
[The golden quill taps Patricia’s wrist and she nods.]
Sounds like we have time for one more question, so here it is: If you had to tell someone one piece of advice, what would that be?
Don’t be afraid to be you. I spent so much time hiding who I was because I hated being made fun of. Even when we first came to Tropos, I still tried to be what everyone else wanted me to be. Once I stopped being scared of doing the wrong thing, I was able to grow. I’m still gonna make mistakes, but that’s okay. As long as I trust myself and use my voice, I’ll be fine.
Beautifully said. I think there are many out there who need to hear this truth.
[Patricia bats away the quill then stands and smiles at her guests.]
Thank you—Sofia and everyone—for coming out today. It was a pleasure getting to know you!
End of interview.
Want to Read More?
Sofia’s author, Patchree Jones, can be found on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and BlueSky. You can find her book here and on her website, PatchreeJones.com.
author Patchree Jones
See Ya Next Time
Aaand that's all the time we have today. Thank you, readers, for coming. And thank you, Sofia, for letting us get to know you! See y'all next time.
If you would like to submit a character to be interviewed for a future issue of Fable Features, please send an email to linnaekconkel@gmail.com with the subject line: Fable Features.
Please note that erotica and content with excessive vulgar language will not be accepted.
If you have questions you'd like Patricia Parrington to ask in a future interview, please submit them to linnaekconkel@gmail.com with the subject line: Interview Questions.
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