by Alyssa
(Chicago)
Question: My villain is being quite secretive and won't let me in on his diabolical scheme, so I was wondering if you could help shed some light on it. My protagonist (the princess) journeys across the continent in disguise to evade the villain's soldiers who seek to capture and ransom her in exchange for complete surrender of her country in the war, or so she thinks. I know my evil king (for he is the villain) could probably win the war without going to the trouble and added risk of trying to use her as a hostage, so there must be something else he needs the princess for, but what? The princess or, in this case, animal trainer in a traveling circus is pretty clever, so I have no doubt she'll piece together the King's alternate motive; I only wish someone would clue me in on it. I suspect it has to do with the princess's uncanny ability to understand animals, or the fact she was gifted with said ability by the three goddesses themselves. Does that mean there is an ancient creature the villain needs the princess to control in order to. . . what? They've lost me again. Perhaps a fresh viewpoint would be of assistance? Any ideas would really help me out of this writer's block.