The Villains of HIGH MAGA, by Karin Rita Gastreich
The Villains of HIGH MAGA One of the greatest challenges of writing High Maga was crafting the villains. My first novel, Eolyn, had a formidable antagonist in the wizard Tzeremond. But the antagonists of High Maga, Queen Rishona and Prince Mechnes, raised villainy to a whole new level for me. Rishona of the Syrnte was born under tragic circumstances. Her parents, Prince Feroden of Moisehén and his Syrnte wife, Tamara, were slaughtered while attempting to return to Feroden’s homeland, where he intended to claim the crown. Tamara was pregnant with Rishona when they were attacked, and gave birth as she died. Gifted with the extraordinary power of Syrnte sight, Rishona remembers this moment in all its horror. A forester rescued Rishona and returned her to the Syrnte, where she was raised by her uncle Mechnes. Rishona grew up determined to avenge the death of her parents and to claim her father’s throne in Moisehén. The Syrnte are a sophisticated and complex cultur