Ruby's Interview

Hi all, once again I had trouble tracking down my prey for an interview, but I finally caught up with Ruby (or rather, her family caught up with me sneaking around their camp) at the camp of the Blood Maiden Tribe. Just FYI, these ladies are hell on wheels! I had so much fun with them, once they realized I wasn't dangerous. As if!

The Blood Maiden Amazon camp is located BFE (or at least it seemed like it). It's somewhere in Vermillion Parish, they wouldn't let me tell you all exactly where. I'll just say that it's near a lake in the middle of nowhere. Going into the camp was an experience in itself. There's this dirt track that sometimes goes under water and more often than not, you're likely to see an alligator slipping away from the 'road' than you are anything else. It's not the most habitable place I've ever been to, but I was determined to meet up with my heroine!

Ruby was working out when I got there, the tribe was doing the same. Someone had the Sex Pistols cranked up, so I didn't have much trouble actually locating them. I did the 'take me to your leader' spiel and finally sat down with Ruby and her aunt, Queen Albreda, in this really sweet longhouse they built out there.

Ruby Fontenot-Blue of the Elk Fire Line's stats:
Age: 30
Height: 6'2"
Weight: You NEVER ask a woman her weight and I wasn't going to ask her
Eyes: Completely black, no pupil, iris, whites showing
Hair: Brownish red
Distinguishing features: Swirling red and orange tattoo beginning around her left eye in a swirling pattern that trails down her cheek, jaw, and thickening into a band around her neck. It was kick ass.

Danica: Hi Ruby! I've been waiting for a chance to talk with you forever! How are you?
Ruby: I've been better. My ass hurts-
Albreda: Cause she's been falling on it so much. We have to get this girl trained up fast.
Ruby: Right. It's nice to meet you, Danica. I've heard a lot about you.
D: So I'm guessing you heard from either Lucian or Jackson?
R: No, it would've been Pagan. She said you gave Lucian the third degree. Do you wanna be bff's? (laugh)
D: So what can you tell me about Lucian.

People, let me just interrupt to let you know that Ruby is, and never will be, a push-over. She's built like a brick house. I'd never want to meet up with her in an alley after stepping on her toes. But when I mentioned Lucian, she almost went all girly on me!

R: Not much to tell you about Lucian. I only met him about two weeks ago.
D: He's hot (of course I'm not subtle, it's not in my contract)
R: Yeah, he's hot. But he's also an ass. Do you know he kidnapped me and kept me at his house for almost two weeks?
D: So you're saying the first day you met him, he kidnapped you? (I was sitting on the edge of my seat by now.)
R: Yes! I was having a nice dinner with some new friends I'd made, he walked in and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes!

I'm pretty sure I was drooling by this time. You all met Lucian. If he'd thrown you over his shoulder, wouldn't you have been thrilled? I sure as hell would! I wanted to know more about what happened when he went caveman on her, but I am a professional.

D: Does he wear boxers or briefs? (Okay, I'm not all that professional!)
R: I should say 'thong', but he'd probably want to kill me. He goes commando.

We both fanned ourselves. That man without underwear...hubba, hubba!

D: So why did he kidnap you?
R: Ugh. You know I'm the last Lineage Chieftain, right? Well, he's got this 'duty' to keep the Chieftain safe from big, bad Malachi and the Eturians, so he thought he'd just snatch me and I wouldn't mind.
D: Could you tell our readers more about Lineage Chieftains?
R: Sure...uh, okay so I'm still learning about them. I wasn't born to the role or anything. I didn't even know I was an Amazon until recently. Anyway, the Lineage Chieftains have the ability to touch a person and see their entire family tree, past, present, and future. This is to help the Chieftain weed out who would make the best leader for their group.
D: That sounds so cool! How do you do that?

At this point, Ruby took off these fingerless gloves she was wearing to show me two circles tattooed on her palms. The circles looked like tribal wreaths and were colored in bold red and orange. They were very cool looking, but I didn't want her touching me with them.

R: If I touch someone with my bare palm, I see their entire life, the lives of their families.
D: Wow, that must be mind boggling. So, what's with the facial tattoo? What does it mean?
R: This is apparently the markings of my Chieftian line. I'm the last Chieftain of the Elk Fire line.
D: This whole thing must've taken some getting used to. How did you manage? You seem to be so at ease and comfortable with yourself that I can't imagine you being surprised by anything.
R: Ha! I was a hermit, living alone in the swamps with nothing but my dog, Briggs, to keep me company and I liked it like that. I played my computer games, trapped in the swamp, shopped on-line. It was a good life. Julius, my predecessor, ended up in my shed and passed his abilities on to me. I panicked. The tattoos appeared out of nowhere and I had this weird Instinct guiding me. Pretty much, I was like a chicken with its head cut off.
A: She's much better now, though. She's finally come into her own.
R: With the help of my family and, yes, even Lucian, I've become the person I always wanted to be.

This was pretty profound. I'm not sure I was the person I wanted to be, but she seemed collected.

D: What kind of person did you want to be?
R: I want to belong. I wasn't as happy alone as I thought I was. When I began moving around the Veil and learning more about the people within it, I realized that this is where I needed to be. The Veil needs my powers and I want to make a difference in the world. I can do that with them. Out there, in the mundane world, I was just another freak.
D: Wow. That is so amazing. I only have two more questions, if that's okay?
R: Sure, I don't mind.
D: What's Lucian to you now?
R: Mais, that's one helluva personal question!
D: I'm sorry...
R: It's fine, I guess. I don't know what he is to me. He's sexy as all hell and I wouldn't mind licking him from head to toes, but he's bossy, over-protective, and he kidnapped me! It was also almost two of the best weeks of my life.
D: Last question. Where do you see yourself in five years?
R: I see myself living with my mother's family (she gave her aunt a secret smile), helping the Veilerians who need me, and maybe meeting some nice, sane male to mate.
D: You don't see Lucian in your future?
R: You just got your last question answered, sorry. I don't want to talk about him anymore.
D: O-kay. Ruby, thank you again for agreeing to see me.
R: No problem. Do you want to hang around here a little? I think one of the hunters caught an alligator and we're having it along with a fish fry tonight.
D: Hells yeah! (I'm a Cajun girl too, you know!)

So I got to hang out with the Blood Maiden tribe that night. They're a group of fun-loving, rowdy, women who like to eat. A lot. I probably put on five pounds visiting with them, but it was worth it.

Look for Ruby and Lucian's story, hopefully coming to a store near you before the end of the world.