Welcome to Kilig
Name (s) Kilig the Sword (birth name: Karuna)
Age: 30ish
Please tell us a little about yourself. I was fifth of ten children, exploited by my own father until Acharya Saif saved me from my life in the slums. Hence Karuna the Sorrowful became Kilig the Sword.
Describe your appearance in 10 words or less. A dark-haired brooding beau.
Do you have a moral code? If so what is it? I’m an assassin, and we do have a moral code: never hurt women or children. And we don’t use poisons. We’re honorable men (and a few women).
Would you kill for those you love? I kill for a living, but mostly the undeserving – abusive husbands, unjust men of power…
Would you die for those you love? Absolutely. My life is worthless without them.
What would you say are your strengths and weaknesses? I’m strong and determined and a pro – a senior member of the Assassins’ Guild of Godwalkar – my only weakness is my heart. When I fall in love, I fall really hard.
Do you have any relationships you prize above others? Why The first was with Acharya Saif, who trained me and helped me to become an assassin. I thought we’d live happily ever after, but after only two years he dumped me to raise a son he never knew he had. And when he died, fifteen years later, he bestowed his son on me. So now Hakeem stole my heart, like his father did, and I’m in trouble again.
Do you have a family? Tell us about them. Of those ten children, only two survived besides me. And my brother reminds me too much of my father – we haven’t talked in years. I see my sister when I can, my cousins even less. My new family is the Assassins’ Guild, I guess…
Please give us a little information about the world in which you live. I was born in the slums of Godwalkar, former capital of the Kingdom of Gajendra, five years after the last king was killed. It’s a very mixed town since the underground people, who call themselves the Genn, joined us as regular citizens. It’s a big city, built at the crossing of two rivers and surrounded by hills, and then forest and mountains to the north, a plain to the south-east and up to the coast. It is now a city-state with a town council run by the Genn.
Does your world have religion or other spiritual beliefs? If so do you follow one of them? Please describe (briefly) how this affects your behaviour. Each country or city-state has its own religion, but most of the Humans are polytheists. I heard up north someone is preaching a single god, but personally I don’t believe in any. None of them helped me during my childhood, so I stopped believing.
Do you travel in the course of your adventures? If so where? I go on assignments for my Guild, and I’ve been as far as Jevina, another former capital of a kingdom that is no more. I’ve never been to the place that gave birth to the Assassins’ Guild some centuries ago, though. Agharek is too far south, and has its own version of the guild – our founder came from there, but he changed the rules a little.
Does your world have magic? If so how is it viewed in your world? Humans are pretty hopeless, but if they mate with members of the Magical Races, they can be very powerful. I don’t know the source of their magic, and in spite of having a half-blood friend, I have no idea of how it works – and neither has she, I’m afraid!
Does your world have different races of people? If so do they get on with one another? The Humans have different colors of skin or eyes or hair, but they differ only in their culture, that sometimes clashes even if they’re – for example – all blond and blue-eyed (I’ve heard in the north the Varians and the Blackmores are tearing each other apart in an endless war, and they have the same origin. In the south we’ve been at peace for a long time, in spite of the fall of all our kings).
Does your world have any supernatural/mystical beings? Please tell us about some. We have the Magical Races. So far only the Genn seem to be able to live with us – and through them we can sight Sila from time to time. I once helped kill a half-Fajrulo, but they’re shape shifters, so who knows if and how many are among us. I’ve never seen a Waiora. The Genn are Ether’s people, the Sila are Air’s, the Waiora Water’s and the Fajrulo Fire’s (Humans are Earth’s in case you were wondering). They believe our world is under the supervision of five Immortals, the aforementioned elements. Being a non-believer myself, I’ll let you be the judge on who’s right. They claim it’s fact, not religion, but who knows…
Author notes:
Book(s) in which this character appears plus links
Saif’s Legacy (also included in the anthology Male Lovers of Silvery Earth – Kilig and Hakeem are on the cover there as well)
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/385653
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Saifs-Legacy-Barbara-G-Tarn-ebook/dp/B00H5RVNYS
Amazon.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saifs-Legacy-Barbara-G-Tarn-ebook/dp/B00H5RVNYS
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en/ebook/saif-s-legacy
Apple US: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id776870421
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/saifs-legacy-barbara-gtarn/1117635574?ean=2940148864189
Kilig will be featured in Guisarme, submitted to Wyrd Worlds II, out sometime in September. In the fall the rest of his story will be published, first a prequel, Saif&Kilig, then Kilig’s Heart. The print version will be available when the story is complete.
Author name
Barbara G.Tarn
Website/Blog/Author pages etc.
blog: http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barb-aka-Barbara-GTarn/175559797281
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4717133.Barbara_G_Tarn
Author Central http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-G.Tarn/e/B0050P0R2G
Where to find everything (although the i-bookstore link seems to be broken):
http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/where-to-find-my-stuff/
Library of Erana 
You are very welcome. It was a great interview.
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