! Say what?!

I've been reading through this story for that past couple of days, and well, I must say it's the best one I've read in a long time. :) All of your characters are extremely well written, and your dialogue is very realistic. Although there isn't that much action, the situations that Catalin gets himself into are terribly entertaining. He and Kite are definitely my favorite characters.

This one is going into my favorites. Keep on writing!!

Cat is acting like the noble he is ... I wonder how Baltus is going to react...And Chris is going to be so ** ^^!
Good chapter! Write more!

it was quite a pleasant surprise to see an update notification for this story in my inbox. i had forgotten how much i enjoy it! happily looking forward to the next one :)

Oh, I definitely like this! It's very well-written, with a good plot and loveable characters, and very few, if any, grammatical errors, which is always a plus in my book. I can't wait for the next chapter, which better be soon or you'll have to pay for my medical bill when I develop an ulcer from the stress of waiting! Anyways, hurry up and update and I look forward to the next chapter! ^_^

Ash

i kind of utterly love this story. i wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but i found it on a fav list of an author i like, so i figured i'd give it a try and it's -fantastic-. the world and the setting is great, and the tradition of the imperial guard- pretty cool. although i must admit, i would have liked an clearer explanation of the different guard divisions. i get that first is the leader, second is recon and whatnot, whichever is kite's [sorry, i've forgotten ^^;] is heavy weaponry, saphia's is medical/poisons...but i don't know what specifics there are for talia and chris. and i honestly would have like a more straightforward explication at some point- maybe under the pretense of teaching cataline more about the guardians. so, not a huge complaint, but a minor thing i thought i would point out.

in any case, i love love love catalin and chris and kite, and everyone else in varying degrees. i will admit that i'm somewhat distressed that you have me waffling over who i want to be together- i'm usually pretty quick to decide my preferred pairings, even if i know they won't happen. but i can't decide if catalin should be with chris or kite...i mean, i kind of lean towards chris, but kite is kind of adorable in his gentle giant routine, and he obviously thinks a lot of cat. but chris and cat...they just work so well! i don't even know if you're planning to pair cat off with one of them, and chris said early on that he wants a mature woman, but i still can't stop pondering my options.

anyhow. i know it's been few months since you updated, but i'm adding you to my alerts in the hopes that there will be more soon! :)

agh...i'm so in love with this story! I was so sad when I got to the last chapter. I do hope you are planning on continuing it, cuz it' such a great story.

I love your story! But everithing happens to cat... It would be fun if he save the others...
I will look out for the next chapter!

ah my first thought: Kite kissed Catalin! my second thought: Kite kissed Catalin?! Haha the Kite/Catalin interactions make me smile. Augh I really hope that the rest of the guards are okay.

As for Catalin's fate, I kind of have a hypothesis about who it is but I can't really know for sure. But I hope whoever caught him is someone who will help him.

Eagerly waiting for the next chapter~

Whoo-whee... busy week(s).



Hey again! I'll skip all further preamble and jump right in. ^^


Hors d'oeuvres is actually spelled... well, hors d'oeuvres. In English, at least - proper French form would be hors d'œuvre, but... well, this isn't French and I couldn't remember how to make that oe-symbol besides copy-pasting it from Wikipedia if my very life depended on it. ^^


The commission of the cast looks lovely. I never realized Chris' hair was shock white like that, though. Ah well - shows what I know. I AM TEMPTED TO CHECK IF I OVERLOOKED THAT BEING MENTIONED, but time is a precious commodity I only ever seem to have much of when I ... don't need it for anything. o_ô Wonder if that's related somehow? ... mmhh... nah. ^^



You know, noting the age difference between Catalin and Espen, the scene when Espen snubbed Chris and Catalin therefore blew up at him tilts to become yet slightly more impressive - in Catalin's favor. ^^
"Children will be children", huh? WhaddathatsayaboutYOU?

Granted, Catalin's done some incredibly foolhardy things in this chapter, but... he kind of has a point, you know? Still. AH. WHY? WHY? WHY?

Also, why hadn't anybody contacted Eliade beforehand? I'm... not entirely sure how much notice of how much involvement she was showing the "Resistance" had right now, but... WELL DAMN, THIS PROBABLY COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.


... ::twitch::


::wince::

::wince::

::wince::


...

I haven't much more to say. Poor Catalin. You are a cruel master. I also find PleiadesWolfe's theory probable.

Damn you, cliffhanger. :-/ IT WAS NOT NECESSARY TO DO THIS TO KEEP ME HOOKED. I ALREADY AM.

::woe::

Word traveled fast for her to hear about her fake cousin or did Lady Tremount let something slip to her ahead of time to see how they handled the situation? Either way this is not good.

At first I was so distracted by the commissioned picture of the members, and I love it so much. It's amazing to finally put names to faces (it was a little hard to imagine the characters at first because you don't really focus on describing their appearances, which is fine with me). Is Kite the redhead? For some reason I imagined him more rugged and buff but this design made me like him exponentially more than I already did. The characters all look so charming!

I liked the short interlude involving Chris and Kite, it's always nice to see the other characters interact.

But you sure left us with a cliff hanger at the end. Oh my, what is going to happen to Cat next?! I sort of expected something like this happening (his disguise failing) but I didn't really expect it to happen in front of everyone.

Awesome work!

For clarity, when... when I say "chapter nineteen" for the second time in that review, I mean what you've captioned as chapter eighteen. >_> I... can't seem to decide whether to address chapters by the number FictionPress assigns to them as by how many documents there are or by what the author titled them.

I should really pick a method one of these days. >_>

Wait... wait... what? 20? Entry 20/Chapter 19?

...


Well (unusual expletive). -_- Looks like my intent to KEEP A BLOODY EYE ON THE STORY worked out perfectly.

Hum. Congratulations to the section change! (and... move, apparently?) I think it should yield results very quickly. Don't be disheartened if it's not immediate (although I would be somewhat surprised if it wasn't) - you'll catch more and more new readers with every updated chapter here. And I do recognize "fawn over"-potential in stories (it's pretty clear-cut here, though, so that's nothing to brag over(fine, I'm biased)). D'you wonder when the first Chris/Catalin-relationship supporters will show up? :D
...
I'm considering joining them actually.


I have to say, chapter nineteen was impressive. Nice, really - it's one thing to have your characters say there is more depth to eachother, themselves or the story than somebody realizes but quite another for the author to go and prove it.
Seeing proof that you've actually put thought into the happenings behind the scenes (besides the ones comically embarrassing poor Catalin :D) makes me very curious to learn more of Alexander Tremont's role and motivations in the events. I think by now you've given me cause to believe that all will be addressed in due time if we lot manage to keep you going till the end, though, so I'll be patient and supportive. :D

::scanning the chapters over in another window, looking for things to mention::

Heh. I don't quite know whether I want to hit Damian on the head multiple times (couldn't hurt, right?) (wait... what a superfluous question, *everybody* wants to hit Damian on the head... multiple times. at this point, at least) or cheer for him for actually doing it (kissing Amara, I mean).
He better live up to her! Right now, I'd say she's bloody damn well too good for him - and that's taking her own faults into consideration!
Somebody ought to tell him that if you want people to "follow" you, trust your split-second decisions and come to you with their problems, portraying some interest in them as persons - and better yet, some damn sanity! - is advisable. Boo, Damian. Bo.
Alright. He's young yet.
Still, kid! BO.
"It's a work in progress" indeed. ::grumble:: At least she went and started setting him straight about that some. Hopefully it WON'T be enough. Kid needs to mess up in something he can't feel righteous about afterward.

...

Now Chris, on the other hand, has my complete support as a person so far. While I'm scanning through the newest chapter and quoting things I like - "Watch and enjoy." Hahah. :D

I want a Historical Inaccuracies-spoof of that drunken conversation about antibacterial soap. ::rubs chin, pensive.::

Yes... yes, indeed. I would say this story needs more Chris, but really, it's just us that need more of the story. Yep. Chris may occasionally say or do stupid things, too, but they're stupid in a good way.



Well. Woohoo. :D Now I'm just happy that at least according to the prologue, things will work out well enough for people to tell Catalin that it would be more amusing if he wrote the inside account of the events.


So... as a sidenote, shall I take "The silence was giving him the irrepressible urge to throw cookware at the wall." to mean he -did- throw cookware at the walls? ^^
Makes me wonder a bit about the order in which that happened - did they start hovering concernedly before or after he threw stuff at the walls and then obsessively cleaned it up again? ^^
This... might in theory be a rather funny scene for Historical Inaccuracies as well. Maybe a better one than a drunken conversation about antibacterial soap, too.

"At least he and Chris weren‘t the only ones with bad timing."
Huh. Wait, what? Timing for what? In general? Is he referring to their timing on things they've said/done in previous situations?
I've backtracked thrice now wondering if I'd overlooked something they've recently done wrong. o_O



Ahh, I could probably pick apart and comment on every second sentence and/or scene you've written now, but that'd be rather pointless, so I'll let it be. :D It should be said, though - you're certainly not boring *me* with action-free chapters. The suspense makes more than up for it, I assure you.
^^

I look forward to the next one! Seems like things just get more and more interesting as it all goes on... and with the ball inching closer and closer... :D
...

yeah. The suspense's killing me. I'm off to think about something else, you have fun and don't torture your characters too much.
Except for Damian. Yes. Torture him. Bad things should happen during the ball, leaving his "subordinates" to rescue *him* for a change. It would serve him right. ::resentful::