You know what I hate? Maps.
However, Baylor Compound is complicated so here is a very clumsy map for you. I will try to make a better, top down one, so you can have a bit more clarity. However, I’m working with fantasy software here, so Arabella lives in an orc tower, and Leon lives in an elven spire. Use at your own risk. 🙂 I’m not a map maker, I’m a writer.
“Is it haunted?”
Oh, for the love of… “No, Arabella.”
My sister squinted at the monstrosity of an estate growing closer as the SUV sped up the gently climbing driveway. “Look at all the towers. It looks haunted.”
“It’s not,” Bern said.
“How do you know it’s not haunted?” Leon asked from the back.
Because ghosts didn’t exist. “Because Trudy is a nice person, I like her, and she wouldn’t let us buy a haunted house.”
“Yes,” Arabella said, “But did you ask if it was?”
“I did, and Trudy said no.” Our poor, long-suffering realtor had answered more bizarre questions in the last couple of months than she had during her whole career.
My little sister whipped out her phone and bent her blonde head over it.
The entire Baylor family was in the car with exception of Grandma Frida and my older sister and brother-in-law. We were going to buy a house.
When I was very young, we lived in a typical suburban home. It was just the five of us: my dad, my mom, my older sister Nevada, me, and my younger sister Arabella. Then our two cousins, Bern and Leon, came to live with us because their mother wasn’t worth two cents and nobody knew who their fathers were. Then Dad got sick. We sold the house to pay for his treatment and moved into a warehouse with our Grandma Frida. Dad died. Nevada, who was seventeen at the time, took over the Baylor Investigative Agency, our family business, and she and Grandma Frida, who worked on tanks and mobile artillery for Texas magical elite, put food on our table and clothes on our backs.
Eventually Nevada came into her magic, and we became House Baylor, one of the prominent families that boasted more than two living Primes, the highest ranked mages. Nevada fell in love and moved out, I ended up as the Head of the House, and one of my first achievements was to blow up the warehouse all of us called home. The fact that said blowing up was completely accidental did nothing to put a roof back over our heads or to decrease my guilt.
For a while we made do with an old industrial building we sort of converted into a habitable home, but all of us hated it. And our needs had changed. All of us, including my little sister, were now adults. We wanted to stay together, both because we loved each other and because House Baylor was a new House and every time we left our building, we sported lovely targets on our backs. Safety in numbers was very much true in our case. But we also desperately needed privacy.
We wanted to live together. Just not together-together.
Finding the right house in our price range took forever, but I had my hopes pinned on this one. I really liked it.
“I heard realtors have to disclose if the house is haunted,” Leon said.
I looked at Mom in the driver seat. She gave me an amused smile. No help there.
“Apparently only four states require you to disclose paranormal activity,” Arabella reported. “Nine states require you to notify the buyer if a death occurred on the premises. And Texas does neither.”
“There were no deaths on the premises. Nobody died in the house, so it can’t possibly be haunted,” I told them.
“How do you know nobody died?” Leon asked.
“Because I checked the records,” Bern rumbled.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Arabella said.
Clearly, there were two teams in this vehicle: Team Facts and Team Facts Be Damned.
“What if they hid it?” Leon asked.
Bern gave his younger brother a look. When it came to uncovering facts, Bern had no equal. If there was a record of something and that record was at any point entered into a computer connected to the internet, he would find it.
We had run out of driveway and came to a stop atop a low hill. Mom eyed the ten-foot wall that wrapped around the estate. Directly in front of us a short, arched tunnel cut through it, allowing entry to the inner grounds. Normally the entrance was blocked by a heavy metal gate, which right now was retracted into the wall on the left side. On the right side, enclosed within the wall’s thickness, was a guardhouse.
“That’s a lot of security,” Mom said.
“I like it,” Leon said. “If the infidels choose to storm the walls, we can unleash a rain of arrows and boiling pitch.”
Ha. Ha.
Mom maneuvered our armored Chevy Tahoe through the entrance and into the front parking lot on the right side. Alessandro’s silver Alfa Romeo already waited in one of the parking spots.
Everyone piled out of the car. The inner driveway, a wide paved road flanked by thick, mature oaks, unrolled straight ahead, leading south to the main house. To the right of us was a large stone and timber pavilion with huge windows.
Mom nodded at it. “What’s that?”
“That’s a wedding pavilion. The beam work inside is really pretty. I thought that if we insulated it properly, we could use it as our office building.”
Leon frowned. “You mean like a separate office building? One where we could conduct business and then leave and not be at work? People have such things?”
I sighed.
“Leon,” Mom said. “She and Alessandro spent the last two weeks trying to get this place inspected. She barely slept and barely ate. As I recall, none of you helped except for Bern. How about you holster that razor-sharp wit and try to be less you for the next hour?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Leon stood up straight and appeared to look serious. It wouldn’t last, but it was a good try. My younger cousin was twenty years old, and he showed zero interest in changing his ways. And that was fine with me. I liked Leon just the way he was.
Mom squinted at the two-story rectangular building on the other side of the main driveway. “And this?”
“’Cuartel,’” I said. “According to the listing documents.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Barracks?”
“Yes. The lower level has a kitchen, a mess hall, and an armory. The upper level has room for ten beds and a bathroom with four toilet stalls and three showers.”
“Hmmm.”
Normally interpreting Mom’s hmmms wasn’t a problem, but right now I had no idea what she was thinking.
We strolled down the driveway. The dense wall of ornamental shrubs framed the oaks on both sides, hiding the rest of the grounds. The tree limbs reached to each other above our heads and walking down the driveway was like heading into a green tunnel.
“Nice driveway,” Leon said.
“Enjoy it while you can,” I told him. “It’s the only straight road in the place.”
“How many acres did you say this was?” Mom asked.
“Twenty-three point four,” Bern said ahead of us. “Sixteen are walled in, the rest is deer-fenced.”
“We’ll need to continue the wall,” Mom said.
“Question!” Arabella raised her hand. “If we buy this, can I get a golf cart?”
“You can buy the golf cart with your own money,” Mom said.
The driveway brought us to a large forecourt in front of a two-story Mediterranean mansion.
“The main house is five thousand square feet,” I said. “The bottom floor is split into two wings. Each wing has a master. Four bedrooms upstairs, all en-suite.”
“Four bedrooms?” Arabella asked. “So, Mom and Grandma take the downstairs, and we take the upstairs?”
To say she sounded underwhelmed would be a criminally gross understatement.
“We could do that,” I said, “or we could live in the auxiliary buildings.”
Arabella squinted at me. “What auxiliary buildings?”
I turned my back to the mansion and pointed with both hands to the sides.
The family turned around. On both sides of the driveway, separated by the hedges, lay a labyrinth of buildings and greenery. On the left rose a round tower three floors high. On the right, half hidden by landscaping, sat three two-story casitas, each sixteen hundred square feet, joined by a second-floor breezeway. Between them and us, lay gardens, benches, gazebos, and water features. Stone paths, designed by a drunken sailor, meandered through it all, trying to connect the buildings and mostly failing.
Leon spied the tower. His eyes took on a faraway look that usually meant he was thinking of flying ships, winged whales, and space pirates. “Mine.”
“It needs a bit of work,” I warned.
“I don’t care.”
Bern took a step forward and rumbled, “I like this place.” He waited for a moment to let it sink in and walked to the right, starting down a stone path toward the casitas.
“Where are you going?” Mom called.
“Home,” he called out without turning.
She looked at me. “Does Runa like the casitas?”
I nodded.
My oldest cousin and my best friend were slowly but surely moving towards marriage. Runa and her siblings lived with us, and it was harder and harder to ignore Runa slinking to the bathroom across the hall out of Bern’s room in the morning.
I could relate. Alessandro and I slept in the same bed every night, but both of us felt awkward about him moving into my room for completely different reasons, so we settled for him staying in the side building and me keeping my window open. For him, climbing in and out of the window was infinitely preferrable to having to run the gauntlet of my family just to get to my door.
“Where am I going to stay?” Arabella asked. “Am I going to stay in one of the casitas?”
“I think they’re spoken for,” Mom said, watching Bern double time it down the path. “Bern and Runa will take one and the Etterson children will take the other or others.”
“There’s a shack in the back, behind the main house,” I told Arabella. “You can live there.”
She marched around the house. Mom and I followed her along a narrow path, flanked by Texas olive trees, esperanza shrubs, still carrying the last of its bright yellow flowers, and sprawling clusters of cast-iron plants with thick green leaves.
“So Bern and Leon get their picks, and I get the leftovers,” Arabella called over her shoulder.
“Yep.” I nodded. “You’re the youngest.”
She mumbled something under her breath. Torturing her was delicious.
“What did you say this place was?” Mom asked.
“A failed resort. The first owners built the main house, Leon’s tower, and the bigger casita. Then they sold it to a man who decided to make it into an ultra-secure “rustic” hotel for Primes and Significants. His website called it ‘a country retreat for the Houston elite.’”
Arabella snorted.
“He owned this place for about twelve years and built all of the auxiliary craziness. His business collapsed, and now he’s trying to unload the property to settle his debts.”
Nothing about this estate followed any kind of plan. To add insult to injury, the second owner thought he was handy and did a lot of the renovations and maintenance himself instead of hiring professionals. According to our building inspector, his handiness was very much in doubt.
“How much does he want for this place?” Arabella asked.
“Twenty million.”
“That’s out of our budget,” Mom said.
“It’s not if we get financing,” I said. We had already put in an application through a mortgage company Connor owned, and it was approved in record time.
“We can afford to put half down,” Arabella said, “But this place isn’t worth twenty mil. I mean I don’t even get a house. I get a shack…”
We turned the corner and the path opened, the greenery falling behind. A huge stone patio spread in front of us, cradling a giant Roman style pool. Past the luxuriously large pool, the patio narrowed into a long stone path that ran down to the four-acre lake. Between the pool and the lake, on the right-hand side, stood another three-story tower.
Where Leon’s tower looked like something plucked from a Norman castle, this one could have fit right into the seaside of Palm Beach. Slender, white, with covered balconies on the top two levels and a sun deck on the roof, it had a clear vacation vibe. A narrow breezeway connected its third-floor balcony to the main house. Of all the places on the property, it was the newest and required the least amount of work to be habitable.
“Your shack,” I told her.
Arabella took off across the patio.
Mom and I strolled down past the pool toward the lake shore. An exercise track circled the water, and the roofs of three other houses poked out from the greenery at random spots along its perimeter.
“The southern entrance is there.” I pointed at the other end of the lake. “We can put Grandma’s motor pool in that spot, facing the road.” We would have to get her a golf cart to get to it. Grandma Frida was spry, but well past seventy.
“Can we really afford this place?” Mom asked.
“Yes. If we put 25% down, we will have enough for a year’s worth of business expenses and have half a million left over to renovate. We’ll have to stagger the repairs and we’ll need to invest in some livestock for the agricultural exemption. The place already has solar panels, so we’ll be saving some money there, but we will need a yard crew and probably a maid service of some sort.”
Mom bristled. “I never needed maids in my life. If you’re old enough to have your own space, you’re old enough to keep it clean.”
“I agree, but the main house is huge, and we have the barracks and the offices. We are all going to be really busy. There will be an army of people to supervise, renovation decisions to make, and we still have our regular caseload and then there is the other business…”
My time was no longer completely my own. A chunk of it belonged to my family and running of our House, but another, significantly larger part, belonged to the State of Texas and the complex entanglements its magic families created.
Arabella burst onto the third-floor balcony. “Do I like it? No. I love it!”
Mom grinned. “Well, you got her vote. Where would you and Alessandro stay?”
“Over there.” I pointed to the left, where a two-story house sat by the lake. “He’s probably over there right now. Do you need me to walk through the main house with you?”
Mom waved me off. “I’ve got it. Go check on him.”
I gave her a quick hug and took the stairs from the patio to the path leading to the two-story house Alessandro and I picked out for ourselves.
This is so cool!
Yay maps! I have difficulty picturing things in my brain so this helps a lot. Thank you!
I second this! So helpful! Thank you!
I’m right with you on this. I’m a visual person so I opened up a second tab with the map so I could follow the map with the storyline. I can now “see” where they live and all the extras. Looks great.
Ilona did a fantastic job with creating the map. Thank you.
+1
I’ve read the snippet multiple times and seeing this is soo much better than anything my brain can come up with
Ditto on maps and visuals. I love them. Without them, I often get tangled up in my brain. I also love creating them. Thanks, Ilona, for the map.
+1
It feels more impressive after seeing the map! =D
I always appreciate visuals. Thank you
Thank you 🙂
I get confused and just go with what I imagine it is but then I miss some sneaky thing because of layout. I love maps! (But they are hard to make – my attempts at scale works w ogres and fairies but not so much w reality!)
Agreed! I was struggling with the extra housing; my imagination hadn’t quite gotten me there and this does. Thank you.
Thank you for the map!!! I wish all print books had a fold out map that you could refer to while reading, for those of us who are spatially challenged.
Thank you!
This is fantastically helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Happy bday to me, thank you for the snippet and the map – helps so much to have a visual.
Happy birthday!
Thanks
🙂 I love it. 🙂
fun map really. thanks for the repeat snippet with the descriptions! I guess my only question is that the wedding cake pavilion and the wedding pavilion/office are two separate things? I will have to wait for the book to find out what’s what, hehe. SOOOOO CLOOOOOSE.
The Wedding Cake on the map is the kiosk-like structure on top of the wall ???? (green). The structure marked on the map as the office building began life as a wedding pavilion too, but by the time the Baylors get installed at the estate (this scene is in the book prologue), that is but a memory.
Thank you Mod R for filling in the missing piece.
thanks! I took another look and I see what you mean
Bern’s evil lair, lol.
Thank you for the effort! The location of the homes are not too far from what I imagined from your description (except I totally left out the lake, Grandma Frida’s motor pool, and Regina and Patricia’s house).
So the evil lair is a smaller Orc tower? 😉
Bug’s going to have some work cut out for him to get a drone over that compound.
Thank you for the map, i had a picture in my mind, but this helps. Now where to raise the sheep and plant the fruit trees. And sorry, but Leon’s house looks more like a space ship. Which fits what he dreams when he looks at it.
It’s over 23 acres! I think there’s space for pretty much everything hehe ????
Leon’s house looks like a rocket to me, too. At least he’ll have plenty of room for his personal armory.
Bern gets three casitas and a tower? Are they putting Ragnar and Hailey in two of the casitas?
I can’t wait another 2 weeks. Can’t some magic be worked to get the audiobook pushed out today? Pretty please?
I promise it will be gone in a flash, we can do it, not long now!
thank you. This map is greatly appreciated
+1
This fits with what I was imagining based on the snippet description, yay for clear description and for maps.
*waits (sorry for the swear) trying to practise patience*
*fails*
Love maps! Love this one in particolar, thanks!
I would absolutely love to buy a map of all your worlds
Thank you for the map – it is very helpful. And the opening snippet for Ruby Fever! Thank you! I am holding on until the start of school by the skin of my teeth and this helps so much.
The imagery was super helpful, somehow it reminds me of the adventure map of some rpg game. ????
This scene just makes me so happy. Like the Baylor’s are one step closer to their happily ever after as a growing family and a house, ya know outside of the house warfare and such.
Agreed! I love the idea of a family HEA ❤️
excellent map, this helps a lot.
Love it all. Snippet, map, everything.
I am always #teamFacts.
Except. . .
When there is a possibility of there having been paranormal hijinks in which case I leap upon #teamFactsBeDamned and run away as fast as I can. Screaming.
Thank you for putting in the time and effort for this! Maps do help with visualization, and I’ve discovered that I once again mirror-imaged the rough layout in my mind from the description… =) I guess I have issues with that.
Thank you! That works….I like your map, between my hubby and 3 kids I’m used to reading maps that look like this… lol
This is very helpful. It was complicated enough that I couldn’t picture it in my head, but I am also not the type to spend the time drawing out the map, so I usually end up ignoring these types if descriptions in books. It definitely helps to have a helpful map showing my lazy self where everything is located 😀
I also thank you for the maps. I have a problem with things like 23 acres. If it translated it to city blocks then I would have a better idea, but I have a problem with acres. I get a much better size of the compound based on the map.
And look, they have their own infirmary that everyone can avoid going to.
I think it’s roughly the equivalent of 20 American football stadiums.
I Googled it and the average city block is between 2 and 5 acres. 23 acres is supposed to be equal to a little over 5-1/2 Walmart Supercenters or 8 Targets. 🙂
Dang. That’s bigger than I thought.
Thanks for the lookups.
I never heard anything measured in ‘Walmart Super Center’ or ‘Target’ increments before….I love it! What does it say about me that this made it immediately clear how big this property is?!! ????
Another way to think of it:
640 acres is a square mile.
160 acres is a square half mile.
40 acres is a square quarter mile.
23 acres, in a square, is going to be around 994′ each side.
Of course it doesn’t have to be a square; it could be a rectangular lot of a quarter mile by an eighth of a mile, or some random shape that sticks out in various directions. I’m not getting into any more geometry than that, but that should give you a rough idea.
Each acre is 43,000 square feet, or a fraction over 207′ per side on a square. However residential lots are rarely perfect squares in most places, being affected by things like road frontage, since in most places roads are not perfectly straight.
“Bern’s Evil Lair” Heh, heh, heh …
I love maps! Thank you so much. For some reason, I can see the characters and the action in my mind, but the relationships between locations defeat me every time.
Nice map, very helpful. If my work schedule follows these last two weeks I can wallow in RF and Soul Taken on release day! Fingers crossed!
I love visual stimuli, helps set the scene I’m trying to build in my mind as I read the stories. And to kind of see what the author was envisioning. This helps a lot!! And I can’t wait for publication day!!!!!
Love the map! Thank you Ilona, and thank you ModR for keeping our fine and fluffy selves in check.
Question, though: where is Regina’s workshop going to be?
Wonderful and helpful. Thank you! ????????️????
i got my copy in the mail today and i am hoping that this book is on sale in so many places ..book stores, grocery stores, gas stations.. anywhere a book can be sold.
my hat is tipped and my heart is weeping tears of beauty and joy at the generosity of the Andrews……may they need at least ten reprints to keep up with sales
huge hugs of emotion to you two…for the stories and everything else
live long and prosper
where can i get more cpoies?
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! ????
PS: Tip: the third reread is the best
Wait, who did you bribe/kill/kidnap to get a copy so far in advance?
Asking for a friend. (Raise your hand, BDH. We can coordinate the kidnappings. Joking!) (Sorta.)
I love maps. But attempting to build them in digital format trips the ultra-linear part of my brain and I can’t do beautiful organic things. I draw maps by hand instead. I design pretend places and then I come up with stories and daydreams that happen there; or I come up with stories and daydreams and I have to create the place.
There’s a museum near me that has (or had in pre-COVID times; I haven’t been there since) this sandbox table that projects contour lines and land/water onto whatever landscape you build in the sand. If you dig out a hole, blue light “flows” in and fills it up. It is possibly the most impractical and ridiculous thing I have ever wanted to have in my house; I had more fun playing with it than the kid I was at the museum with.
We have one of those in our data resource center at work that they built themselves. It is an excellent way to explain water flow on the landscape. Once you make your landscape, if you hold your hand over it you can make it rain and see where the water goes. Very illuminating. And fun.
YOU CAN SIMULATE WEATHER ON YOURS!?!?!?
I need this in my life.
Wow! This is excellent, and very helpful. Thanks ????
Love this! Thank you!
Thank you so much, HA.
Counting the days!
Oooh. Love, love, love.
I’m so looking forward to reading this story. Thank you for the snippets!
Thank you for the map! It is great! Orc tower, Elven spire, and Team Facts Be Damned. ????
I forgot about the agricultural exemption. I am hoping they get goats. Goats are hilarious and get into all sorts of shenanigans. Plus, they could double as the lawn crew!
Yes for goat Lawnmowers
Baby goats for Goat Yoga! (Yes, it’s a thing.)
Bees are also considered livestock and help in the garden.
My vote is for alpacas since they are gentler on the landscape; but they’ll need a May shearing and adequate shade to handle the heat in TX. And THANKS for the map!!! It’s a great start for us visual types, and I hope HA’s descriptions inspire some fan art for each building/commons.
Thanks so much. Love Hidden Legacy and the Baylors.
The map was great too.
Uh oh!
No more oh so casual “I’m just dropping by” for Benjiro and Penelope.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way! ????
I DO love maps … thank you !!!
I love maps. ???? Thank you for this.
Nice map! What program or game was used to design it?
It looks vaguely familiar… but it’s not quite exactly like what my game master (GM/DM) friends have been using to design fantasy maps for our games. There are so many kinds out there.
Inkarnate ???? https://inkarnate.com/
Thanks!
I’m so excited! And the map helps! Makes me realize I was right on track with how I was placing things.
I love summer, I also live in a place that has months of winter! I’m currently wishing the 23rd would get here. I don’t wish away sunny weather ever! Except today♥️ I can’t wait!!!
Awww I finished rereading Hidden Legacy today and look what I found! A snippet! With maps! Wheeeee….
Thank you Ilona and Gordon for the lovely little piece and the maps. They are great. I just need to imagine the upper floor walkways and that’s it.
Yeah, the dwellings would probably have to be closer to each other for those to be practical.
Thanks! It had been a terribly crappy day but this really turned it around for me. I can’t wait for the book to come out!
Wow, that is amazing!!!! I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for such an excellent piece. It took me out of some low, sorrowful blues. You give me such gladness, Thank you, and many smiles to you!!
I have estate envy. Need to win magical lottery and shift universes
When planning for the remodeling, put a helipad near the infirmary and office. Yes, there are more places open but that’s where the pad is needed. The pad would also be near the barracks in case a rapid reaction team is required.
The map is good. To me Leon’s tower looks like a mushroom with a narrow cap on the stem. A perfect elven house, unless they were tree elves.
pssst Tink
booksellers.org borders was giving me grief with pre order so i checked booksellers.. great find they rep independend book sellers
and i want more copies sold because of the blurp about the royalties..you’ll see what i mean
i don’t want to put it down but my eyes are blurring but must finish so i can re-read
Do you mean bookshop.org? My company blocked booksellers.org and when I Googled to see if it was legit, all the responses came back for bookshop.org.
(happy dance!!)
Love this!
Thank you for the map – it was very helpful!
I had a hard time keeping all the buildings straight in my head when you first posted the snippet.
Thank you for the map, it made it much easier to follow along! What a fab compound!
Thank you that was so fun to look at and made me even more excited for the book!
Hello,
I justa can’t wait for 23 to come.
Tchau,
Love it! They should get some attack geese to add to the property. ???? also works as a loud advanced warning system.
only if that fence keeps out the coyotes. Otherwise those geese will just disappear, altho not silently, heh.
Oh, good point. Definitely not silently, though.
Love the map! I’ll print out a copy and slip it into my book when I get it!
Thank you!
How about one of the casitas for Cornelius and Mathilda? He can handle the animals for the agricultural exemption plus wreak a little havoc in general.
Ooh! That’s a great idea ! !!!!!
Thank you! I am terrible at directions in my day-to-day life, so I cannot usually visualize locations in relation to one another while reading. Having a picture of the compound is immensely helpful and greatly appreciated.
Love the map!
Thank you Thank you Thank you. Picturing it in your head just doesn’t cut it like a map. It’s great. And room for Arabella to change and roam around all the estate acreage.
LOVE IT!!!
Looking forward to Ruby Fever. Have read all of HL before but went thru them again. In the middle of Emerald Blaze. Will be ready for the big day.
Nice work on the map!!! That was pretty darn thrilling to see … I’m so happy for all of them!!!
Tink
I am sorry I should read what I have typed before hitting send.. being in a hurry never is good.
on the front page where it says order now
I hit bookshop and it took me to here
https://bookshop.org/books/ruby-fever-9780063243187/9780063243187
be sure to pick which type of order: paper, hardback etc.
so I ordered it and they sent the e-mail that it shipped 8/6 us post office
I got it yesterday .
I hope that clears it up .
it is remarkable in how they tied it up but very sad to me because it looks like the baylors won’t be back
re reading it so it’s all good
Now, now, let’s not lose hope just yet ????. It’s true that nothing has been officially announced and it’s the end of the Avon contract, but House Andrews owns the characters and the world, so never say never…
We got a “Probably” here on will there be more https://ilona-andrews.com/2022/question-ladders/ and a potential Arabella series was discussed several times, like https://ilona-andrews.com/2021/flowers-and-questions/
Great map. Love it. Can’t wait for the book.
The release day is one of my family’s birthdays, this will make it tricky to binge read.
From worrying about the $1M MII mortgage to dropping $5M on a down payment in less than two years time. Obviously being the Deputy Warden pays well…
It’s a tad longer than that 🙂
The debt to Augustine was paid off sometime in the 3 years between Diamond Fire and Sapphire Flames, and the entire newly formed House Baylor worked towards it. Nevada almost to the brink of death, until Catalina and Arabella stopped her from financially contributing, for her own wellbeing. House Baylor and their Investigative Agency have worked on their nest egg for closer to 5 years. But the Deputy salary definitely doesn’t hurt 😉
It was hard to follow the first paragraph, but the more I read the more my imagination kicked in (aided by the pictures). I LOVE IT! It sounds huge and gorgeous. *sighs Nice to know Bern and Runa are definitely it. And the glazed look on Leon’s face was priceless. Thank you for sharing. I just love this family!!!
I love it, and I have a terrible visual memory, so thank you for the pictures and all the effort that took. What’s a breezeway? I’ve never heard of one, but it sounds like something that would break fairly quickly in Idaho snowfall if the distances are even somewhat accurate.
A breezeway is an architectural feature similar to a hallway that allows the passage between structures. It’s intended as a walkway, so people could pass through without going outside, but the name comes from the fact that it also facilitates breezes to cross through, to accommodate high winds, allow aeration, or provide aesthetic design variation.
Here for various styles and examples https://sebringdesignbuild.com/breezeway-decorating-ideas/
Think the stone bridge at Hogwarts in Harry Potter! I’d post a picture, but I can’t figure out how to attach it.
I wanted a few minutes to study the maps and I love them, I played a game years ago that had little people trundling around on a map like that, it’s lovely.
I’ve been wondering what sort of animals they’d have, I hope they have chickens and some fruit, maybe some vegetables like tomatoes and peppers since they have to cook for themselves to avoid cream puff incidents. I totally got into that more in my anticipatory wondering. Oooh geese to alert to prowlers off, as long as an animal mage doesn’t get to them, geese are mean and scary. Voice of experience there, don’t get chased by geese, you don’t want your own murder poultry coming to get you.
I love all these fantastic details.
It makes this story so much more realistic.
I really dont this story to ever end but i get that has to at some point just not now pleaeeaasse.
I still like “Arabella’s shack”. What a shack to live in. 😀
Glad the Baylors are getting their homestead so they are not on top of each other.
It will be interesting if Bug still sends out his drones over the property.
Love the map. Huge relief to see the new digs. And happy for the Baylors in all respects. Many, many thanks for all you do for the BDH and your compassion for all living things.
Great visualization aid! Do they have any spare buildings? I want to move there! I will even let my family visit every now and then except when they aggravate me.????
Oh, cool side note: I finally got my daughter to start reading the Innkeeper series as an intro to IA books, and I think she’s hooked! It’s so nice to be able to discuss my favorite authors and their books with her. ????
This is really the perfect set up for them. I cannot wait for the book too release in 13 days.
Where’s the rest of it? I remember reading a post that included Alessandro’s proposal and one of Arkon’s lesser employees meeting his end. I’ve looked for that post but have been unable to find it.
Hello Brenda,
You can find a longer sample of the beginning of Ruby Fever linked here https://ilona-andrews.com/2022/chains-and-wips/
For anyone else who goes looking, the Apple site shows no sign of the excerpt. But the Harper Collins link works just fine!
Like the maps 🙂
Just a question: by story/floor do you mean a ground floor included, or above ground only (as counted in Europe, with ground floor as a zero)?
Well, they’re American characters living in America, so…no, they don’t count it the European way 😉 .
Well, the female-part of author-team is from Europe… 😉
What would be the ground floor in Europe is considered the first floor in America. I know to everyone living outside the United States, it’s goofy.
I have to remind myself which floor is which when I read authors outside the US when house floors are mentioned.????
I can promise you that how many stories the house has is not central to the story heh 😀 . You can imagine it either way.
That’s good to know Mod R. ????
I’m so excited for this book! The only drawback is that Patricia Briggs’ new book comes out at the same time! What a dilemma to have ????. Plus I think of these books as early birthday gifts. My birthday is 8/24.
Oh. Such a treat the maps / pics you have made! Love reading that presentation of the new home – just love it!
I want Arabella’s Tower????❣️ Love the map, Thanks!
I preordered Ruby Fever Audio and can’t wait for it to drop. Meanwhile I’m going to listen to Emerald Blaze again.
I hope Mom’s guy moves in with her.
Thank you so much! Ditto, ditto, ditto. It helps me visualize!
thank you thank you thank you!!!!
That was so awesome. Thanks for sharing. The BDH is greatful.
Awesome map.
Awesome the visual really helped me. As usual house Andrews rocks!
Sending well wishes, good thoughts and good vibes From northern BC.
I really appreciate the map; I tend to get “lost” in complex environments but now I’ll be able to refer back to this if there are active scenes involving fighting.
These are great maps, and I love maps, so THANK YOU! (Actually, I had the compound pretty well pictured in my head from the first read of this snippet)
That was wonderful! Thank you!
This is still one of my favorite descriptions of property in a book.
Thank you for the map. No matter how many times I read the snippet, I still
had a problem with where everyone was situated.
I have now compulsively enlarged and printed out the map, with new typed labels glued on for easy reading.
Even though I read on my Kindle; I do have some things printed out to go with
the books.
I have found that how I see things in my mind’s eye at the original reading is the way they are the next time I read the book; even if it’s 10 years later. So getting it right the first time is crucial.
So if Runa and Bern are living in one of the Casitas, what is Bern’s Evil Lair?
Is this where all his computers are?
LOVE LOVE LOVE this map! Thank you! Can’t wait for Ruby Fever to come out! SQUEEE!
How did I miss this snippet!!!??? Love the dynamic in the conversation . Love the family and how they are growing. Adore Bern.
Will Arabella’s tower roof have a hinge so she can open it and peek in when in Beast mode?
Yay. yay! Maps! I’m so horrible with mental images off of text. Maps!
Does Leon’s tower have a little somethin’ somethin’?
Love this type of maps! Really helps me picture the new compound. Would like to see the inside of the buildings as well. Thank you!Mucho gracias! Dzekuje bardzo!
I always loved this entry. Did I read it here or in a book proper? I forgot. But I loved it, wanted to live there too. You guys really know how to decorate a set. I would love a dream house of your design. Maybe this is as close as I can come to one. The description is so good I can see it in my head. The map is in my head. Man this is a fun family to belong to. Thanks again for another wonderful domicile. I remember an assassin in C and A’s house and how they had to get him.
This is the Prologue to Ruby Fever, number 6 in the Hidden Legacy series, which is coming on the 23rd of August ???? https://ilona-andrews.com/featured-release/
I think this might be the future compound House Andrews has in mind for their anticipated Florida digs 😉
Your maps look pretty good to me!
Keep up the good work. It helps to visualize the story and your efforts are appreciated.
Very jealous of Arabella and Leon. Always wanted to live in a tower with a witch’s hat roof.
We need a spot to complain bitterly about how we still have 11 days and 12 hours until Ruby Fever is released and how the spoilers are a delicious teaser and making the wait both absolute torture and filled with anticipation. AHHHHHH!!!!
I really can only wait because I don’t have a choice. LMAO
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the snippet with pictures.
Love the snippet! And the map really helped put everything in place. Thank you!
I am SO looking forward to the release and this will be handy to have.
Billye
From the Great Nation of Texas
Question about House Politics:
House Etterson is living with House Baylor and dependent on them for security. This seems to be a fealty position.
House Etterson has 3 Primes, House Baylor has 2 declared primes (I think Nevada is now considered a Rogan) If Alessandro joins, back up to 3. Personally, I think Leon is probably a Prime but as he is not listed, it is moot.
How does a Runa/Bern marriage change things??
We’ll have to see what happens in Ruby Fever, not long now ????
This story just got me to binge the first three hidden legacy books in three days. Is there more to this story? Architecture and family compound descriptions are fascinating for me. I greatly appreciate the map.
This is the beginning of Ruby Fever, the 6th and last (for now) novel in the Hidden Legacy series- coming out on the 23rd of August ????
Here for another excerpt and the order links https://ilona-andrews.com/featured-release/
Love the map, though I would have thought elven spire for Arabella and orc tower for Leon, when thinking about it. I am watching that countdown….
The Baylor compound needs a cavern. I saw one on a property in San Antonio on Zillow. They put a hatch in a deck and has stairs and lights installed. Think of all the shenanigans that can go on down there.
This has wonderfully enhanced my reading experience, thank you!