Kyle chuckled. “I consider Jake a brother, but I can tell you honestly he’s excellent at what he does.”
“I’ve been impressed so far,” Viv said. “So of course we’re continuing with Watchdog while we’re here. The location scouts found a few places to film the winter scenes and the avalanche for the finale, so I’m out here to pick the ones I like best. We’ll need a primary plus a couple backups in case of weather, of course.
“You aren’t using CGI for it?” Charlie asked.
Viv shook her head. “I want realism. This is one of the biggest moments in the entire series and I don’t want people distracted by CGI. I want themfeelingitas it happens. I grew up on the Western slope, so I always pictured Colorado when I read that part. And, since Colorado also happens to be the avalanche capital of the US, it only makes sense to film one here.”
“How are you going to do that? Aren’t they unpredictable?” Charlie asked.
“You aren’t a native, are you?” Viv said, not unkindly.
“Neither of us is,” Kyle said. “I’m from Los Angeles and Charlie’s from Ohio.”
“Not many avalanches in Ohio,” Charlie added.
Viv laughed softly. “We won’t be caught in a natural avalanche—fingers crossed,” she joked. “We’ve been talking toCDOT—the folks who trigger smaller, controlled avalanches before the snowpack builds up and threatens a big one. They’re giving us permission to film some scenes on location ahead of time and then film the avalanche once it’s triggered—from a safe distance. We just have to hope that at least one of the three locations will have enough snowpack early in the season.”
“Otherwise, we’ll need a real Lord Darkfell,” Maddie said, and Charlie, Viv, and Rowan laughed.
Kyle looked lost.
Rowan leaned forward. “Kyle, you really need to read the books or at least watch the show. Charlie will have to catch you up on the story.”
“With pleasure,” Charlie said. “I’ll have him speaking Fae in no time.”
Then Rowan looked at Charlie, tipped his chin up, and used his Aldric-voice. “I command it, Sir Mariel.”
Charlie’s breath caught.
“Sir Mariel?” Kyle asked.
“Aldric’s bravest warrior,” Rowan told him. “A woman disguised as a knight.”
Sir Mariel.The character who hid her true self behind armor. Who sacrificed everything to protect those she loved.
Charlie managed a laugh. “I’m flattered. Mariel’s everything a knight should be—noble, brave, honorable.”
“Wow. Sounds like you,” Kyle said.
Charlie was caught so off-guard, she couldn’t say anything beyond a muttered thank you.
“So we’ll be in your hair for…” Viv looked at Maddie, “How long again?”
“For this trip, two weeks,” Maddie answered, glancing down at her tablet again. “Then we’re headed back to L.A. for pre-production and to start studio filming. But while we’re here,we’ll be doing a lot of mountain traveling. But first, Rowan has his PR appearance at the Renaissance Faire this Sunday.”
“We’ll be there on Saturday, too,” Viv added, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Rowan. “Or else I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“You’ve jousted at Ren Faires, didn’t you?” Charlie asked.
Viv answered for him. “That’s how he got the role, actually. We wanted someone who could move like a real knight, not just fake it for the camera.”
Rowan shrugged modestly. “I loved the books growing up and I wanted to live in that world, so I ran off and joined a Ren Faire.” He chuckled. “I started as an extra, then a page, then finally, a knight. I’m lucky. Only a few Rennie entertainers end up successful. Penn and Teller are probably the biggest names.”
“Until now,” Viv said, smiling at him.
Rowan’s smile back turned serious. “So, do you think we can sneak in ahead of my performance? Rowan asked Kyle. “Is it safe for Viv?”
“I think the bigger problem is if people recognize Rowan, we’ll spend the whole day signing autographs instead of actually experiencing the Faire,” Viv said.
