Part of the problem is, of course, that back then I wrote everything on paper, and I have moved a couple of times since then, and living alone, I have to manage all my papers myself, and I'm a totally unorganized person. (At least, that's how I feel; some friends think of me as super organized in things that matter!) Towards the end, I typed the story into my first computer, took it into work in the dead of night, and printed it out in the tiniest print imaginable, and brought it home to read through. Then I made changes, printed out those, and interspersed the new pages ... you get the idea. It was a mess, because of the size of the print actually making things much worse than they would have been otherwise.
I can't find the original manuscript, but I remember the story, so I'm going to read Episode 14 real quick, and then relate the remainder of the story. Be patient if I keep going back to change what I write, because it has been fifteen years since I wrote the original story. If I do find the original manuscript, you'll get to read it.
I'm going to put a summary of the story thus far right below here, as soon as I finish reading Episode 14.
Kay
Jana is a young woman raised among the desert Horse People, in a military family. Being a vigorous child, interested in sport and riding and the martial arts, she joins her father's horse-group in her teens, among the first women to be allowed in the Army. Her father retires, but Jana stays on, and on one patrol to the far East, they come upon a small group of foreigners being attacked by enormous wild cats. They rescue them, principally a noble youth, of about fourteen, and an old man. Presently, once they are conducted to the principal City of the Horse People, they discover that the young fellow is the crown prince of the nation to the north of the Horse People, the son of Queen Ione. He was returning from a sort of residential school in the east, with his retinue, and the elderly adviser.
On their way to the city, Jana and the youth had spontaneously experimented with sex, and to their startlement, the young pair find themselves becoming emotionally bonded, the young man more than the young woman. At the palace, the youth implores the King to allow Jana to coach him in arms (evidently, his School focused more on scholarly activities, and up until he had met Jana, the young prince had been of a more scholarly disposition). The King agrees, and sends Jana with the young man, and a division of horse troops, to escort the prince home, after which Jana would remain in Heliopolis, Queen Ione's capital.
Ione initially suspects Jana of being a spy, and is furious when she hears that the lowly female horse officer has possibly been intimate with Ione's son. The youngsters staunchly refuse to reveal details, but Ione is positive that there has been some intimacy. Over the weeks and months, Jana proves her trustworthiness, and the boy's young sister, Ianthe, who has been set to observe the foreign girl closely, fails to find any evidence of treacherous behavior, and once the Prince leaves for his academy the following Fall, it is clear that the 'romance' between the young people has run its course.
Jana is sent to accompany the prince and his entourage through the Horse Lands, to his academy. When she returns to the palace, Jana learns that the palace is under siege. There have been several attempts to poison the royal family, one of which succeeded in killing the family cook. The second attempt was thwarted in time, but the new cook was forced to consume the poisoned food, and died. They were now forced to prepare their own food, and their nights had been sleepless, in fear of attacks on the palace. The very night Jana returned, there was an attempt at assassination, which Jana foils.
Ianthe's friend, Penelope, discovers that it is an uncle, a Duke whose lands are at the Western end of the kingdom, who is behind the plots. Due to Ione having removed the tolls on a certain principal highway through the kingdom in order to encourage trade, the Duke has lost revenue, and has turned his eye on gaining the throne through treachery. Jana suggests that Queen Ione should ride to get help from the Horse People, leaving Jana to defend the children, disguised as the queen. The plot backfires, and the Queen, returning from the Horse People with a large troop of Horse Riders, hears of a battle at the palace of the Duke, and joins in with the Horse troops, but the queen is killed by an arrow, though the Duke is captured, and the rebellion put down. Jana, charged with defending the princess Ianthe, had decided to take her to a cabin in a forest in the east, but while the two girls had been out of the cabin in the dark, a rider had raced in to warn them that a contingent from the Duke was on its way to murder them. The two girls had watched from in hiding while the messenger had been hacked to death, and the cabin set afire, the Duke's men believing that the queen and Ianthe were inside the cabin, asleep. Seeing the murder of the messenger, who had been a dear friend of Jana, Jana has a nervous breakdown. Returning to the palace, the news of the death of the queen deepens the horror of Jana, and she retreats into a catatonic state.
With difficulty, Jana is roused back to normalcy. The young prince is sent for, and an envoy from the King of the Horse people arrives with advice, and orders for Jana. Jana is to return home, despite the pleading of the young prince, who finds his desire for Jana reawakening. But Jana has fallen in love with his sister, Ianthe, which he finds hard to accept, and he has a difficult time coming to terms with it. Ianthe, tired of being cooped up in the palace, insists on traveling south with Jana and her Riders, to meet with the Horse King.
On their way south, Jana, Ianthe, and the Riders stay overnight in one of the moving cities of the Horse People, which roam the Horse Plains with their horses and sheep, and enormous tents. Here they make friends with the daughter of the clan chief, a tempestuous young beauty, who entertains the royal princess. Meanwhile, Jana is entertained by a lovely young courtesan, Leila, who tells Jana that she is the second most beautiful woman in the world! Then who is the most beautiful woman of all, asks Jana. With many blushes, the girl declares that it is the Chief's daughter who is the most beautiful woman living, who is even now spending the night with Ianthe.
In the morning, the travelers resume their journey to the City of the Horse People, and presently Ianthe is presented to the King, who is relieved to find Jana recovered, and charmed by the young woman, the daughter of Ione, whom the King had admired and respected for many years. Ianthe is given a room at the palace, while Jana returns to her foster parents.
Episode 15
No comments:
Post a Comment