Woman of the Stone synopsis (spoiler alert)
Synopsis of “Woman of the Stone” by S.V. Farnsworth s.v.farnsworth@gmail.com
Synopsis
Threads of choice weave in the tapestry of time to undo an ancient wrong. Emerald Stone makes her way through mortality acted upon and acting against forces she cannot comprehend. Navigating by intuition and the firm grounding of her family traditions, she is tasked by the Creator with reuniting the long-divided Modutan Empire.
However, Emerald is the last of her clan. She is the final product of a war of attrition and rules the country of Danalan between the nation of Andolin and the Impenetrable Mountains. She struggles against the oppressive laws of her Andolin neighbors to eke out a living while maintaining her sovereignty.
She survives attacks from the mystery-shrouded Wolf Clan by sheltering in Stone Castle. Dedicated to her family traditions, she takes in orphans from the nearby Andolin village of Meadowgren. She wants life to be as it had been for the Stones for the past four-hundred-years but finds it impossible to be peaceful or happy with her people gone.
Brutally raped at the age of fourteen, Emerald is terrified of intimacy. Now, at age twenty, refuses to keep her oath to marry Liameo Hume, a man from Andolin she once loved. Her refusal turns public sentiment in the village against her and incites three men to sexually assault her. To cover their crime, they accuse her of a murder she didn’t commit. She escapes the gallows only when the truth of her loss of virtue is revealed.
When she discovers she is pregnant, she embarks on a journey to reunite the long-estranged kingdoms before her condition becomes known. Leaving all she holds dear, she follows the path of her foster brother, Prince Stephan, who recently returned to the northern kingdom of Frenland through secret passages under the Impenetrable Mountains. However, she cannot find the entrance and must traverse the Sacred Mountain. In the process, she discovers the ancient Royal City of her ancestors. It is deserted and she fails to encounter the people she seeks. Desperate for food, she enters war-torn Frenland.
Stephan organizes rebel forces in preparation to fight his enemy, Salicor, for the right to rule the land. He wants to free the citizenry from the cruel dictator and do his part to help Emerald restore unity to the empire. Woefully outnumbered, he cannot possibly succeed. But, his cunning sense of strategy provides him a fighting chance. If he fails, then he dies and Emerald’s prospects of fulfilling the Legend of the Stone diminish.
Due to social and cultural influences, various adversaries attempt to prevent Emerald from reuniting the empire. Many fear that change could affect their status and position, some will do everything in their power to ensure her failure, and others strive to kill her. Those who oppose her do not succeed because of her willingness to sacrifice everything.
Emerald is captured and enslaved in Frenland by Salicor’s general, Valerie. Her sincerity wins over Valerie and her twin brother General Byron. Convinced that they are on the wrong side, the twin generals join forces with Stephan and help defeat Salicor, thus restoring the rule of a just king to Frenland.
Before the final battle in the north, Darrin, Emerald’s protector from the west, rescues her and takes her to the newly restored and inhabited ancient Royal City in the mountains. Emerald falls ill and, burning with fever, miscarries. Decimated physically and emotionally, she fights for life and attempts to face her feelings by committing to an engagement to Darrin with whom she has fallen in love.
Because of his low status in his culture, Darrin doesn’t feel valued. He resents Emerald’s position as future queen and takes offense when her choices are revealed. Using the child as an excuse, he refuses to marry her. He loves her and has always wanted her. But, if he fails to become the man he needs to be, then he can never be with her.
Emerald is forced to face her inner demons or be destroyed by them. She stops running from the past. Facing her trauma head-on, she unearths a horrifying memory.
When she was fourteen, she used her grandmother’s severed head to kill her attacker. She realizes that Grandmother, though dead, wants her to live and thus lent her very body as a defense. Grandmother’s love frees Emerald from the horrors of the past and grants her forgiveness for what she has done to survive.
Healed, but brokenhearted, she determines to return to the orphans who need her. Just then, a gong sounds and Emerald sees white-clad invaders pouring into the mountain city. She ignores them and departs without attempting to reconcile with Darrin. She has accomplished much but has not yet fulfilled her mandate as the Woman of the Stone or escaped her oath to wed Liameo.
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