It's funny I think, how some projects resonate with you and others just fade away into the background never to be thought of again. This is one such project. As i've been going over this reveiw, i kept thinking "Which one was the project I did during that year i went to Mountain Training with my Aikido group? For the life of me, I couldn't remember. Or at other times, it would be "Which one was the project I did while working with the post adoption support agency?" Well, it turns out that they were the same project!
For some reason, as a leading lady, Persephone Watkins doesn't stand out in my mind, not like Saga (Saga of the Wild Hunt), Schuyler (The Kahzer Chronicles), Juniper (Eyes of Glass), Ava (The Detective & The Witch) or even LynnLee (Eight Three One) or Wynnona (Untitled Project). I mean, of course Saga and Schuyler stand out, but why would Wynnona, whose project never got finished, stand out more than Persephone? Who knows. that's the writing gods for you. Perhaps this project was really, just hat bad!
So, a little background on this project (and what I sort of remember of it without going back and re-reading what there is. I was doing a university placement for my Masters of Social Work with Victoria's Post Adoption Support Agency, then called FIND. Since then, they've moved from the Department of Family Services to the Department of Justice and renamed, but my word, was that work interesting, heart-breaking and rewarding. Under the Victorian Adoption Act 1984, eligible persons (adoptees, natural parents, natural siblings, etc) could apply for adoption records. The agency could if requested, attempt to reach out the affected parties and try to establish contact. You can find more information about accessing your (or a relatives) adoption records, by going here. This particular service is only relevant for adoptions that took place in Victoria, but the friendly staff there will help point you in the right direction if you're looking for one of their interstate counterparts. This also applies to Inter-Country adoptions.
Anyway, the work there was deeply satisfying and inspiring (again, why was this NaNo project so forgettable?) that I wanted to write a story about an adoptee seeking their true identity. In this case, it was for teenagers Imogen and Isabelle. Persephone was the worker they contacted to help them. What followed sort of spiralled though into a story about hidden royal heirs and an usurped throne, a hidden underground resistance and a hidden country. Maybe that's why it never got finished (NaNo won yes, but the story was not finished).
The other interesting thing about the story was that I went away to Mounain Training with Aikido for three days of outdoor weapons training. It was a whole lot of fun and mayhem, especially given the terrain on Mount Hotham. Oddly enough, Persephone is one of the few characters who does not use a staff weapon, let alone any weapons! What was I thinking? A prime opportunity where I was learning from the best of the best and I squandered it!
Story Description
Persephone Watkins was born in a country no one has ever heard of, on a continent no one knows exists.
Codell Blaise was born in Melbourne, Australia, the son of a man who makes his living going to places that no one else can.
To the people in their lives, she is a Social Worker and he is a Detective with the Victoria Police. Brought together by the death of a man, more important than they ever realized, Persephone will need to dive back into her past and the mission her mother was sent to Australia to complete and Codell will need to decide whether his loyalties are to the job or to his father's life long mission.
Protecting the Crown Princesses of Emani is all that matters, but death follows Imogen and Isabelle like a shadow.
Story Excerpt
While she had been thinking, she had not noticed the doors at the far side of the large room open and a woman enter with two escorts. She looked around the room and laid eyes, first on Borris, whom she beamed at, but then her gaze fell on Percy who was not facing the Queen, but still thinking as she leaned on the cane she had needed since the attack at the station.
“Savannah?” Queen Ilisabeth asked, moving towards, who she thought was her former hand maid. Percy turned, and the Queen stopped in her tracks, realising her mistake. The woman was younger then the cane had implied. “No…” It took her a moment, but the name came to her. “Persephone… Savannah’s daughter.”
Horrified that she had missed the entrance of the Queen while she had been away in her own little world, Percy dropped to her knees, bowing her head, groaning in pain as she did so. She had thought that she was doing so much better. Able to walk, even table to sort of take stairs, but the sudden movement had jarred her more than she had expected, and she wondered how on earth she was going to get back up.
“Percy!” Cody growled, “what on earth are you doing?” He rushed for her, trying to make her get back up again. He looked over at Borris and his father, anyone who could help me, make her see sense, but both of the older men and the other people in large room had also dropped to their knees with bowed heads. The only people left standing were him and the two girls who were looking around uncertainly, until deciding to imitate everyone else in the room.
Ilisbeth, Queen of Emani smiled indulgently at Cody, as she too knelt before Percy. “Up child, we can all see that you are in pain. And your young man seems most displeased with your actions.”
Percy blushed as she looked at the Queen, but the pain of her sudden movement to bow was etched on her face. “Your Majesty,” she said, trying to hide the grimace.
With Cody on one side, Ilisabeth reached out to Percy’s other side and together they helped her stand. “Apparently I must ban you from future social niceties until your injuries are healed. You must also tell me how you sustained them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Percy said, her head still bowed.
Queen Ilisabeth looked at Cody, then at MacLean. “You must be MacLean’s son,” she said, not mentioning his failure to adhere to social convention and bow in the presence of royalty.
“Cody...” he paused and sighed. “Codell Blaise, your Majesty,” he said with an incline of his head. HE was going to hear it from Borris and his father afterwards, but wat else could he do. Percy had significantly hurt herself again. Despite always thinking she was better, she had a bad habit of always trying to move too fast.
The Queen moved on to Borris, finally acknowledging him. “Borris,” she said exuberantly. “O, it is so good to see you again,” she said walking over to him.
“Your Majesty,” Borris said, looking up at his Queen for the first time in twenty years. “It is so good to be home.”
“It is good to have you here again, by my side,” Ilisabeth said to him, before turning to MacLean. “And our wandering spirit has returned. MacLean Blaise.”
“Your Majesty,” MacLean greeted. “I am at your service, as always.”
Ilisabeth haled before making her way towards where Imogen and Isabelle knelt awkwardly. She stared at them, partially in awe and partially in fear. Percy made a note to offer her services o the Queen as well, now, almost certain that her role with FIND had been orchestrated to ensure that the reunion between mother and children went well.
“Imogen,” she said with tears in her voice. She waited and saw which girl looked up. “Isabelle?” she waited and watched as the second girl looked at her. They stared at her and she stared at them, no one knowing just what to do or say. Almost twenty years had passed since she had laid eyes on her children and for Ilisabeth, it was hard to reconcile the tiny infants who she had handed to Savannah and Borris all those years ago with the beautiful young women standing before her now. “It is so good to finally meet you,” she said, her voice straining against emotion.
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