LittleDeadScribe
A lot of publishers ask for one page, but is 1 1/2 ok? I really don't know how to cut this down any further, and I'm afraid it'll get too confusing without certain explanations... Please help.
Rana Nameless is an adolescent scullery maid in the palace of the King of Jealden. She dreams of adventure, and one night, after being accused of breaking the law and sentenced to death, goes off in search of it. On the road, she hears of a prophecy from a wandering storyteller. In this prophecy, a man called the Vassal will usurp her lands, and the only one who could come up against him is a hero called the Grey, also foretold to be a traitor. The storyteller accidentally tells Rana that the Grey is Rana Valmar, daughter of an infamous traitor of Jealdanian history. Rana realizes that she fits all of the descriptions of the Grey, and in confusion, escapes. She comes upon a young man called Jaron, and the two agree to travel together to the nearby kingdom Meldonia where a massive archery competition will be held.
The archery competition, celebrating the Prince Nicolas’s wedding to the Jealdanian Princess Anetta, is actually a ruse by the Prince to capture all of the important firsthand men in the kingdoms of Jealden, Meldonia, and a third kingdom; Cardil. With the help of a shapeshifter called Rhiannon, Rana discovers the Prince’s masquerade, and manages to save her King, Princess Anetta, and the little Prince Rordan of Cardil. Jaron had been fighting for Nicolas’s side, but proves his change of loyalty to Rana when helping the King’s company escape.
Rana and her King flee to the mountain range Saoirse upon learning that the conspiracy had been planned perhaps years ago, and that in a blink of an eye, all of Jealden and Meldonia are conquered by Nicolas. Along the way, Rana, her friend from childhood: Coem, Anetta, and Rhiannon produce a strong bond of friendship with Coem and Rhiannon even developing an unexpected romance.
Also, Rana learns that the Prince of Meldonia, foster son to the late King of Meldonia, is her brother. According to the laws of magic, blood relations in royalty cannot kill each other. Even as the Grey, Rana can’t defeat the Vassal. On top of it all, Nicolas is a necromancer, and his allies are shadow keepers, creatures from the land of the dead with the ability to possess a man’s body. With the help of the seer who had Seen the prophecy, the company hides and waits in the mountains for opportunity to liberate Jealden.
Valmar begins when finally, news comes from Cardil across the sea that their ruler, lost in the masquerade of Meldonia, has been reinstated. The King and his company immediately go through the seer’s portal to Cardil, ignoring her warnings of rebellion by slaves and the lowest class of peasants there. In Cardil, the King is taken before the Khan (the ruler), who turns out to be the little Prince Rordan’s sister, furious that the King has tried to return him to the throne. Both the King and Rordan are locked up.
Rana and her friends go to save them, but end up being revealed by the Khan. They fail to save Rordan from being recaptured, but manage to rescue the King, stepping through the portal in the Cardilian palace in escape with no idea where it would send them. On the other side of the portal, their company is instantly captured by natives to the barbaric marshlands of Cardil. Rana is tricked into shooting her King, and forced to return to the city without Anetta, who swears herself against Rana in grief. No one realizes that the King had actually been taken by one of Nicolas’s shadow keepers before Rana’s arrow hit.
Back in the city of the palace of Cardil, the final raid by the peasant rebellion begins, and after a bitter battle Rordan’s sister is overthrown and the boy Khan is instated. Rhiannon is killed. With allies in Cardil, Rana, Coem, and Jaron, who had come to Cardil to lead the rebellions, prepare to wage war against Nicolas. Rana returns to Jealden, where she poses as a servant once again, studying her brother’s court for the attack.
Finally, with the battle beginning outside on the palace grounds, Rana finds a chamber within it. It is in this chamber that the souls of the people the shadow keepers took are kept. Rana finds her King and attempts to free him when she is interrupted by Nicolas. After a grueling duel, Rana realizes that the only way to destroy the shadow keepers and truly defeat her brother is to kill him, which would also curse her to death. Resolutely, Rana strikes down the Prince by turning his own dark magic against him, and revives her King, saving her lands.
When Jaron finds Rana alone at the end of the war, he tells her that she had defeated Nicolas in dueling, and had therefore already conquered his royalty for her King. Rana is spared from the curse, reunited with her camaraderie, is named a hero called the Grey, and decides to journey across Jealden and Meldonia with Jaron to help in healing the lands upturned by war.
Rana Nameless is an adolescent scullery maid in the palace of the King of Jealden. She dreams of adventure, and one night, after being accused of breaking the law and sentenced to death, goes off in search of it. On the road, she hears of a prophecy from a wandering storyteller. In this prophecy, a man called the Vassal will usurp her lands, and the only one who could come up against him is a hero called the Grey, also foretold to be a traitor. The storyteller accidentally tells Rana that the Grey is Rana Valmar, daughter of an infamous traitor of Jealdanian history. Rana realizes that she fits all of the descriptions of the Grey, and in confusion, escapes. She comes upon a young man called Jaron, and the two agree to travel together to the nearby kingdom Meldonia where a massive archery competition will be held.
The archery competition, celebrating the Prince Nicolas’s wedding to the Jealdanian Princess Anetta, is actually a ruse by the Prince to capture all of the important firsthand men in the kingdoms of Jealden, Meldonia, and a third kingdom; Cardil. With the help of a shapeshifter called Rhiannon, Rana discovers the Prince’s masquerade, and manages to save her King, Princess Anetta, and the little Prince Rordan of Cardil. Jaron had been fighting for Nicolas’s side, but proves his change of loyalty to Rana when helping the King’s company escape.
Rana and her King flee to the mountain range Saoirse upon learning that the conspiracy had been planned perhaps years ago, and that in a blink of an eye, all of Jealden and Meldonia are conquered by Nicolas. Along the way, Rana, her friend from childhood: Coem, Anetta, and Rhiannon produce a strong bond of friendship with Coem and Rhiannon even developing an unexpected romance.
Also, Rana learns that the Prince of Meldonia, foster son to the late King of Meldonia, is her brother. According to the laws of magic, blood relations in royalty cannot kill each other. Even as the Grey, Rana can’t defeat the Vassal. On top of it all, Nicolas is a necromancer, and his allies are shadow keepers, creatures from the land of the dead with the ability to possess a man’s body. With the help of the seer who had Seen the prophecy, the company hides and waits in the mountains for opportunity to liberate Jealden.
Valmar begins when finally, news comes from Cardil across the sea that their ruler, lost in the masquerade of Meldonia, has been reinstated. The King and his company immediately go through the seer’s portal to Cardil, ignoring her warnings of rebellion by slaves and the lowest class of peasants there. In Cardil, the King is taken before the Khan (the ruler), who turns out to be the little Prince Rordan’s sister, furious that the King has tried to return him to the throne. Both the King and Rordan are locked up.
Rana and her friends go to save them, but end up being revealed by the Khan. They fail to save Rordan from being recaptured, but manage to rescue the King, stepping through the portal in the Cardilian palace in escape with no idea where it would send them. On the other side of the portal, their company is instantly captured by natives to the barbaric marshlands of Cardil. Rana is tricked into shooting her King, and forced to return to the city without Anetta, who swears herself against Rana in grief. No one realizes that the King had actually been taken by one of Nicolas’s shadow keepers before Rana’s arrow hit.
Back in the city of the palace of Cardil, the final raid by the peasant rebellion begins, and after a bitter battle Rordan’s sister is overthrown and the boy Khan is instated. Rhiannon is killed. With allies in Cardil, Rana, Coem, and Jaron, who had come to Cardil to lead the rebellions, prepare to wage war against Nicolas. Rana returns to Jealden, where she poses as a servant once again, studying her brother’s court for the attack.
Finally, with the battle beginning outside on the palace grounds, Rana finds a chamber within it. It is in this chamber that the souls of the people the shadow keepers took are kept. Rana finds her King and attempts to free him when she is interrupted by Nicolas. After a grueling duel, Rana realizes that the only way to destroy the shadow keepers and truly defeat her brother is to kill him, which would also curse her to death. Resolutely, Rana strikes down the Prince by turning his own dark magic against him, and revives her King, saving her lands.
When Jaron finds Rana alone at the end of the war, he tells her that she had defeated Nicolas in dueling, and had therefore already conquered his royalty for her King. Rana is spared from the curse, reunited with her camaraderie, is named a hero called the Grey, and decides to journey across Jealden and Meldonia with Jaron to help in healing the lands upturned by war.