Through the Meadow: Wrapped in the Rays of the Sun Volume III

Miranda Bryon was considered the luckiest girl in Klenard. She was a beautiful heiress, the only surviving child of the Duke of Shaeriden. As a girl of twelve, she married the most eligible man in the land: the cousin of the Queen, James Howe, son of the Duke of Brenton. The couple was popular. Miranda was a personal friend of Queen Eleanor. With her husband, she hosted parties, helped their community and remained dutiful and devout.

As time passed, though, Miranda realized that she was unhappy and that convention chaffed against it. James grew abusive and demanding. After he died, she was forced to marry again and pushed into submission. Despite the love she held over her husbands and her enlarging brood, Miranda identified herself as a lover of women. Through one of her maids, she found a group at court that felt the same way. These women not only broke the law, but they also shared similar political and social beliefs and experiences with husbands and children. They all beckoned for change and more freedom.

Their problem was Mother Church and its leader, the Holy One. This power hinged upon the blind devotion Christian kingdoms paid to its head and the Word of God he preached. The women did not find these beliefs conformable and they sought to challenge it. It was one of many battles. Miranda narrowly escaped each scandal, but was condemned many times. It led to years of mistreatment from her husbands.

Just when she grew closer to her maid, Julia Gloss, Miranda faced another challenge. Mother Church declared that all Christian kingdoms must expel and rise up against the heathens or risk being eliminated and excommunicated. Klenard and her allies are easily embroiled in the world conflict, but they find themselves impoverished. Little by little, Christian kingdoms are chiseled apart and break away from their Holy One.

The chaos of this worldwide war and Queen Eleanor’s death left Klenard's heirs in exile and Jayne Brutrose's son on the throne. As the new regime sought to gain legitimacy through support of Mother Church, Miranda and Julia began to contest the status quo. In the face of disaster, they must stand strong in the vulnerability, the meadow they made for themselves...or be killed by the destructive storm.