Saving Queen Bess – Chapter 1
A/N: Historical young adult adventure story based on the book Linnet by Sally Watson and set in England in the year 1582. It's an adventure, not a romance, although there are various subtle hints at romantic interest at occasional points during the story.
Summary: Mistress Orihime Inoue, a too-trusting upper-class young lady of fourteen, ran away to seek adventure in the heart of sixteenth-century London. Along the road, she met the gentleman Sir Sousuke Aizen and accepted the ride he so kindly offered her. That was her first mistake. Her second was in accepting his hospitality, although by that time, she had little choice. Fortunately, her childhood friend Sir Ichigo Kurosaki is on the lookout for her. Is he truly as staid and unadventurous as she believes?
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach by Tite Kubo or Linnet by Sally Watson. This is fanfiction and as such is understood to be derivative of these works; I do not receive any monetary benefit in any way from the publication of this story. Hopefully this fanfic will be taken as an enticement for my readers to go out and purchase this wonderful book, which is recently back in print at Image Cascade Publishing after having been out-of-print for many years. (Google "Image Cascade" and "Sally Watson" for the link.) Please, do support the original work this fic is based on.
(Originally posted 10/29/11.)
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This story is under revision and will be reposted soon.
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The girl sat on a grassy bank by the Portsmouth-to-London road, her wealth of apricot-red hair falling down her back, looking forlorn and a little scared. Her heel was blistered and she had come what felt like quite a long way.
The rider, his two servants behind him, pulled his horse to a stop and eyed her with speculation. Not a waif or a gypsy, he realized almost at once. Her fine woolen cloak was lined with silk, and underneath it she wore a lace ruff and leather shoes. She was clearly of the gentry or even nobility, and this was a very unlikely place to find a young girl of her class alone. Even in this modern and civilized year of 1582, a highway was not exactly safe.
"My dear child!" exclaimed the rider. "Whatever are you doing here, and alone? May I help?"
She studied him cautiously. Her older brother Sora had told her never to speak to strangers, and Ichigo had recently remarked that she was overly gullible. Of course, Ichigo was always so overprotective, and now that she was out in the world, Orihime was prepared to demonstrate just how shrewd and sagacious she could be.
(To be continued)