The Wedding Night - Synopsis Worksheet

A treasure hoarded is an unbearable burden--as generations of the Faelyn family have learned as they guarded the rich vein of silver which interlaces the glade of the Willowmoon. When the ancient Celts abandoned the sacred site, they left behind a small crest of silver knot-work to mark its pristine beauty. The treasure then passed safely into legend, cloaked by downy moss and a canopy of willow. But the Willowmoon Knot vanished two centuries ago, and whether stolen or lost, it remains a slumbering map, ready to guide those who would defile the glade for its riches, and obliterate the village that lies in the shadow of the Willowmoon.

Hero's Journey	Turning Point	Story Line
Mairey's Ordinary World	Mairey and Jack are coping in their separate worlds; if not at peace, at least keeping the status quo.	Having inherited her father's enchantment with folklore, Mairey Faelyn spends weeks on end tramping through the English countryside, collecting folktales from irascible cotters and reclusive crafters. She's just settled in beside a tavern hearthfire to coax a coal miner through his tale of blood-thirsty dragons when the door slams open to reveal a giant of a man, whose demand that she give him the Willowmoon Knot stops her cold with a fear she's never known before.
Mairey's Call to Adventure		The forbidding man is Jackson Villard, a ruthless mining baron who turns quiet valleys into blighted mine-works and broken spirts, a wickedness that Mary has pledged to protect her village from, no matter the cost. Braving Villard's shadowy, ill-tempered regard, she informs him that she's never heard of the Willowmoon Knot.
Jack's Ordinary World		Lord Jackson Villard made his reputation and his vast fortune mining the earth of its precious metals, and has recently been commissioned by Parliament to locate and exploit the mineral wealth of the Empire. The son of a coal miner, Jack was born to the darkness of the mines, never expecting any more of his life than a broken back and blackened lungs. He was thirteen when his father was killed in a labor riot, and as the man lay dying, Jack gave his solemn promise that he would care for his mother and his sisters. But Jack was implicated in the rioting, and the law was after him. Before he could stop her, his weeping mother had put him on a ship to Canada, leaving him powerless to keep his promise, though he'd have gladly died for them all. Furious and frantic to return home, Jack sought his fortune in the Canadian wilderness, doing what he knew best--mining. Three fortunes later, he's returned to England, but he's no closer to finding his family, and feels his failure and his isolation more deeply than ever.
Jack's Call to Adventure	TP #1 Jack and Mairey are thrust abruptly onto the same path, and into each other's way.	Jack couldn't be more skeptical of this legendary vein of silver or its missing marker, but he's unwilling to dismiss it without investigating. If he succeeds, the royalties will be limitless. He's finally tracked down the elusive young woman, Oxford University's expert in the lore of the Willowmoon Knot. And now she has the impudence to boldly deny any knowledge of it. Her eyes flash in her falsehoods, but everyone has their price. And when he offers an irresistible finder's fee and access to any museum vault or ancient manuscript in the land, those same eyes darken with undisguisable interest.
Reluctance to Enter Special World	TP #2 Jack displays his power over Mairey; he is dangerous to her, physically, emotionally, socially, and financially.	Mairey realizes with a dawning horror that if she doesn't accept Villard's challenge, he'll surely go looking for someone else to find the Willowmoon Knot, leaving her village and her family exposed and unprotected. Knowing that she's making a pact with the devil, that she will be forever looking over her shoulder for Villard's suspicious, dark eyes, Mairey agrees.
1st Threshold	TP #3 They are inextricably bound together by their opposing goals, but plunge forward.	Not wanting word of his search to reach his covetous competitors, Jack insists that the woman move her office and her personal belongings into his London townhouse where he can keep a close watch on her activities. The prize is large--if it indeed exists--and already the woman knows too much.
Mairey's Enemies/Allies Jack's Enemies	TP #4 To protect herself, and her family, and to ruthlessly reach her goal, Mairey tries to distance herself from Jack's powerful influence, through rebellion, separation, deception and taking a stand against him.	Mairey protests her prison, but Villard is intractable, and so she moves into his house, bringing not only her entire library, but her three energetic young sisters who had become her charges when her parents died. She loves them dearly, and schools them herself. They are the joy of her life, a constant reminder that she must be vigilant against Villard. Jack is stunned to find his home suddenly crowded with squealing little girls. They are mischief in crinoline and the sound of their laughter tears at the gaping wound in his heart, flooding him with unbearable memories of the family that he had failed so long ago. When he demands that she send them away, the woman threatens to leave as well, defending her family with an iron will, her blue-green gaze slicing through him as sunlight through crystal. Unwilling to jeopardize the project, Jack grudgingly agrees to lodge her sisters as long as she keeps them out of his way. Mairey sets up her office like a fortress, excluding Villard as much as she can, disguising her progress by misdirecting him with false information. The man seems to have no life at all other than ravaging the landscape and amassing an ever greater fortune. He conducts his contemptible business from his home and seems to always be watching her. He is abrupt and harrowingly suspicious of her every move.
Mairey's Tests Approach to the In-most Cave	TP #5 Recognition of the specialness of the other person. Reaction to this step is as harsh as to a direct threat. Jack sees Mairey as a menace to his defenses. Mairey sees Jack as a threat to her world, and to her freedom.	And yet he has an unsettling way about him, listening as raptly as her sisters to her stories of ancient warriors and thieving elves, frowning his coal-dark frown when she catches him, then pretending disinterest. Mairey feels a dangerous tugging at her heart, senses a loneliness in Villard that threatens to close the distance she's created between them. She does her best to ignore him as she digs deeper into her research, and plans an expedition that she hopes will lead her closer to the Willowmoon Knot, and far away from Villard's disturbing presence. Jack finds himself seeking out Mairey's company at every turn, enchanted by the music in her voice, stumbling over his suddenly cumbersome thoughts as she breezes through her day. The woman is brass-bold and tangles him easily in her riddles. When she declares that she plans to leave London to scavenge the countryside, he ignores her assertion that she is quite used to working alone in the field, and takes up the heady job of squire to a stubborn lady.
Jack's Tests Allies	TP #6 Initial opinion of each other grudgingly changes as they are seen in a new light. Respect grows, a new appreciation.	Her exuberance is contagious and soon she has him following after her, digging up buried caches of pennies and learning to read ancient runes. She's intuitive and intelligent in her work, and her touch upon weather-ravaged artifacts seems to warm the coldest granite, making him long for such a caress against his heart. She's become a dizzying temptation through the day and a breathtaking partner to his dreaming, leaving him unsure of what to do next. Despite her vow to keep Villard at a distance, Mairey finds herself charmed by his earnest curiosity and his eagerness to help. To make matters worse, she catches herself sharing the very information that she ought to hide from him, beguiled by his rare smile and aroused by his rumbling laughter.
	TP# 7 Mairey is reminded of Jack's power, a warning to shore up her defenses.	In the midst of this reckless idyll, Jack is summoned to an emergency at one of his mines. They arrive in the darkness and Jack is swallowed up by the clamoring chaos, leaving Mairey to fend for herself. She's staggered by the stark destruction caused by the cave-in and condemns Jack for his mastery of these people who depend upon him for their every need. Deeply angry, she spends the long night calming the frightened children with her stories, vowing never to allow Jack to enslave her village as he has done this one. In the clear light of day, his mining town may be clean and cobbled, with tidy homes and a schoolhouse, but nothing can excuse Jack's cold efficiency, not even his concern for the safety of the miners. The wrong-headed man reminds her of some mythic dragon who tromps carelessly through a forest, crushing the frail flowers and frightened creatures that live in the understory, wrecking his destruction because he doesn't think to look down.
Complication	TP #8 Jack recognizes his attraction as more than physical, an emotional threshold he never expected, shifting the power to Mairey.	Jack has never felt the need to justify his business practices to anyone, and rarely speaks of his family, but he finds himself wanting Mairey to know that he isn't the monster she seems to think he is. He tells her of the family he lost so long ago, of the lawyers he's hired to find them. He explains that mining is the only thing he knows, that when his fortunes began to rise, he vowed he would never put a man down a shaft that wasn't safe enough for his own father; he pays a dignified wage, and sends the children to school, not into the darkness. And when he confesses his hope that his sisters are still alive, that if they married miners they might someday find their way back to him, the bewildering woman embraces him and sets his senses ablaze.
Shamanic Territory	TP #9 An intimate kiss, exposes the vulnerability of each to the other, increases wariness and ups the stakes.	Confused as hell, but near-bursting with a need to taste Mairey's upturned mouth and touch her bright-spun hair, Jack kisses her and finds the exquisite magic he's been missing all his life. And as he gathers her more deeply into his arms, he wonders how he'll ever let her go. Mairey can't imagine why she let Jack kiss her, and even less why she shamelessly kissed him back. He's fashioned of straining iron and silken threads, his arms sun-warmed and his mouth tastes of the rain--but these are dangerous, traitorous thoughts and though her heart melted and poured into his as he told her of his lost family and his quest to find them, Jack Villard is her enemy. She must guard against losing her heart and the secret of the Willowmoon to this unrepentant dragon.
Higher Stakes	TP #10 Grudging recognition of the other's worth, a threat that draws as it repels, so their defenses remain.	When they return to London, Mairey digs into the encouraging new information she's uncovered about the Willowmoon Knot. And yet she finds little satisfaction in her progress, and a great stirring when she looks into Jack's dark eyes. His grief and guilt about his lost family are so close to the surface, she wonders how she'd missed them before. Unable to stand helplessly by, Mairey tracks down the law firm that Jack has employed to conduct his on-going search for his sisters, but comes away appalled at their ineptness, and certain that Jack would be furious if he knew. Not wanting to raise his expectations, Mairey quietly begins her own search for his sisters. For Jack, home has become the place where Mairey lives, where the hearthlight beckons and children's laughter tumbles through the halls. 'Family' has been a stark emptiness inside him for so long, he'd forgotten how it feels to have someone meet him at the door. Hope has always frightened him, made him feel weak and unworthy, and yet here he is filled with the stuff, and with Mairey's goodness.
2nd Threshold Jack's Supreme Ordeal	TP #12 Jack's ultimate weakness is tested; his vulnerability exposed to Mairey, by her actions. Power shifts to her. Jack reacts hugely.	But when she brings him news that not only his mother, but his youngest sister have been dead all these years, a tremendous fury fills him. He had hired the best agency that money could buy, relied upon honest men who had then made a mockery of his devotion and a farce of his crusade. And now his shame is exposed by a meddling young woman who does their job in the space of a week, who promises to help him find his two remaining sisters. Wasted years, wasted hope. He's failed his father once again, left his family defenseless and in the care of strangers. Mairey is stunned by Jack's outrage; she only wanted to help him, but she's wounded him instead, made him despise and blame himself even more. He was a young boy left to survive alone with but a dear memory and a terrible burden; he sheltered that memory as best he could, and was left to love only shadows. She's never known a man like Jack, wise and reckless, compassionate and hard-headed. How will she ever forget him when she leaves him?
Mairey's Supreme Ordeal	TP #13 This deeper intimacy shifts the power to Jack, increases Mairey's vulnerability and ups the stakes for both.	When he comes to her that night, confessing himself an ungrateful fool and asking her forgiveness, Mairey gives it freely--as freely as she's given him her heart. As she slips into the warmth of his extraordinary embrace, she tries not to think of the future, for it can only bring sorrow to them both. Overwhelmed by a blazing desire for this remarkable woman who has gifted him with hope that he will find his sisters, and who tempts him beyond measure, Jack realizes that she belongs here in his arms forever. She is unbridled in her passion, and gives herself to him completely, whispering her love to him and sending his heart soaring. A quick marriage is obvious to Jack, and he is dumbfounded when Mairey refuses. Her reasons are as rambling as his are sound, but when he confesses his love for her, the madwoman runs from him, weeping.
Reward forSurviving Ordeal Taking Possession New Perceptions	TP #14 They survive the supreme ordeal as Jack's weakness is accepted by Mairey, and Mairey begins to imagine a future with Jack. Trust is gained, a shared resolution seems possible. Tenuous joy.	Mairey has never felt so wicked. She loves Jack as she loves her life, and her deception is beginning to drown her. Jack isn't the pillaging dragon she once thought him to be, and yet the Willowmoon stands between them--will always. But as the impossible man romances her, stripping her of her will, Mairey begins to hope that she'll never find the accursed Knot, that one day she'll uncover proof that it was destroyed long ago, and its secrets along with it. Jack delights in courting Mairey, chipping away at her reluctance, even joining her in her relentless pursuit of the Willowmoon Knot. And it is while he is working alone in one of her dusty vaults, that he finds the relic, more precious than ever, because it has brought Mairey to him. He'd have shown it to her immediately and ended her frenetic search, but when he finds her a moment later, lying on the cold floor in a dead faint--and the diagnosis is pregnancy--the Knot is forgotten and his patience for their marriage ends abruptly. A surge of protectiveness for Mairey and their unborn child easily fortifies him against her objections. He's lost one family to his carelessness, he's not going to lose another. They are married that very afternoon.
Awareness of Bliss	TP #15 Mairey irrevocably crosses an emotional threshold; Jack takes power over her life and her goals.	Mairey's heart is reeling with love and a terrifying sense of foreboding, even as she vows that the Willowmoon Knot will have to stay buried for now. It's been gone for two centuries, it'll have to keep while her children grow. Tonight is her wedding night, and her marvelous husband awaits her. Jack fills her with himself and with his magic, and as she falls contentedly back to earth, he presents her with the Willowmoon Knot--and Mairey can only weep.
3rd Threshold/ Major Setback	TP #16 To accomplish her goal, Mairey must make a clean break, separating herself from Jack's love, but regaining power between them.	Devastated, she leaves her great, noble-hearted dragon sleeping in their bed, kissing him softly one last time, wishing more than anything that she could stay. But she has no choice and an inviolate promise to keep--for the beautiful Celtic knot is a perfect map to the cache of silver, and a weapon to strike at the heart of her village. And so with Jack's child tucked beneath her breast, she and her sisters slip out of his life forever, leaving not a trace, nor a hint of where her village is.
Death of Dreams/ Love	TP #17 Mairey's honest actions betray Jack, rocks the stability of his world. He is wounded, devastated, raging. His love for her has brought him unimaginable pain and loss, so he rejects her.	Jack awakens to a vast emptiness, and Mairey is gone as if she'd never been. Out of his mind with anguish, and fearing foul play, he calls in the constable, only to discover that the cursed Willowmoon Knot is gone as well as his wife. Stolen--by the only one who would know of its incalculable worth. Jack damns the woman and the aching of his heart and sets out to find her. His resources are great, and the love he bears his child is even greater. Mairey's only joy is the miraculous rhythm of Jack's child stirring beneath her breast. Her village is safe now, but she has betrayed the man she loves more than life in the process. Returning to him is impossible; he'd never understand about the Willowmoon. Nor can she allow him to know his son. And so she walks daily in the woods above the village, praying for a peace that she knows will never come. And then one bright morning she finds Jack waiting for her in the glade, thunderously large, his face stark and filled with loathing. His eyes are cold as he demands the Knot, and colder still as he demands his child. She can give him neither.
Final manifestation of the Old Incarnation	TP #18 Lessons of love not yet learned by Jack; Mairey must act firmly in her convictions to save him and herself, though the power shifts utterly and unalterably to him.	Jack's fury and disillusionment have sustained him all these months as he tracked his perfidious wife to her hideaway, where surely he would find her draped in velvet and gloating over her stolen hoard. But she only stands there in this sylvan glade, magnificent in her simplicity, her belly rounded and her eyes bright with a pain that echoes in his heart. He steels himself against the overpowering desire to embrace her, to forgive her, and in the midst of his accusations and condemnation, he suddenly realizes where he is, recognizes the knotted pattern of the Willowmoon. He's as astounded at the purity of the vein that lies just beneath the moss at his feet, as he is by the realization that Mairey has known where the silver was all along. Mairey meets his condemnation with her own, imploring him not to ravage the countryside and her village with his damnable mines.
Resurrection	TP #19 Jack finally uses the lessons he learned by loving Mairey to understand her betrayal and discovers steadfast belief in his new-found self.	Jack suddenly understands her need to escape him. She hadn't stolen the Willowmoon Knot for her own gain, she'd only returned it to its rightful place. Mairey isn't a deceitful, dishonorable thief, but an indomitable warrior, prepared to sacrifice her own life to protect her family, an incomparable woman who will love him till the end of time. Choosing between Mairey's love for him and a hillside rich with silver is the simplest thing he's ever done. Unable to contain his joy at finding the most precious treasure of all, Jack advances on his dazzling wife, certain that he is the luckiest man in the world.
Return With the Elixir	TP #20 Alterations made to old ways by both characters, to make room for new, and to live in the new and brighter light of their love.	Mairey is alarmed by the sudden change in her husband, his wounded rage turned to a howl of delight. But as Jack lifts her into his powerful arms, she finds a towering love in his eyes, and a solemn pledge behind his kiss. He promises to guard the secret of the Willowmoon as fiercely as she guards the babe in her womb. Mairey's dragon has plundered her heart and brought them both riches beyond imagining. No woman on earth could be happier!

Copyright © 1999 Linda Needham.
Permission is granted to copy for personal use, provided this notice is included in the copy.
For other purposes, please contact the author at Linda@LindaNeedham.com