On Fortune's Wheel

On Fortune's Wheel Summary | Plot Summary

On Fortune's Wheel is an adventure that takes place in an undefined medieval kingdom. Birle is the independent daughter of an innkeeper. Her grandparents taught Birle to read and write, skills common people are forbidden to learn. Birle has accepted the marriage proposal of Muir, a huntsman, simply to escape her life of drudgery, though she does not care for him. Shortly before the wedding, Birle unwittingly embarks on a quest; with Orien, a Lord fleeing his fate, she is shipwrecked. The two are captured and sold into slavery along with a simple-minded giant named Yul. They escape and return to the Kingdom, where Orien assumes his role as heir apparent. Realizing that she can never be happy as a Lady, Birle flees to a simple farm holding where her daughter Lyss is born. Orien is unable to face life without Birle and soon joins them.

The story begins one night when Birle hears a suspicious noise and discovers a stranger stealing one of the inn's boats. She tries to stop him, but she is carried downstream with him in the boat instead. The thief is Orien, a Lord who is trying to escape his fate. In their small boat, Birle and Orien drift past the dangers of the notorious port city. They are swept out to sea in the fog. Their small boat is wrecked on rocks. Trapped without food or water, the two rapidly become weaker. Finally, after 8 days, they see a ship. Orien hails the ship, and the pair is rescued. Soon it becomes obvious that their rescuers are pirates who intend to sell Orien and Birle as slaves, along with the giant Yul and a boy.

Birle and Yul are sold to the philosopher and alchemist Joaquim. Birle becomes his amanuensis, or assistant. Copying ancient texts for Joaquim and assisting him in his experiments, Birle learns the healing properties of herbs. Orien's first owners are a pair of craftsmen who starve and overwork him.

When Orien is sold to work as a slave in the deadly gold mines, he escapes, severely injured. Soon, Orien and Birle are on the move again with Yul, fleeing back to the Kingdom. In order to escape, Birle must leave Yul behind, although she promises to return for him. Birle and Orien return to the Kingdom, where he assumes his role as heir apparent. Birle accompanies him to court as his companion. Birle, though, finds the life of a Lady in the court even more confining than life as an innkeeper's maid. She flees the castle without telling Orien that she is expecting his child. Orien follows her. Birle learns that Orien has liberated Yul for her. She also learns that they are married according to a law that states that anyone who declares their intention to be married before the Earl or his heir is legally married. Together, the two embrace a simple life among the people with their daughter, Lyss.