H. J. Buell
Bio
⚔️Georgian mythology meets Game of Thrones⚔️
The Knight in the Panther Skin — Georgia’s 🇬🇪 12th-century national epic — in modern English prose for the first time.
Read all 174 chapters, serialized weekly and completely free.
@hjbuell
Stories (46)
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Come to Me
I say your name, hoping it will start the flow of words I so desperately wish to put on this page. Yet once the sound has passed my lips, there is nothing. Only an empty room. I wish to tell you of my feelings, but like the last rays of the sun, you have long since gone.
By H. J. Buell6 days ago in Humans
Waiting for the Sun (CH 30)
“The following day, I sent a letter to the ruler of the Khatavians. I wrote directly, as befitting my station, telling the King of Khataeti, ‘I, Amirbar of India, write to you. You are no doubt aware of King Pharsidan’s rule by God’s grace. Throughout our Kingdom, every hungry soul who is faithful is given his fill to eat. Likewise, whoever among them chooses disobedience can blame none but himself for what befalls him.’”
By H. J. Buell10 days ago in Chapters
The Mysterious Maiden (CH 29)
“I still did not know who this bold maiden was or why she came to me and spoke the way she did. Then, as I took the letter from her hands, understanding hit me like a strike of lightning. What she gave me was from the woman who consumed my heart. I could not believe I held such a gift from God, and I slowly opened it with shaking hands.”
By H. J. Buell10 days ago in Chapters
For Honor (CH 28)
“When I arrived, the King joyously received me. He prepared an event, and I was seated next to him on a horse, though not my own. I sat without quiver or arms, and beside me, Pharsidan ordered the royal falcons released. They flew up like a storm, and the partridges they hunted shrank with fear. As each falcon returned to his handler, rows of archers formed to take down the remaining birds, and not one escaped. Everyone cheered at their success.”
By H. J. Buell10 days ago in Chapters
Another Love (CH 27)
“I sat alone in my room, bathing my cheeks in tears until they changed to the color of a deep and mournful saffron. Ten thousand knives cut my heart to a stream of ribbons, and still more lacerated me from within. My misery had no end, and when the doorkeeper entered my chambers to inform me a man wanted to see me, I did not care. I asked, ‘What news does he have? Either this one or another messenger. What difference is it to me?’ The answer he gave would not matter, though my duties as Amirbar forced me to address the man.”
By H. J. Buell10 days ago in Chapters
Love Burns (CH 25)
Asmath gave Tariel water, which he sipped slowly before taking a long breath and continuing his tale. “One day, when I came back from a hunt, Pharsidan came to me and said, ‘Come. Let us go and see my daughter Nestan.’ Yet, I had not seen her for many years. Our duties kept us from the sight of one another. She grew in her own way as I in mine. Still, he took me by the hand and led me to her.”
By H. J. Buell10 days ago in Chapters
Rise of the Phoenix (CH 24)
When Tariel returned from the fiery edge of his abyss and calmed himself, he continued the tale, though visibly pained. “The maiden I speak of was named Nestan-Daredjan, and I wonder how my heart still beats while separated from her. At seven years of age, she was gentle and wise. None in India or the world compared, and the sun was unable to equal her beauty.”
By H. J. Buell10 days ago in Chapters
The Seventh Throne (CH 23)
“What I share now is not lightly spoken of, so I beg you, listen closely. Melancholy overpowers me at the thought of this tragedy, and the weight of giving voice to these events is such I can barely bring the words to my lips. Streams of tears may pour from my eyes like the blood in my veins, but you must not interrupt me.”
By H. J. Buell10 days ago in Chapters
