# The Misty Breath of Cathay - by Julie Harris **URL:** \ **Category:** Voice.club\ **Tags:** fiction\ **Created:** [January 27, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611 "2025-01-27T18:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Julie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/julie/32/21_2.png) [@Julie](https://softart.discourse.group/u/Julie)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/1 "2025-01-27T18:47:08Z")
[![](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/uploads/softart/original/1X/3ae39953c54c5f57b1b46dc47b06a357ff35b6f3.jpeg "Voice.club - Fiction - The Misty Breath of Cathay - by Julie Harris") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arDWpHU5oNY) [https://Voice.club](https://Voice.club) - All these men, with their endless bowing and courtly chatter, are starting to look alike. “My Lady Elena,” they swoon. I smile frostily. My lady. Bow. Smile. I’m falling asleep with boredom. The crowded hall filled with bejeweled ladies and gentlemen in ermine-lined tunics is swaying around me, when suddenly his cry of “Don’t I know you?” stops all motion. He’s not bowing or chattering. He’s looking directly into my eyes with that fiercely tender gaze I know so well. Paolo. Memories flood the great reception hall. Paolo bargaining with a Mongol prince, ordering a camel to kneel, expertly fingering a bolt of silk. A slender young lad with cropped black hair and unkempt garments always at his side, tending the animals. The young lad and his master galloping across the plain bareback, astride magnificent black horses. The two of us inching through a treacherous mountain pass, with a sheer drop on one side and icy patches making the horses skittish. Listening to the fire crackle as we lie on our backs watching the silver smear of stars. Even now, I can smell the wood smoke, hear the restless rustling of horses and camels, see our packs piled high with saffron, silks, ivory and porcelain. A full moon rises through the mist, accompanied by the intoxicating fragrance of plum blossoms. The misty breath of Cathay lingers in my memory, with a longing that can never again be satisfied. This life at court is stifling, almost unbearable, but it’s the life I was born to. My secret sojourn as a stable boy on the Silk Road was exhilarating, but necessarily brief. I am the daughter of a Duke, and I must live my destiny. I avoid Paolo’s eyes and seal my own fate with terse, clipped words. “No. You don’t know me.” His eyes light up with sudden understanding and compassion. “My Lady Elena,” he whispers gently, as the mists of Cathay gather around us once more. My face softens into a stable boy grin. “My Lord Paolo.” The great hall is awash with the scent of plum blossoms. ---
**Author:** ![MariannaPieterse](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/mariannapieterse/32/145_2.png) [@MariannaPieterse](https://softart.discourse.group/u/MariannaPieterse)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/2 "2025-01-29T14:04:12Z")
Julie, I really enjoyed your story. I cannot help but feel hopeful that they will end up together 😄 ---
**Author:** ![MargaridaBrei](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/margaridabrei/32/26_2.png) [@MargaridaBrei](https://softart.discourse.group/u/MargaridaBrei)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 9:25pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/3 "2025-02-04T21:25:25Z")
Julie, I love your contrast between stifling court life and animated adventure on the Silk Road. I’m glad that Lady Elena had a taste of exhilarating life as a “stable boy” and remembered fondly this time. Great appeal to the five senses particularly "the scent of plum blossoms’ running through the then and now. ---
**Author:** ![GreeneWills](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/greenewills/32/283_2.png) [@GreeneWills](https://softart.discourse.group/u/GreeneWills)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/4 "2025-02-10T15:25:59Z")
I really love this story! I feel there is so much room for development… Mulan meets Marco Polo, so intriguing!! I want to know more! ---
**Author:** ![Julie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/julie/32/21_2.png) [@Julie](https://softart.discourse.group/u/Julie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/5 "2025-02-12T18:03:10Z")
Oh gosh, Greene, now you have me thinking about what might happen next with these two characters! I’ll ponder that … I’m so glad you loved the story. Your comment just made my day. ---
**Author:** ![Julie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/julie/32/21_2.png) [@Julie](https://softart.discourse.group/u/Julie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/6 "2025-02-12T18:03:34Z")
Hello Marianna - Thanks for your feedback. I also think they might get together … but not without a few hardships along the way! ---
**Author:** ![Julie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/julie/32/21_2.png) [@Julie](https://softart.discourse.group/u/Julie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/7 "2025-02-12T18:03:46Z")
Thank you so much, Margarida! I enjoyed writing and researching this story. If I had been a “lady” in those days, I would also have wanted the stable boy adventure! Lady Elena is close to my heart. ---
**Author:** ![Lotchie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/lotchie/32/24_2.png) [@Lotchie](https://softart.discourse.group/u/Lotchie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/8 "2025-02-19T03:09:16Z")
That kind of tender gaze was addicting and hard to resist. Despite all the hardships along the way with Elena and Paolo, I am positive and hopeful that these two will end up happy together. ---
**Author:** ![Julie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/julie/32/21_2.png) [@Julie](https://softart.discourse.group/u/Julie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/9 "2025-03-05T18:44:02Z")
I love your comments, Lotchie! Lady Elena and Paolo are two of my favorite characters. I may revisit them someday, who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Lotchie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/softart.discourse.group/lotchie/32/24_2.png) [@Lotchie](https://softart.discourse.group/u/Lotchie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 3:14am UTC](https://softart.discourse.group/t/the-misty-breath-of-cathay-by-julie-harris/611/10 "2025-03-06T03:14:12Z")
I will look forward to that.