Sweet Saturday Samples

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples! This is another scene from my sweet medieval romance, Loyalty's Web (rating PG). Last week, my hero, the Earl of Gunthar, was attacked in the hall of my heroine's father by the young son of one of the earl's many enemies. The attacker, Etienne, was locked up in the castle's tower. In this scene, my heroine, Heléne, goes to visit Etienne in his prison. She and Etienne grew up together, and Heléne is certain there is more behind Etienne's attack on the earl than Etienne is telling her.

She still held his head between her hands and did not realize that her fingers were twisting in his hair until he cried out and tried to pull away.

"We must get you out of here at once," she whispered.

"I should like to know how. Ouch! Will you let go?"

Her fingers had gone rigid amid his tangle of curls, but she was too horrified by his words to even hear his complaint.

"Oh, Etienne, I had no idea you were in such danger as this! And all because of that frightful dagger. No, you must not lie to me again! You do know where it came from. Tell me!"

He sighed and began with his hale hand to work her fingers free as gently as he could. "I can't. I don't know. It is only a guess. But I can think of no one else."

"Who? Tell me who?"

"I can't. I swore an oath. You mustn't ask me."

He winced as she suddenly pulled her hands away, then in a blaze of anger at his absurd response, she slapped him.

"This is not a game, Etienne! We are talking about your life!"

"I know that!" he shouted back. "But I can't tell you! It wouldn't matter anyway. I am the one they caught, and I am the one they are going to hang."

Thank you for stopping by! Etienne becomes the hero of his own story in my sweet medieval romance, Dangerous Favor, available January 2012.

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Sweet Saturday Samples

This week's Sweet Saturday Sample is a continuation of last week's excerpt from my sweet medieval romance, Loyalty's Web (rating PG). If you'd like, you can (re)read that excerpt here. The attacker in this scene, Etienne, is the hero of my upcoming medieval romance, Dangerous Favor (rating PG), which will be released in January 2012, so I thought you might like to see how his story began. :-) I'll be introducing the heroine of Dangerous Favor in a blog post this coming Wednesday, if you'd like to drop by and meet her.

The Earl of Gunthar threw up his left arm at the blur of movement and felt the sting of a blade cut its way into his flesh. He shot his right hand out to grasp his attacker's wrist. The man cursed as Gunthar forced the steel clear of his arm. Gunthar swept both their arms into an upward arc, then abruptly snapped them down again, at the same time giving his attacker's wrist a sharp twist. A loud crack sounded and the dagger clattered to the floor. The man fell to his knees and Gunthar finally saw his attacker's whitened face.

Nay, scarcely a man at all, a boy no more than nineteen, at most, twenty.

Gunthar's men belatedly swarmed to their master's defense. His marshal, Sir Roger Tollerton, hauled the youth to his feet, while the others closed in around him, blocking him from Gunthar's view.

Gunthar heard shouted oaths of anger. At least a half-dozen fists raised, a few of which fell with resounding thuds before Gunthar shouted, "Enough. Let him be.  Stand back, I say!"

His knights dispersed at his command, all save Sir Roger who continued to hold onto the struggling youth.

"Who are you and why did you attack me?" Gunthar demanded.

The youth glared at Gunthar from his one good eye. An ugly purpling bruise had already swollen the other shut. The youth looked angry and defiant and a little scared. But he pressed his lips obstinately together and refused to answer.

"My lord," Laurant said, rather nervously, "he is Etienne de Brielle, the younger son of Sir Damian."

"Ah." Gunthar eyed the youth with comprehension. "Then your father sent you here."

"Nay," Etienne spat, "English dog!  My father is too weak and my brother has not the courage. But I have sworn to avenge our wrongs, and next time--"

Laurant stepped forward and slapped him. "Insolent whelp.  There will be no next time. Take him away."

"Wait. My lord, perhaps you should see this."

Lord Challons, one of the Earl's vassals, spoke. His eyes were as bright as the jewels adorning his scarlet tunic. He scooped up the fallen dagger and held it out for Gunthar to see.

Gunthar examined it from where he stood, the blade stained with his own blood. On the pommel was carved a most wondrous creature. From the waist up a beautiful woman with flowing hair, the nether part twisted sinuously into the subtle, undulating coils of a serpent. A tiny, forked tongue darted from between the creature's lips and a pair of winking rubies for eyes completed an unsettling portrait of demonic evil. One knight who stood near enough to share the vision muttered an oath and crossed himself. But Gunthar recognized it for what it was.

"Where had you this dagger?" he demanded, irritation lending an edge to his voice. The youth, who had been staring slack jawed at the weapon, snapped his mouth shut. "Nay, don't play mute with me, boy. Prince Richard makes gifts of these to those who pledge his cause. Are you one of his, then?" The youth glared at Gunthar. "Or perhaps you merely stole it--"

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Loyalty's Web is available on Amazon.com.

Sweet Saturday Samples

This week I'm sharing a sweet sample from the first novel in my medieval romance series, Loyalty's Web (rating PG). (Alas, the series itself does not yet have a name. Maybe it will someday.) The Earl of Gunthar has been sent by the King of England to marry the sister of my heroine, Heléne. In this scene, Heléne is standing in her father's hall, watching him converse with the earl, when she suddenly sees in the crowd the son of one of the earl's enemies.

She thought Etienne looked pale, uncertain as he stood for a moment, watching the earl. Abruptly, he edged his way past a ruddy-faced knight, then stopped again. His green eyes narrowed on the earl, still conversing with her father, both of them oblivious to the youth's appearance.

She wondered if she should call out a warning. Etienne's hand disappeared inside his cloak, but came out again a moment later, empty. She told herself not to be ridiculous. Etienne could not possibly intend any mischief in the midst of this crowd of armed knights, all of whom owed their allegiance to either her father or the earl. Surely simple curiosity had brought him here, for he had not been present at the battle that left his father crippled. Etienne had been sent away with his stepmother before the earl's siege of their castle began.

Etienne stood quietly now, gazing at the earl through thoughtful, narrowed eyes. If resentment burned in their normally teasing depths, surely that was understandable? His soft dark curls, tousled by the wind, formed a wild halo about his handsome countenance. He was but a year older than Heléne. They had played together as children. She still counted him a friend, but she sensed with some disquiet that it was not mere curiosity she read in his face. He kept reaching beneath his cloak in an odd way. But if she cried out and it was nothing—

Then he moved. His expression changed in an instant from quiet resentment to desperate resolve. His hand flashed out and this time, Heléne saw a glint of steel.

She screamed, but it was too late. The earl turned as Etienne closed the distance between them and flashed his dagger in a deadly arc towards the earl's chest.

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Sweet Saturday Samples

Here's one final excerpt from my sweet medieval romance, Loyalty's Web (rated PG). This scene takes place after someone attempts to murder the Earl of Gunthar by slipping poison into his wine at a banquet. My heroine, Heléne, smells the poison and knocks the cup out of his hand before he can drink. The next day, Gunthar finds Heléne in her mother's gardens and the following conversation ensues:

"Thanks to you. I am again in your debt, my lady Helen." The sun threw its shaft from behind him, casting a softening aura about his formidable build, but also shading his expression from her. She could not tell whether he was teasing her or not when he added, "I had not realized you were so adept in your knowledge of poisons. Healing, yes--"

"Well for you that one is required to recognize the noxious so as not to mistake it for the benevolent." She spoke coldly, in case he was mocking her. The shocking way the evening had ended had shaken her somewhat from her anger, but she had not forgiven his humiliating treatment of her at the table, still less his unpardonable behavior in her chamber.

"No doubt," was all he said. "What was it then, this 'cowbane' from which you saved me?"


"'Tis a wild herb that grows near streams and in the swales of pastures. It looks very much like angelica, a harmless medicinal herb, but the rootstock of cowbane is deadly. The juice of a young plant's root, such as might be found in the spring, can kill a man in less than thirty minutes...."

She trailed off and caught the tilt of Gunthar's head, which threw his gaze briefly upon the roses. Knotted and wild they might be, but they were also large and brilliant, their glory testifying of the vernal season.

"I see." His voice hardened. "Then I am in your debt, indeed."

Next week I'll share an excerpt from Book 2 in my medieval romance series, Illuminations of the Heart.

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Sweet Saturday Samples

In this excerpt from my sweet medieval romance, Loyalty's Web (rated PG), my eighteen-year-old heroine, Heléne, is watching the arrival at her father's castle of the Earl of Gunthar and his entourage. A few years before, King Henry II's sons rebelled against him and Heléne's father fought on the side of the rebels. The Earl of Gunthar has been sent to marry Heléne's sister, Clothilde, to cement their father's reaffirmed loyalty to the crown. Heléne is spying on Gunthar's arrival from her bedroom window.

           

Heléne's voice took on a crisp note of anger. "It is not enough that the King has ordered Gunthar to take our brother away and make him little better than a hostage. He insists on humiliating us with this insulting offer of marriage.Were the King to bear such a dictate to me, I would--"

            

"Heléne, is he fat?"

            

Heléne turned her head, biting her tongue on an exasperated response. What on earth had that to do with anything?

            

Clothilde gave a despairing shudder and too late Heléne understood the urgency of her sister's question. 

            

"No, no," she said quickly as Clothilde raised trembling hands to her face. "He is just as you hoped. He is very tall and lean and--and handsome." She added this last though in fact she had not yet seen his face. "Come, Clo, see for yourself. He will never know we are looking."

            

She turned back towards the window and leaned out over the courtyard once more. Only then did she realize the inaccuracy of her last statement. The Earl of Gunthar had turned away from her father and, as if sensing her gaze, suddenly glanced up at the window. 

            

Heléne expected to feel again the rush of hatred she had known when she had seen him in her father's hall, his features concealed by a fearsomely crested helmet. Instead she gasped. His face, exposed to her now, was hawkishly proud, though not exactly handsome. His eyes, grey and piercing beneath thick, lowering brows, met her contemptuous stare with a powerful, probing regard. For a moment it transfixed her so thoroughly that she felt as though she had ceased to breathe, had been frozen into some curiously fashioned image laid open, every favor and flaw, to his uncompromising gaze.

            

Then one of his heavy eyebrows lifted and his cold, unyielding mouth curved upwards into a quizzical smile.

            

With that first glimmer of unexpected charm, Heléne remembered her awkward state of undress. Like her sister, she wore only a sleeveless chemise, with her pale gold braid spilling over her shoulder. With belated modesty, she drew back and leaned against the cold stones that ensconced the window seat. She pulled up her knees and twisted her arms around them, trying desperately to quiet the wild thudding of a heart which had but a moment ago been so inexplicably still.


Thank you for stopping by! If you'd like to read last week's sample from Loyalty's Web, click here.


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Sweet Saturday Samples

Thank you to the Sweet Saturday Samples blog for sponsoring this great new idea of spotlighting clean fiction excerpts from authors every Saturday! All you have to do is visit the Sweet Saturday Samples blog each week to find a list of participating blogs. From there you can click from link to link to read a wide variety of clean excerpts from romance to mysteries to fantasy to, well, pretty much anything else writers would like to share while keeping it clean.

Here is my first Sweet Saturday excerpt. These are the opening lines of my sweet medieval romance, Loyalty's Web. I hope you enjoy it!

"It is a lie!"

            

The young lady struck his hand away.

            

He caught his breath at the transformation anger worked upon her. He had thought her drab but curious a moment ago, decked out in what he imagined must be some squire's cast off clothes. Although her hose-clad legs were nicely turned, the too large, knee-length tunic completely swallowed up any hint of womanly curves. He might well have taken her for a tall, lanky youth, had it not been for her pale gold braid. Even tumbled over her shoulder as it was, its thick, feathery end brushed against her hip.

            

Now tiny flecks of fire set her silvery eyes ablaze. The way her cheeks glowed, he thought the whole of her might burst into flames. A calm, critical survey confirmed a sad lack of her sister's bewitching charms. But drab this young lady most certainly was not.  

Loyalty's Web is a PG rated medieval romance. You can read more about Loyalty's Web by clicking here.

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Available in both print and Kindle versions